VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Travel restrictions put the brakes on a New York nurse's trip to a local bridal shop in Virginia Beach to pick out a wedding gown for free.
Brianna Shollenberger is a nurse from Cayuga, New York, and was one of 75 medical workers chosen to receive a free gown from Ava Clara Couture Bridal Shop.
The store gave out the gowns as a thanks to those medical workers for their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic.
New York, however, has travel restrictions currently in place for anyone going to New York from more than 30 states -- including Virginia. The restrictions – which require travelers to quarantine for two weeks if they have visited one of the impacted states for over 24 hours; requires them to fill out a travel form and poses the risk of a $2,000 fine for those who violate the rules -- were implemented by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June to continue the efforts of dropping coronavirus cases in the Empire State and in response to the increasing number of cases in the other states.
Shollenberger had to cancel her trip, so Alex Fleear, the store's owner, brought the store to her online.
“It was hard to not come there because you want to come and try it on, but at the same time I knew they were so supportive of the whole thing,” Shollenberger said. "I didn't want to put my patients at risk, I didn't want to put myself at risk, my family - I just wanted to do the right thing."
She was able to pick out her perfect dress, and the store said it will ship it soon to make sure Shollenberger gets it by the end of this week.
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Shollenberger added that she still hopes to come down to Virginia Beach, meet Fleear in person and give her a thank-you hug.
