Long Beach couple surprised with parade after COVID-19 cancels wedding

When Kim Goforth and Isaac Jackson's Long Beach wedding was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, their family and friends decided to surprise them with their own special celebration.

Monday, April 20, 2020
Couple surprised with parade after wedding canceled twice
When Kim Goforth and Isaac Jackson's Long Beach wedding was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, their family and friends decided to surprise them with their own special celebration.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- When Kim Goforth and Isaac Jackson's Long Beach wedding was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, their family and friends decided to surprise them with their own special celebration.

"What we are doing instead, because obviously there are no weddings, is we're meeting in a parking lot in Long Beach and we're going to then caravan over to her house and just kind of give her that little moment that she probably should have happened at 5:30PM normally," said Erin Slessor, the sister of the bride.

Jackson proposed to Goforth in front of friends and family on Thanksgiving in 2019. The couple originally planned to get married summer 2020.

"They were going to wait a year or so and then Kim's dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and so they decided to move it up quickly," said Dlorah Gonzales, the mother of the bride.

Goforth's father was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January, so the bride and groom moved their summer wedding up to April 10. They planned their wedding in just three months.

"We sent out invitations one week and then cancellations the next," said Jackson.

At the exact time and day that Goforth and Jackson were supposed to tie the knot, a parade of cars slowly rolled down the couple's Belmont Heights block with signs, balloons and plenty of honking.

"This is so much bigger than our wedding and the love we have for each other," Goforth said. "The world is shut down. It's helping us realize how much we really love each other."

Goforth and Jackson hope to get married on July 24.

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