I had some nervousness about our wedding day as soon as we heard the news. It was actually the weekend of my bridal shower a couple months before when schools and businesses started to shut down for two weeks (and then some!) upon arrival of the infamous coronavirus in our area. That nervousness took a turn for the worse when gathering-size caps and mask mandates began to be implemented. I really started to sweat it out. I honestly wondered if we would be able to get married…
Hey there! I decided that with my first wedding anniversary happening in a few days, I wanted to pay tribute to the craziness and incredible things that occurred last year. It was the best day of my life, so of course, I wanted to write all about it and share our story. As you can imagine, 2020 was a whirlwind when it came to weddings, but we managed to plan (and re-plan) the most amazing wedding I could have imagined. And I want to share all the little details with you. If you have read anything I have written before, you know that I must also pay tribute to our Heavenly Father who fashioned all the details Himself. He was the one who made this all happen and taking time to reminisce and write about our wedding day gives me a chance to say “thank you” again to the Author of our love story.
Before I could get my bearings on the novel restrictions a pandemic imposed, our wedding plans that had been meticulously thought through for the past 15 months were turned upside down. It started when our beautiful rural venue downsized on its capacity limits. We had to begin the process of delivering the very sad news to our friends and family that they would not be able to attend our wedding. Then our courthouse shut down and was not issuing marriage licenses. And then I was told that the bridesmaid dresses I had picked out were the wrong size, had to be sent back, and there was not time to reorder the correct sizes. Not only that, the new ones I had decided on as a second choice went completely out of stock. It was a scramble to order new dresses that would work for the day. There were other challenges throughout those two months before our big day (including having to postpone our honeymoon to two months after our wedding because of my schooling and then cancelling it completely), but the biggest came one week before.
6 days before we were to become husband and wife, our venue called to completely cancel on us out of the blue. Not a single warning. Up until that point, they were totally fine with us having a small group, and then they did a complete 180. At that point, it just felt like par for the course for me (so I may not have been as devastated as I could have been), but I was pretty bummed out and stressed out. Our Plan A had been completely ruined by COVID (and for us, postponing our wedding was NOT an option! We had waited so long already and we wanted to just get married!!). Our Plan B was completely ruined by our venue, so we were left scrambling to figure out Plans C (and D and probably even Plan E) with just 6 days to go. Needless to say, there was a lot of sweat and tears that week.
But this is where all of the little details fell into place by the goodness of God and the help of some amazing people (and let me just say that He is a pretty awesome wedding planner)!
Let me first say that my hubby and I have the best families (and friends) EVER. They were all bound and determined to make this the best day for us. I remember my one aunt telling me to remember that none of this craziness took God by surprise and my best friend told me this was a perfect opportunity to wait and see how He would work all the details out.
My future in-laws agreed right away to host our wedding at their home (and we picked out their church as a rain location, as the forecast wasn’t looking too hot). My best friend (and MOH) came down for the entire week to help out. Our vendors even changed all of their initial plans to help and make things easy for us.
It was a whirlwind of a week and I honestly don’t remember most of it. My in-laws worked tirelessly at their house, mowing the lawn to perfection, power-washing the house and garage, weeding, and even painting their rail fence to spruce it up for our pictures! My father-in-law even built a platform for us to have for the ceremony to stand on! My mom and dad worked so hard to get decorations, chairs & tables gathered up (free to us from my church!), find tents (also graciously loaned to us), pre-order food (after getting a voucher for our deposit from our caterer), drive around to pick up last minute items, make tons of phone calls, and more. My best friend took the time to help me get organized, get things in our apartment set up in preparation for us moving in after the wedding, and she helped me get refocused. She even took the time to plan and throw a mini surprise party for me at my house, inviting friends who now wouldn’t be able to attend because of the gathering limitations. One of those dear friends of mine (who lived over 2 hours away) even brought a homemade wedding arch from her own wedding for us to use in our backyard ceremony! I wasn’t planning on that and it was absolutely perfect. It was so very special and humbling to have everyone working so hard to make this week as stress-free as possible!
The morning of the wedding was no different. My in-laws had hosted the groomsmen overnight, so all the guys got up nice and early (we had an 11am-ish ceremony) to set up tents, tables & chairs, decorate the platform, and even blow-dry the dewy grass with a leaf blower! The archway was set up on the platform in the backyard and all the guys decorated it beautifully. They even bought tablecloths for the few tables under our tents for our “reception” and decorated all of them. It seriously looked like a florist had snuck in! They even made a couple runs to the Dollar General to buy sheer curtains, which they draped and stapled on the wooden platform to even make it look nicer! My husband’s uncle surprised us as well by bringing down a truckload of hay bales for additional decoration. Everyone went above and beyond to make everything beautiful and so special and it meant the world to me! I was just happy to be getting married in a picturesque backyard and they made it better than I could have imagined.
At my own house on wedding day, everyone was just as busy. My hairdresser (bless her heart) arrived at my house around 7am (from over 30 minutes away) to help the hair process go smoother. My aunts all came to the house bearing breakfast for all the girls and I (Dunkin’ breakfast sammies, fruit, yogurt, donut holes, and juice). My photographer even came early too and set up some awesome, creative shots in our own home. I wasn’t originally planning on that, but it was special to just get ready for my wedding in the comfort of my childhood home. My parents were able to be there the whole morning and hang out with me and that was so awesome. That wouldn’t have happened if we had been getting married according to Plan A! I got to enjoy a fairly relaxing and stress-free morning and I even was able to eat breakfast (which is usually impossible for me if I’m nervous!) I’m telling you: God works in even the smallest of details. I was probably able to enjoy our wedding and have few nerves because of how everything ended up happening, than if it would have been our original plan!
Let me just tell you how perfect the rest of the day turned out: my new grandma-to-be just HAPPENED to have a beautiful, unused runner in her attic that we got to use as an aisle. We arrived at my in-laws’ house (just a little late) and I got to have a moment to pray with my girls before it was time. Then, with our DJ set up on the back porch, the bridesmaids started walking down to an old ballad, ‘Almost Paradise.’ I then got to stroll down the aisle with my daddy to my parents’ own wedding song, ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ to go meet my then-fiancé in the backyard…a place where so many favorite memories have happened over our years together.
After a reading, a song sung beautifully by my father-in-law, and a meaningful message from my pastor, we began our vows. Just at that exact time too, the sunshine poked out from behind the few clouds in the sky and came out to stay. It was the most beautiful thing. It was like getting a little smile from our Heavenly Father right before we committed ourselves to Him and each other. Then, we were announced husband and wife in front of a few dear family members. Finally!!!!
My future brother-in-law even videoed the whole ceremony and dances so all our other previously-planned guests could watch later on. The rest of the day of our backyard wedding was just as amazing! My in-laws’ backyard was literally picture-perfect! All the trees had just gotten their green on, the apple tree blossoms decorated the lawn, and the lilacs were in full bloom. We took pictures all over the backyard and they couldn’t have turned out prettier. My aunts made a run into town to go pick up pizza and fruit trays for our “reception” lunch (how many people can say they had Domino’s for their wedding?!) and we had dozens of delectable donuts to choose from that my own sweet mom had picked up that morning!
After pictures, we kicked off the speeches and the dancing. I got teary-eyed listening to a heartfelt speech from my maid of honor, and laughed at a hilarious speech from the best man. My husband and his mom slow-danced to another tear-jerker, ‘There You’ll Be’ by Faith Hill, and my dad and I surprised everyone by busting out our dance routine to the ‘Git Up’ (this being a tip of the hat to the days when he taught childhood me all the old dance moves to the ’64 Mustang, the Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and more). We had so much fun! The rest of the afternoon was filled with dancing to all our favorite, classic wedding songs and a bunch of 80’s hits. The ‘Love Shack’ definitely made an appearance and I taught everyone the dance that went along to ‘Footloose.’ There were cornhole games going on, lots of food, and visiting with family. We were all sweaty and sunburnt by the end of the day from the crazy dancing and beautiful sun, but it was oh-so worth it!
Even though our plans were upended so many times, we ended up having the best day ever. We got a beautiful backyard wedding in with our families and we couldn’t be happier. Sometimes, I get a little bummed out thinking on all we missed with our friends and other family members not being able to attend our big day, but in the end, I am so thankful because the Lord went above and beyond to work out a beautiful day for us. He answered so many prayers and in the end, His plans are higher than my plans. He knew what we needed and I think we were able to be so present and truly enjoy our day just the way it was. It didn’t go by too fast and wasn’t a whirlwind of trying to greet 200 guests, but it was a relaxed, sunny, backyard picnic of sorts, where my husband and I became one. It was truly the most special day and I am so thankful for every bit of it.
Our beautifully simple day was important. It’s not about the number of guests or the dream location, the perfect outfits or the flowers and decorations. Our day reminded me of what a wedding truly signifies.
When two Christians…stand before the minister all decked out in their wedding finery, they realize they’re not just playing dress-up. What they’re saying is that someday they are going to be standing not before the minister but before the Lord. And they will turn to see each other without spot and blemish. And they hope to hear God say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants. Over the years, you have lifted one another up to me. You sacrificed for one another. You held one another up with prayer and with thanksgiving. You confronted each other. You rebuked each other. You hugged and you loved each other and continually pushed each other toward me. And now look at you. You’re radiant.’
Tim Keller, ‘The Meaning of Marriage’
Love Sees You 