A girl dreams of her wedding her whole life; the style of her dress, the type of flowers, and the venue. Then imagine one of the biggest days of your life coming to a halt due to a pandemic. This is what so many brides of 2020 have encountered this year. The restrictions and precautions set in place all over the U.S left many brides with no choice but to postpone or change their wedding plans all together. Unfortunately, I was one of those brides. 

beach proposal

Beachside Marriage Proposal

On August 13th, 2019 the man of my dreams proposed to me on the beach where we met 10 years prior. Cocoa Beach, FL had always been a special place to both of us and now had even more of a sentimental meaning. He brought me down to the beach where we were supposed to meet his family for pictures but then he got down on one knee. He surprised me with flying my parents down too!  As an excited bride, I began bringing my wedding Pinterest board to life. The whole wedding planning process had been slightly stressful but generally smooth sailing until March 2020 when COVID-19 hit the U.S. 

COVID-19 affected me personally in multiple ways, not only due to my wedding but my career in the medical field. I work for a hospital system in outpatient physical therapy where I was redeployed to Inpatient Rehabilitation, which is a department I had never worked in before. My co-workers and I were pulled to the frontlines to work directly with the COVID-19 patients. I was learning a whole new department and documentation all while in the chaos of a pandemic, talk about stress! Now, seeing the severity of the condition of these patients I began to become concerned with what my wedding date would look like. Would COVID-19 still be affecting us this drastically? Would people feel comfortable being in large crowds? Would I be able to have my wedding at all this year? As the Governor continued to add restrictions and precautions to the state of Michigan, I knew things were going to get worse before they would get better.

The world was in a panic and the numbers were rising each day. As stressful as my new job situation was, I was grateful to be employed, however, I always had an uneasy feeling walking into the hospital. While working with the COVID-19 patients it made me realize the gravity of the situation. This influenced my fiancé and me to reach out to our wedding venue in mid to late May about changing our wedding date. The venue was giving us push back because they felt it was too early to change our date. They continued to express how they wanted to wait until it was closer to our date to know what the current restrictions would be. Now not only was I dealing with the stress of working at the hospital but now I was trying to figure out if my wedding was going to even happen. Imagine, going to work and working in an N-95 mask, surgical mask, gown, two pairs of gloves, and a face shield to treat patients, then coming home to deal with the chaos of trying to reschedule your wedding. It was physically and emotionally exhausting. Finally, after my fiancé made multiple phone calls they agreed to work with us and give us a new wedding date, August 14th, 2021. All of our vendors were able to change our wedding date as well which was a miracle! 

Starfish Ornament, Starfish Wine Stopper

Silver Linings in a Postponed Wedding

As we went through this process continued to reflect on my relationship with my fiancé. Our love has always been patient and our relationship has never been rushed. I know I will always love him and we both deserve the wedding we have always dreamed of. We were never hesitant about changing our date. In our hearts, we knew we wanted to keep our friends and family safe. Postponing the wedding was the best way to do that. There is never a right answer for a situation like this for a couple. So many people keep saying “I’m so sorry you had to postpone your wedding.” But honestly, we felt good about our choice and we’re confident that changing our wedding date was the right thing to do. There was less stress, less risk of people getting the virus, and everything worked out perfectly! This process has not always been an easy experience but thanks to Dune Jewelry I am able to remember this experience in such a unique and special way. These beautiful pieces will always have a special place in our hearts and will forever be cherished.

 

This story was lovingly shared by Wave Maker Lauren V.

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