Why would anyone get married during a global pandemic?
It’s been a year since the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns started in the US. Since then, we’ve lost more than five hundred thousand souls, our way of life and in some estimates a $16 Trillion cumulative economic hit from drivers like mental health impairment and long-term complications due to the virus.
While I don’t want to trivialize these very disturbing data, it’s incredible to think that amongst this chaos my then boyfriend and I decided to get engaged in 2020. Wedding planning is laughably and stereotypically stressful—there are a myriad of shows dedicated to documenting this fact. And yet, after getting engaged in September 2020, we intentionally chose to get married a mere 4 months thereafter.
Why would anyone get married during a global pandemic?
When Kevin and I talked about our wedding (pre-covid) we always wanted something low key. In our ideal world, we wanted to go to the courthouse, sign some papers, then head off on a month long honeymoon eating our way through Japan. Not only was an international honeymoon completely out of the picture but local governments were a little tied up with preparing for an unprecedented amount of mail-in ballots for the 2020 Elections. This meant that the courthouse, in all its simple glory, would not be an option for us.
So in the most backwards of circumstances, the coronavirus actually prompted us to plan a bigger and more complex wedding than we would have ever had. In the end, I don’t regret a single moment of it.
On our fifth anniversary on January 5, 2021 I got to marry my best friend in a gorgeous barn in front of a total of 4 people (our lovely parents). The ceremony lasted about 20 mins in real time, but in my head happened in beautiful slow motion. We promised each other to fill our lives with adventure and our home with laughter. We promised to encourage each other to grow as individuals. Most importantly, we promised love each other completely.
After the ceremony, the rest of our families joined us in the ventilated barn and sat by household for dinner. Through glimmering candlelight, we ate and drank. Kevin and I even had our first dance while a violinist played softly in the background.
I am nowhere near eloquent enough to describe all the ways that COVID sucks, but I am forever thankful that the pandemic led me to this moment in time I will cherish forever and ever.
