A series of events nearly ruined Zoe Conant’s wedding. Nonetheless, the hopeful bride made it work and is now enjoying her post-wedding bliss.
Last November, the 26-year-old and her now husband, 29-year-old Blane Conant, both Columbia, South Carolina natives, were eager to get married in Costa Rica.
However, their preparations were thrown off when the couple landed in Costa Rica four days before the wedding and realized that Zoe would not be permitted into the country owing to a minor passport error.
RELATED STORIES
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Blane described arriving in Costa Rica after a 12-hour journey and being ecstatic to be at their hotel. But as they got closer to the customs desk, they discovered that Zoe’s passport had been “reported missing or stolen,” which prevented her from entering Costa Rica.
READ ALSO: Car traveling 105 mph stopped by police, bride late for her wedding found inside
Zoey told People, “We touched down in Costa Rica after 12 exhausting hours of travel. I was dying to feel that sun on my skin and maybe hit the beach. Then it all fell apart at customs. The officer is taking forever with my passport, calling people over, speaking Spanish all around me. My heart is pounding out of my chest.”
Then “the bomb drops.”
Blane told DailyMail.com that it came as a great surprise because her passport had not expired. They also gave the airline her passport number before the journey and weren’t warned of any issues.
According to him, a “devastated” Zoe “burst into tears” and pleaded with the customs officer to help her find a solution, but they refused to budge. After that, she learned that she would need to return to the United States by plane right away.
Zoe boarded the first aircraft back to the United States, which was to Miami, Florida. To make matters worse, the sad bride had to go alone because Blane “couldn’t leave” his family alone.
“We had a very tearful goodbye and we started letting everyone know the situation,” he said. “I was still in a wave of disbelief. But everybody sprung into action trying to figure this out. Zoe’s mom was even calling the governor’s office and pleading her case there.”
Blane’s initial anger and shock developed into concern. They worried about having to cancel the wedding, despite the fact that 26 of their closest friends and family members had already booked their flights.
The trip back to America, likewise, was “long and stressful,” according to Zoe, who added that, fortunately, a flight attendant intervened to help after observing her condition.
“They gave me an address to a passport office to go to and a number to call once I land,” she explained. “When I landed and got through customs, I called the number the flight attendant gave me and I was able to get an appointment for the next morning.’
Everyone tried to help, according to Zoe, including her parents, who arranged for a hotel in the area and gave photocopies of the paperwork she would require.
Fortunately, “everything went really smoothly” at the passport office the following morning, and she got her replacement passport by 12 p.m.
She scheduled the next ticket to Costa Rica and returned two days before the wedding.
Zoe said that the wedding was “absolutely amazing.”
“It was super intimate and special. It rained on us a little right after we read our vows and after we kissed we ran into the ocean with our guests following us into the waves, the locals that happened to be there watched and were cheering for us.”
Concerning the reason she was stopped at the airport, Blane explained, “One of our friends who was attending the wedding has a friend who works for the government in that department, and they told us that if you have a common name, then sometimes they accidentally mark the wrong passport [as lost or stolen] if someone calls in.”
According to Zoe, there is still no method to check if your passport has been registered as stolen or missing. However, she now considers the day to be “a great test of my own resilience, and how much my family really cares for me,” for which she is grateful.
