Bride unable to enter country for wedding because of minor passport mistake right before ceremony

A bride shared her horror after being denied entry to the country where her destination wedding was scheduled just days before because of an unexpected error.

Zoe Conant, 36, and her now-husband Blane Conant, 29, both from Columbia, South Carolina, couldn’t wait to tie the knot in Costa Rica last November.

The supposedly relaxed beachside wedding turned chaotic when the couple arrived in Costa Rica four days prior to the ceremony only to find out that Zoe couldn’t enter the country due to a minor issue with her passport.

Suddenly, their dream wedding became a nightmare as she was told she’d have to leave the country immediately and fly back to the United States.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Blane described their arrival in Costa Rica after a lengthy 12-hour journey and their excitement to reach the hotel.

But as they approached the customs counter, they received some shocking news: Zoe couldn’t enter Costa Rica because her passport had been ‘reported missing or stolen.’ 

He said it came as a complete surprise since her passport wasn’t expired. In addition, they had provided her passport number with the airline ahead of the flight and weren’t alerted of any problems. 

‘The passport hadn’t expired, and in order to leave the country in the first place you have to enter your passport number a bunch of times to check in and whatnot,’ he said.

Zoe Conant, 36, and her now-husband Blane Conant, 29, both from Columbia, South Carolina, couldn’t wait to tie the knot in Costa Rica last November

But their dream wedding turned into a nightmare when Zoe was denied entry into the country four days before the wedding due to a shocking error. They’re seen on the flight to Costa Rica

‘We even scanned it when boarding our American Airlines flight. Needless to say we were caught completely off guard.’

He said a ‘devastated’ Zoe ‘burst into tears’ and begged the customs agent to help come up with a solution, but they wouldn’t budge.

She was then told she’d have to fly back to the States immediately.

‘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,’ explained Blane.

Zoe hopped on the first flight back to the US, which was to Miami, Florida, and to make matters worse, the heartbroken bride had to go by herself since Blane ‘couldn’t leave’ his family there alone. 

‘We had a very tearful goodbye and we started letting everyone know the situation,’ he recalled. 

‘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.

‘I was very angry at first and then very much in a cloud of disbelief… I wished it was happening to me rather than her.

‘I just felt so bad for her and I was a little worried about her being in Miami by herself with no car.’

Zoe was told she couldn’t enter Costa Rica because her passport had been ‘reported missing or stolen’

She was then told she’d have to fly back to the States immediately, so the heartbroken bride got on the next flight to Miami, Florida, by herself

They feared they would have to cancel the wedding even though 26 of their closest friends and family members had already booked their travel.

Zoe described the journey back to America as ‘long and stressful,’ but said a flight attendant stepped in to help after seeing how upset she was.

‘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.’

Zoe said everyone rushed to contribute in any way they could, including her parents, who sent photocopies of the documents she would need and booked her a nearby hotel. 

‘I was feeling really emotional and frazzled at that point,’ she admitted. ‘It had been almost 24 hours since I had last slept.’

Thankfully, ‘everything went really smoothly’ at the passport office the next morning and she had her new passport in hand by 12pm. 

She booked the next flight to Costa Rica and made it back two days before the wedding. 

Thankfully, she was able to score an appointment with the passport office and got a new passport the next day and arrived back in Costa Rica two days before the wedding

In the end, Zoe described the wedding as ‘absolutely amazing,’ adding, ‘It was super intimate and special’

‘The day was absolutely amazing,’ gushed Zoe of the nuptials. ‘We all hung out for most of the wedding day and just walked to the beach and gathered around for the ceremony.

Looking back, she said they’re now able to laugh about it, as she concluded, ‘Honestly it was a great test of my own resilience, and how much my family really cares for me’

‘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.’

As for how others could avoid the same mishap, Zoe – who is in the band Writ3rs Block with her husband – had some bad news… apparently there’s no way to stop something like that from happening.

‘Apparently there is no way to check if your passport has been marked stolen or missing,’ she revealed. 

Looking back, she said they’re now able to laugh about it, as she concluded, ‘Honestly it was a great test of my own resilience, and how much my family really cares for me. 

‘Shout-out to my parents for getting me everything I needed from documents, to the plane ticket back, to just being there for me. I’m extremely grateful.’