Couple holds wedding at U of U Hospital so groom’s mother could attend

SALT LAKE CITY — A small wedding ceremony was held at University of Utah Hospital Thursday for a young couple who desperately wanted a special someone in attendance.

“Emberli and Dallen were planning their wedding when Dallen’s mom got into a terrible accident,” read a tweet from University of Utah Health.

The Smuins decided to cancel their big wedding and instead hold the ceremony at U of U Hospital so Dallen’s mother could be there.

Emberli and Dallen were planning their wedding when Dallen’s mom got into a terrible accident. The couple canceled their big wedding and had a small ceremony at University of Utah Hospital so Dallen’s mother could be in attendance. pic.twitter.com/wD6ATE6ADj

— University of Utah Health (@UofUHealth) April 28, 2022

Dallen told the media that he, along with his mother and father, were tearing down a garage when part of the structure fell on his mom. Doctors originally thought she would be home Monday or Tuesday, but by Thursday — the couple’s wedding day — she was still in the hospital.

“We had to change our whole schedule and cancel, tell our families and people we invited to the wedding to not show up, that we had different plans,” Dallen said.

“It was a little stressful at times, like, a lot of back and forth — Is she coming home? Are we going to do it out there? But, it worked out really well in the end,” Emberli said.

The couple described how they showed up to the hospital Thursday, not really knowing what the exact plan was for their big day, but that it all came together.

“They were so great,” Emberli said of University of Utah Hospital. “There was a lot of tears and a lot of emotions. I couldn’t be more grateful that they were so understanding and so helpful in such a short amount of time.”

Meredith Reid with U of U Hospital said the wedding ceremony, which they learned about around noon Wednesday, came together thanks to a lot of teamwork.

“This was a pivotal moment for Dallen’s mom and we wanted to be as helpful as we could for this event. So, just lots of planning — our nutrition team stepped up; our environmental services team cleaned the patio; nursing teams, we wouldn’t be here without them advocating for their patient because it was the relationship with the nurse and the patient that, I think, developed the conversation. So, just, at all levels of U Health team, and Emberli and Dallen and Dallen’s mom just being awesome to work with,” she said.

Emberli and Dallen said they couldn’t imagine Dallen’s mom not being at their wedding.

“I thought it wouldn’t be right. She’s like, ‘We can just Zoom or FaceTime you while you guys are getting married,’ and I was like, ‘Nope. Not going to happen. You will be there.’ And I just really have always dreamed of her being there, so I wanted her there,” Dallen said.

“I really want to say thank you to the U; it really couldn’t have happened without you. I couldn’t have imagined it without Tanya there. It just couldn’t have happened. And I didn’t want to move it either, so it was really special and it was really intimate and I really appreciate everything,” Emberli said.

“They have done a lot. They even made us a cake, and that was awesome and it was really good. And I’m glad they could set all of this up for us in such a short time,” Dallen said.

Dallen told KSL his mother will be coming home from the hospital Friday.