Pandemic Book Author Married By NJ Mayor In Zoom Ceremony

PARSIPPANY, NJ — The bride and groom were ready and looked expectantly to the officiant, who smiled back at them through his iPhone, which was rigged on a stand on his desk.

And through technology, Mayor Michael Soriano married Heather Quinlan and Adam McGovern.

It wasn't the wedding that Quinlan had in mind, but she had some experience adapting to new situations. As she was finishing her book on pandemics, Quinlan had to rewrite it when the new coronavirus swept over the world.

New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about new coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

"Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses: From the Plague of Athens to Covid" would now feature new COVID-19 information and an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci.

But the pandemic would also force her to scrub her wedding plans for October more thoroughly than her kitchen counter.

“You plan, you go to bridal shows, but never once while you’re trying on dresses and figuring out your colors — even while writing about pandemics — do you think that a pandemic is going to hit,” Quinlan said.

But hit it did, slowing the world, the country, New Jersey and Parsippany to a near-standstill.

Enter Soriano with a Zoom plan that would result in Quinlan and McGovern becoming the first couple in Parsippany to tie the knot virtually during the coronavirus outbreak.

"Wherever we go, or stay, Heather's the person I'd most want to be next to," said McGovern, a writer and local human rights activist. "There's no one who can tell me more about pestilence, or whom I'd rather be quarantined with."

The couple plans a big celebration with family and friends as soon as possible.

“It’s not exactly how I pictured my wedding, and I hate to sound Pollyanna-ish, but the fact that my family and I are healthy is far more important than where we get married,” Quinlan said.

Quinlan's book is due to be published Nov. 1 and is available for preorder on Amazon.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.