Sally & Justin's intimate and Cozy winter covid-friendly wedding at the artisan restaurant In Southport, CT

3/25/2021

As seasons change and spring has begun breathing new life, some of us reflect on the past year with hardships, stress and loss. However, there are things we can reflect back on that were learned and also gained.

As event planners and designers, we are considered to be in the top ten most stressful careers on a normal day. For many of us in this industry, 2020 was the most stressful of all. Between government mandates and shutdowns, cancellations and postponements of lifelong planned celebrations and hearing the heartache within our clients, no one could seem to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. For me personally, not knowing how to fix something for my couples for the first time in my 20+ year career was heartbreaking and deflating. However, as most of us know, it always has to get worse before it gets better. And it will, and is getting better.

Many couples were forced to unfortunately and dishearteningly cancel or postpone their celebrations. Some had no idea if they would even happen and when. Although some went ahead and persevered, albeit safely and with only a carefully chosen few to celebrate with, we all hopefully learned that sometimes, less can be more.

I asked one of our COVID couples if they would be willing to share their pandemic planning experience below, and after reading their words, I am humbly reminded of what needs to be left behind, and what matters most moving forward.

Thank you Sally and Justin for including us in your oh-so-special celebration weekend. I would not have changed one thing about it!

I’m not a huge Rolling Stone fan but sitting down to guest write this post I couldn’t help but think of the Rolling Stone quote “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you’ll find you get what you need.”

When planning our wedding, after waiting seven years to get married, my fiancé and I did not love the idea of celebrating during a pandemic to say the least. On more than one occasion I couldn’t help but lovingly point out that if my fiancé had proposed to me a year earlier we could have had a normal wedding!

It was stressful, yes. And it was nerve wracking. At some points it was even terrifying. But the truth is that in addition to that, we ended up with a wedding that was 1,000 times more special. Our celebration evolved from an eight hour event for 150 people to an entire weekend with the 18 people that mean the most to us in this world.

Nearly every aspect of the event was upgraded to cater to our intimate celebration. We booked a limo bus for transportation, provided rooms and took care of every meal for our guests. Our linens were the most obsession worthy, wintery blue velvet tablecloths I’ve ever seen. We had our first dance under a blooming cloud of flowers. There were lounge areas with sheep wool throws and hand painted oyster shells to top each place setting. The ambiance of the room was magical and the joy was magnetic - to say anything less would be an understatement.

Overall, the most stressful part was making health and safety our top priority for both guests and vendors. To do this, we decided on a guest count we felt comfortable with even though the official mandate allowed more. Everyone quarantined for fourteen days and took a PCR COVID test prior to attending; even vendors partook in these measures. Our safety net worked. Not only did it prevent anyone from getting sick, but it also enabled all of us to fully participate in the celebration.

If I can offer any advice to upcoming brides, it would be to focus on what is most important. I would 100 percent choose to have a small celebration rather than a big event, if I had to do it all over again, because the intimacy and personalization made it all the more meaningful. Life is too short to conform to other people’s expectations or to let things stop you from living (safely, of course.) Every day on this earth is a gift, so we should treat it as such.

As for our own wedding, we were able to celebrate with the people we couldn’t live without. No one got sick and everyone danced. I’ve even heard someone say it was the best wedding they’ve ever been to. Despite all the obstacles, we had a real, live, beautiful wedding. It may not have been the wedding we thought we wanted, but we found out it was just what we would need.

Thank you, Maggie, for making it all possible.