Cancer survivor ties knot at first city hall wedding

The first-ever couple to get married at Winnipeg's city hall tied the knot Friday in a small ceremony attended by close family, friends and, of course, Mayor Brian Bowman.

Lisa Carson-Walton and Chris Heriestarted dating in high school and have been engaged for seven years. In March, Carson-Walton was diagnosed with breast cancer and began a series of draining treatments to fight it.

The pairtried to get married at city hall once before, on their 10-year anniversary in 2012, but back then the service wasn't available.

In October, the city asked couples to share their love story for a chance to be the first to wed using the new civil marriage service.

• Winnipeg city hall searching for city's best love story

Carson-Walton said the day was "weird, but ...exciting." She and her husband hadn't expected the mayorto be there.

"Didn't expect that, especially at first when we were entering the contest," Herie said."I wasn't sure if we were going to be just in one fluorescent room, like, 'OK, sign here' and be done with it."

"You would've been fine with that, though," Carson-Walton joked.

The ceremony was small, featuring their two kids, Tiernan, 5, and Dahlia, 2. Herie's dad surprised the couple by making a 16-hour drive from the States to be there.

"We always knew we wanted to keep things pretty small," Herie said. "We don't want to put too many people out, or anything like that. It's just, almost non-committal. It's just, you know what, if you can make it, great, and if not, no problem. We'll have pulled pork later."

The couple don't have plans for a honeymoon right away. They're going to wait to make sure Carson-Walton is back to full health. Eventually,they want to do a trip as a family once their kids are a little older.

"Pulled pork and wine for tonight, and we'll figure out the next step after," Herie said."We've got plenty of time."

• Cancer survivor and fianc to be first-ever couple married at city hall