Today marks 4 WEEKS until our big day! 4 WEEKS!!! How is this even possible?! We were engaged in July of 2019 on Grand Turk during a cruise. It is where we truly fell in love, got engaged and knew immediately that we wanted to get married there while on another cruise. We talked to both of our families and asked if they would be willing to join us and they happily agreed. We arranged and paid for entirety of the event for everyone...and then COVID hit. At first, we hesitated about cancelling ourselves as we had no clue what the future would hold (as most people felt, I think) and would lose everything we invested. The more we learned about the pandemic, the more uncomfortable we got about keeping our plans. Luckily the cruise line cancelled, and we were able to recover almost all the funds we spent. I know that this was not the case for everyone, so I feel very blessed.
We were determined to get married this year. We found a local resort here in Florida that could accommodate our small wedding of only 18 people. We intended on getting married on the beach, super simple and casual. It has turned in to more of a traditional wedding, but it has been such a treat to really go through the planning process despite the current state of our world. When you get married on a cruise you have very little control over planning and there is definitely no choice in vendors. At least I got to choose my photographer and DJ which I am super pumped about!
This is a second marriage for both of us. He had an enormous wedding the first time around and mine was on a larger scale too. We knew when we decided to get married that we wanted it to be just our closest family and friends. We feel so lucky to have been brought together after everything that we have been through individually to get to where we are today. I am feeling so blessed to still be able to move forward with our wedding this year. In the same breath I feel terrible for all the couples who want and deserve to have their dream weddings and had to postpone. If you made it this far, I just wanted to say that it will happen. There is a light at the end of this crazy tunnel. It may not be what you originally thought it was going to be, but you will have your day and it will be spectacular!! I seriously cannot wait!!