Getting Married During a Pandemic

Getting Married during a pandemic. Some may know this feeling, others may about to be experiencing it. All the questions, the what-ifs, and the unknowns of where the pandemic may be by the time of your big day can put a lot of stress on an individual. Well, my husband and I were those individuals, and we had no idea what our wedding day was going to look like with the pandemic lingering around us all.

My now husband proposed to me five months after the pandemic started and for him, he was not letting anything get in the way of asking me to marry him. It was then after he proposed to me that all the questions came about. We had no idea where the pandemic would be on our wedding day, but we planned it to be eleven and a half months after he proposed just as I always wanted it, which was just under a year to plan for our wedding day. Picking the day was the easy part, finding a venue that would accommodate to your requests with the mask mandate was the harder part.

We were thankful to find a venue that wanted to make sure our family could celebrate at our own comfortability and not force any rules on us that could get in the way of our big day. Of course, wearing masks was another unknown but we are also very grateful the mask mandate was lifted, and the vaccines came out months before our wedding day, so it became one less thing to have to worry about. During the peak of the pandemic, we bought a bunch of hand sanitizer and little signs that say, “spread love not germs” to put next to each hand sanitizer bottle to make it look a little more “cute.” We ended up still using them even though the pandemic wasn’t as bad, just because it unfortunately isn’t gone and is still out there. Like the saying goes, “It’s better to be safe rather than sorry.”

My mom has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and she has been very worried throughout this whole pandemic and she was worried to where it would be on our wedding day as well. With having a chronic illness, she has been taking extra precautions and I gave her the option to wear a mask if she would like to. I also wanted to make sure I had enough hand sanitizer for everyone so they could continue to kill the germs off their hands throughout the night. I was of course worried about my mom’s safety as well but at the end of the day you just have to trust everything will be okay and she will make sure to keep her distance from the guests and make sure she’s comfortable.

Of course, during a pandemic there will have to be accommodations made but don’t panic, it WILL be okay! Your guests will completely understand and as the bride or groom they will be respectful of your requests. At the end of the day, if you’re the one getting married you should choose how you want the day to look and go, after all, it is your wedding!

After everything I chose to share, know YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I was a bride in the same position as you are now, there are many brides in the same position as you. It’s so important to try to make the most out of any situation you’re in and to do it how you feel is most important and necessary for you and your family. My advice to you, take a deep breath and just remember everything will be okay. Go on date nights and take a break from the wedding planning so you and your fiancé don’t become too stressed. Don’t put all of your time into wedding planning and still remember to have a life outside of it, everything will come together as it should. In the end it will all work itself out and your wedding day will be what you make it out to be. Take a deep breath and enjoy this time in your life!