Cross-border wedding day brings families in U.S. and Canada together over barbed wire fence

It's not the wedding Karianne Jensen had in mind for her daughter's big daybut, for better or worse,it's one she says she'llnever forget.

Newlyweds Jaxonand KadeeJensenand their familiesgatheredunder a perfect blue prairiesky,knee-high ingrasswith Jaxon's family on the Albertaside of the border.

Just metresaway across a barbed wire farm fence in Montana,on the U.S. side, Kadee's parents and her American-based family stoodwhile border guards watched from a distance.

Kadee'sfather walked her down thefenceline instead of theaisle, with the pair holding hands from different countries.

"It ended up being extremely beautiful," said the bride's mother. "Two families getting together and marrying two kids that love each other."

The wedding was planned in March and supposed to happen in June, but then along came COVID-19 and the border closure.

Karianne Jensen and her husbandlivein Kalispell, Mont.,and thoughtthey weren't going to be able tomake it to theirdaughter's special day. So the familieshatched a plan in just 10 daysto do something truly special.

"We were just joking about it at first,then we are like, 'what if we actually did it?'"said Kadee Jensen, who is a floral designer and wedding planner by trade. This was her first,and likely last,cross-border wedding.

The family contactedborder officials in the United Statesand Canada and connected with landowners with bordering farms in Montana and Alberta to get permission to access their land, bringing everyone together on the open prairie, divided by just a fence and a padlocked farm gate.

"They gave us permission to hug and shake hands across the border, which was the best part. That allowed me to walk down the aisle with my dad and hug my family," said Kadee.

"They said, 'if you'd like you can hug your family and your daughter across the fence,'and I started to cry," said mom Karianne.

Jensen'sson-in-law and hisfamily made the short journey to the border down a bumpy backroadfrom Cardston, Alta.

Jensen travelled four hoursfrom Kalispell, catching a flat tire on the way andgetting a helping hand from somepassing farmers.

"You do what you do for your daughters because you love them, and I'm just grateful I got what I got," she said.

In the end, there were eight family members, including the bride's parents,gathered on the U.S.side andaround 45guests, including the groom'sside of the family, gathered on the Alberta side, not far from the Del Bonita border crossing.

Karianne Jensen's brother married the couple.

"Itwas very bittersweet," said Jensen. "It was near and dear to the heart."

Jensen says it'sthe bride's mother who is usually heavily involved in a wedding but in this case it wasthe groom's parents who had to stepinto that role.

"They did amazing. They helped her get what she needed. We haddecorationsand flowers and they even weed-whippedout there so there was a place for them to stand with some rugs," Jensen said.

"We made it the best we could under these circumstances and it was a beautiful ceremony," she said.

Jensen got to share the day with her brothers and sisters and her parents, whom she hadnot seen since theCOVID pandemic started.

The hardest part for Kadee Jensen was walking away from her family on the other side of the fence.

"It was really hard initially to see them. I was definitely veryemotional. It was a very happy day and super exciting but the walking away was the hardest part," said Kadee, who held a small reception with the Canadian side of the family in Cardston after the wedding ceremony.

"I just want to thank the border services people that made it possible. They could have easily said no," Kadee said.

Karianne Jensen says they'll all be telling the story and recounting the memories for years to come.

She's now counting down the days when she can hug her daughter without a fence between them.