Coronavirus hit, and couples are Googling How to postpone your wedding. They’re facing hard decisions as they figure out how and when to postpone their special day. We advise couples to have a backup plan if it rains, or if the power goes out, but never a global pandemic.
There’s many options to weigh, while trying to stay positive, but also grieving wedding day plans. Shifting to a backup plan is never easy. Amanda and Mike’s story is one of strength, love, and choosing to make the best of the situation (not to mention with the sweetest surprise, but more on that later!)
Planning The Wedding
In July 2018, Mike proposed to Amanda in beautiful Maine. Amanda graduated from medical school this year, so they set their wedding date for April 10 before graduation. Doing things in the order that worked for them, they honeymooned in Hawaii a few months before their wedding. The year went on. Amanda attended her bachelorette party in February and they had their bridal shower in early March.
Suddenly, things started to change. Sporting events got cancelled, Mike cancelled his bachelor party, and the world was going into panic mode. They even attended one of their last meetings six weeks before wedding day, when Amanda told her wedding planner, “This is going to get much worse before it gets better and I really have a gut feeling we’re going to have to postpone.”
The next day, Governor Gretchen Whitmer recommended against gatherings larger than 250 people. Mike and Amanda had a 400 person guest list. They thought about the safety of their guests, the availability of their vendors, and the availability of a new date.
“We didn’t want people to have to pick between celebrating with us and staying home. It wasn’t fair to ask people to do something they weren’t comfortable with.”
Making The Hardest Decision
They pushed their wedding to April 2021. Amanda joked she never wanted a big wedding, but when wedding week came, the days were hard.
While she was supported by her family and friends, she withdrew from everyone wanting to be alone. There were so many emotions to process. She thought she was upset about their plans, but it was also about the state of the world and how this virus could affect the health of so many people they loved who could hopefully still attend their wedding next year.
The Big Surprise
The night before what would have been their wedding day, Amanda found something on Mike’s computer…
It was an itinerary of their day tomorrow. Little did she know..Mike had planned a surprise wedding at home!
They dressed up, dined at a beautifully set table, cut a cake, and had their first dance in their living room. After sharing these moments together, they jumped on Zoom calls with their family and friends to celebrate the day.
Planning a wedding is hard, and planning a wedding in a pandemic is even harder. Mike and Amanda overcame challenges, celebrated their love regardless of the situation, and even found silver linings along the way.
If you’d like to see a replay of our Instagram Live with Mike and Amanda, click here and tap on the middle IGTV tab on our profile.
Words of Wisdom
During the Instagram Live, Mike and Amanda left some words of wisdom which we’ll list for other couples below:
- As you notify guests about a change, have some sort of communication plan about who is going to contact who and don’t be afraid to split it up with your parents.
- Deciding to postpone your wedding is hard, but it allowed us to back out of a vendor we felt like we weren’t super happy with.
- Focus on what’s right for you, and try not to think about what everyone else is doing.
- If you decide to postpone your wedding, but don’t know where to start, a wedding planner is a great person to start with. If a wedding planner isn’t in the budget, you can always grab yourself a subscription to Salud here to virtually work with a planner.
