Photo By: Wendy Chhabra, The Freckled Photographer

We interviewed a few brides who are currently re-planning their weddings, after having to reschedule their dates due to Covid-19. A wedding can be stressful enough on it’s own, and insufferable with the many added headaches brought on by the 2020 pandemic. The list of considerations increases so much that it can feel overwhelming to most.

Current brides Tara Rallis, Brittney Mitchell, Sarah Mckenna, Maddy Diab, and Hannah West weigh in on this topic.

What has been the most difficult part of planning your wedding during this Covid-19 pandemic?

“All of it lol. Right now it’s the stress of wanting to get married but also keep everyone safe that’s attending. In the first few months it was uncertainty and not knowing when to start replanning after shutdowns. And the amount of time we had once reopening began to start booking and throw together a wedding. ”
– Brittney Mitchell (Soon-to-be Mrs. Vaughan!)

“It has easily been the uncertainty of knowing if you’re ever going to actually have a wedding. We have canceled and rescheduled two times now.. And honestly it feels like the fun has been taken out of wedding planning. It is stressful enough and then to add Covid it’s just on a whole other level.”
– Maddy Diab (Soon-to-be Mrs. Sankoff!)

“The most difficult part of planning our wedding during Covid has been the uncertainty – how many guests will we be able to have attend? If we have to downsize to an intimate wedding, will we still need to book a DJ or should we pass on that expense? It’s hard to make decisions without knowing these things.”
– Hannah West (Soon-to-be Mrs. Roberts!)

“The most difficult part was the uncertainty of the wedding actually taking place, not giving up after postponing twice, and trying to not make decisions based off of emotions and frustration.”
– Tara Rallis (Soon-to-be Mrs. Welch!)

“There have been a few experiences that I pictured differently in my mind than what has played out because of COVID. Not being able to invite all my closest friends and family to try on the perfect wedding dress was one of those experiences. I was only able to invite up to two guests to come with me and that was a big moment that some friends and family had to miss out on. ”
– Sarah Mckenna (Soon-to-be Mrs. Springer!)

Are there any aspects of planning your wedding during this time that you have not minded or been pleasantly surprised by?

“I am looking forward to a smaller wedding selfishly because I will be less nervous but still heart broken that all our family can’t come. The silver lining is more that we’ve been thrown so many curve balls that whatever happens that day will not surprise us at all and we’ll just continue to make the most of it!”
– Brittney Mitchell

“At first when we canceled it felt like a relief because I was stressed out doing all the planning. But then when it hit me that we might not actually be able to have the wedding that we originally wanted that was hard. In a weird way it also shows people’s true colors! Good or bad it seems like in these times it has definitely come out.”
– Maddy Diab

“If there are people you didn’t necessarily want to invite but felt pressure to because of family obligations, etc. it’s now completely understandable and guilt-free to not send an invite and say that you’re keeping things small!”
– Hannah West

“If I am being honest, I am not much of a planner, and have not enjoyed that much of the process.”
– Tara Rallis

“Having a more intimate wedding has definitely become a silver lining. It has made the wedding planning a lot less stressful and easier to enjoy because we are not worried about who to invite. We know at the end of the day the people who will be there on our wedding day are our closest family and friends.”
– Sarah Mckenna

What influenced your decision to either postpone your wedding or keep your date but lessen the guest list?

“We’ve been dating for so long and we are just ready. We didn’t want to postpone buying a house/starting a family and can always throw another party later on. Which will be cheaper when it’s just a party and not a “wedding”.
– Brittney Mitchell

“In all honesty it wasn’t our decision to make. My parents ended up making the final decision and they decided that counseling was what was best. They’re feeling a lot of pressure from other people telling them that it wasn’t OK to have a wedding right now. All the stress that they were feeling led them to making the final call.”
– Maddy Diab

“My fiancé and I both have large families and we’ve looked forward to having them all together for our wedding day for so long, that postponing was an easy decision. We’re still holding out hope that we can have all of our loved ones together (safely) next year!”
– Hannah West

“Two main reasons I postponed and didn’t cancel is to have that moment with my dad walking down the aisle and our father daughter dance. I wanted to also to be able to show our kids mom and dads wedding pictures.”
– Tara Rallis

“My fiancé and I have been planning to get married for almost 2 years now and I am so happy we were able to find a venue that would allow us to get married but with a limited guest list. We both agreed that getting married with our closest family and friends now is better than waiting for possibly another year when we have plans to buy a house together and want to start our lives as husband and wife.”
– Sarah Mckenna

What advice do you have for new brides who are recently engaged, and starting their planning process?

“Ask about a “covid clause” in vendor contracts so that only a small portion of your total is non-refundable. They should be flexible. Expect things to not go as planned but have fun anyways. Hire a full service coordinator. Go with your gut on what feel right to you as a couple, if it’s eloping alone – do it! Your wedding day is for the two of you and a day to be selfish – throw everyone else’s expectations out the window!”
– Brittney Mitchell

“For any bride that is planning their wedding right now I would say to wait! Wait wait wait! And if you’re not going to wait then be incredibly strong and powerful with a decision that you’re going to make a no that you’re gonna have a lot of backlash. Unless you want the wedding to be small and intimate right now it’s not a good time. Don’t listen to what anyone else has to say and do what makes you happiest because if you try to please other people you’re gonna end up suffering in the end.”
– Maddy Diab

“Take it slow, don’t feel pressured to have everything planned right away. And, start with your venue because it will determine the entire landscape of your wedding planning process. You’ll feel much better when that decision is made! Also, I highly recommend booking a venue that comes with a wedding coordinator! They’ll make the process much more enjoyable.”
– Hannah West

“Enjoy the process and laugh it off- at the end of the day all that matters is you get to marry your best friend.”
– Tara Rallis

“My fiancé and I have been planning to get married for almost 2 years now and I am so happy we were able to find a venue that would allow us to get married but with a limited guest list. We both agreed that getting married with our closest family and friends now is better than waiting for possibly another year when we have plans to buy a house together and want to start our lives as husband and wife.”
– Sarah Mckenna

Interested in an intimate ceremony?

Contact us at www.oldsugarmillweddings.com for more information!

or call us at (916) 744-1615 x1005