Isolation has led to a lot of our favourite activities coming to a close, but weddings don’t have to be one of them! Blaire and Tim have changed up the way we attend weddings, moving their big day to the screen with their guests tuning in over Zoom. Read on to hear all about their experience…
Change of plans…
With the wedding day swiftly arriving, the organisation and planning were in full swing. Unfortunately, circumstances took an unexpected turn with limitations on weddings meaning that the big day wouldn’t be going ahead anytime soon. This startled Blaire and Tim, as it did with most couples who had their wedding day approaching. Too eager to wait any longer, the couple already had more than a year of planning behind them, with had no intention of letting coronavirus put a halt to their big day.
The show must go on…
Ultimately canceling all their celebrations just 3 weeks before the planned date, the couple realised that rescheduling meant they wouldn’t be husband and wife until late 2020, possibly early 2021! “The thought of waiting another year to be married felt crazy; at the end of the day, what matters to us is that we love each other, and we just want to be married and grow old together already!” the couple tells us. Instead, they decided to have a small elope-style vow ceremony on the day of the wedding’s original date, April 4th. They brought together a small group in the backyard, including a couple of best friends and their closest family. Meanwhile, their loved ones joined via Zoom so that their nearest and dearest could still witness their ‘I do’ moment!
Magical music…
Fortunately, all the elements that Blaire and Tim chose to integrate into their big day translated perfectly over the internet! Their musician recorded a series of songs they had selected, their singer recorded their first dance song, and the photographer was still able to capture the ceremony for them.
Intimate moments…
Blaire mentions that as things were constantly changing by the minute, the couple came to accept that a lot of the situation was out of their control and that they would just have to “make the best of what we were given”. Very few plans were in place besides making time for all their family, spread across the country, to jump on Zoom and tune in to the nuptials. “The day felt a lot more casual and different to the day we had spent a year planning.” However, a positive that came out of this new wedding style is that Blaire and Tim were able to deliver longer and more personal vows that were shared privately. They could also focus on taking some couple portraits before the ceremony as there wasn’t a time crunch, and “thanks to technology, we felt so much love on our wedding day”.
Keeping It Special…
Blaire even got creative to ensure they kept the special moments that make a wedding day unforgettably romantic. “Tim had been looking forward to not seeing me before the wedding and having that ‘walking down the aisle’ moment, but that really wasn’t feasible given our new situation… so we decided to have a ‘ first look’ instead. To keep the ‘ first look’ moment, Tim got ready first and put on a blindfold while I put my dress on… Honestly, after Tim took the blindfold off, everything else just melted away and it instantly transformed into our perfect day,” Blaire said.
The Dress…
It may not have been the day that was planned, but Blaire still got to feel like a princess in her wedding dress! Blaire adored Grace Loves Lace from the get-go. The stretch lace and delicate design captured everything she dreamt of having in a dress, there was no doubt that the Bonita gown was ‘The One’. “As soon as we got to the Bonita, I know she was mine as soon as I put her on and looked in the mirror. The stretch lace, the drop shoulder, the neckline and back, the A-line cut – I was in love,” the bride says.
Wedding Wisdom…
Blaire and Tim’s advice for other couples considering a virtual wedding would be to “do whatever feels right for you! It’s so easy to get caught up with plans and things and stuff when planning a wedding, but at the end of the day, all that matters is love. When you take away all the plans and expectations and open up to what the world can bring you, you find that love can be found and felt in all kinds of surprising ways.”. Congratulations Blaire and Tim!
Looking for ways to plan your wedding during COVID-19? Click here to read all about how to do it!
Dress: Grace Loves Lace / Musician: Leah Keane, Javier Amezcua & Dan Spielman / Photographer: Jackie Batch / Florals: Native Poppy / Cake: Nothing Bunt Cakes