December 20, 2018 was one of the most sensational days of my life. My boyfriend got on stage at an open-mic night and sang a song that he had written to propose to me with. He dragged me on stage, got down on one knee in front of a ton of strangers, and asked those four breathtaking words every girl hopes to hear: “Will you marry me?” Obviously, I accepted without hesitation. I couldn’t wait to marry this man of my dreams.
After I called all of my family and friends–and plastered my ring all over social media–I immediately started planning my dream wedding. The day after we got engaged we picked out a date: April 25, 2020. I proposed to my bridesmaids ASAP, and from there the venue search began. I found the one at a gorgeous country club overlooking a large body of water, which is what I’ve wished for my entire life; everything about the venue is a clear representation of my wedding Pinterest board.
Once the venue was decided, I booked the other major vendors: the florist, cake baker, DJ, beauty artists, etc. So much sweat (I finally started working out again) and tears have gone into this wedding, and I can confirm that the rumors are true: planning a wedding is one of the most stressful times of your life. I finally reached the finish line in January–I got my dream dress, my absolute favorite cake, and some decorations that could not be more meant for me. Except for the tiny details (such as napkin folding, where to place signs and pictures, getting a cake topper, etc.), I was done.
Then, the Coronavirus outbreak happened and all hell broke loose. Unfortunately for me, the mayor of Austin, Texas (where my wedding is meant to happen) banned all events with over ten people in attendance, just one month before my wedding. We’ve been anticipating this wedding for 15 months…fifteen. My wedding party alone is over ten people, and I want all of my friends and family in attendance, so it’s safe to say my world was flipped upside down in just one short minute.
My poor fiancé had to endure my mini (okay, colossal) breakdown when I found out the news. I wept, screamed, threw things, and downed some wine. Once I somewhat chilled out, I did the next logical thing and contacted the country club to see if this nightmare applied to me, even though I knew the answer. My fiancé and I were at a crossroad. He was okay with just going to the courthouse and getting married, but that just wasn’t in the cards for me. Eventually we had to accept reality and make the hard decision of postponing our wedding. Anticipating what date would be available was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life. The months following April are considered wedding season, so we didn’t know how booked the venue would be and when our next opportunity to even have the wedding there would be. Summer? Fall? 2021?
My wedding planner works at the venue, but she was in a meeting with the owner trying to plan their next moves, too, so she was only able to respond via email and I had to wait on her responses in patience (if that’s what you want to call pacing the apartment crazy-eyed and apprehensive). In the meantime, I needed to call someone else I knew who would be pretty booked–my photographer. She and I selected some dates in June, July, and August, although none were exactly ideal. Finally, I was able to align a date that my photographer and the venue were both open in June. In my opinion, I’m lucky I secured a date so close to the original, because I acted on it so quickly. All brides who are in the same predicament are literally racing one another to ensure they get the vendors they really want before those vendors become unavailable due to other brides rebooking them on their new wedding dates. It’s utter madness.Â
The wedding seems to be happening just as planned before, with the exception of more summer flowers and additional sweat from the Texas heat. Am I still having massive anxiety about all of this? Obviously. Now the date I’ve been looking forward to for months will be just another bland day. And if I’m being honest, the day I actually will be married on feels like sloppy seconds. But, I’m still trying to find positives in all of this. I can finally start really working on toning my arms, and some people who weren’t able to attend before might now be able to make it. Everyone has been extremely understanding about the date change, and most people are able to still make the wedding even though it is now on a Friday and not a Saturday as planned initially. If the outbreak is still at large come June, we will have to reassess whether we want to get married at a courthouse and have the celebration later on, or whether we want to push the whole thing back altogether…again.
My maid of honor and officiant have been my backbone throughout all of this. It’s brought me closer to both of them, which I suppose is one benefit to all of this. My officiant acts as a therapist and my best friend has been more of a sister to me than ever. I don’t live in Texas anymore, so fortunately I am able to continue my wedding planning virtually from home and don’t have to leave the house during this pandemic.
This aggravating virus is affecting pretty much everyone’s daily lives. A lot of people have lost their jobs, people are stuck in inconvenient regions, big events are postponed, and you can’t see many of your peers as often as you’d like. And unfortunately for a lot of brides, it’s impacting the most momentous day of our lives. All you can really do as a bride is try to stay optimistic, don’t give up, stay healthy, and remember that what is really important is that in the end you will marry the love of your life. And if none of that works, wine helps.
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