Planning A Wedding In 2020 From A Bride's Perspective (Part 2)

Hi! My name is Holly, and my husband Nick and I got married this August, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nick and I had originally planned on getting married at Cicero United Methodist Church in October. When we first started thinking about having a “microwedding,” though, we thought we’d just get married at the courthouse, with our parents and siblings as our only guests.

Eventually, this changed, and we decided to go ahead with our church ceremony as planned, just with fewer guests. Our guest list ended up being about twenty people -- our parents, our siblings, my grandparents, and a few aunts and uncles. Though we were feeling sad at the prospect of downsizing our wedding plans, the decision to make this day special in its own way really reinvigorated us, and made us focus on getting details like the music and the ceremony readings just right.

Keeping our church ceremony as planned turned out wonderfully, even with the smaller guest list and added precautions. Our families socially distanced in the church pews and wore masks, but we still felt the love all the same as we walked down the aisle. I even got to wear my wedding dress (I had originally bought a shorter white dress to wear to the courthouse, which I wound up wearing to our after-ceremony reception).

The fact that it was just our immediate families in attendance gave the ceremony an extra bit of intimacy and poignancy as well. We were able to laugh when we accidentally flubbed parts of the wedding ceremony, and we didn’t feel awkward when we both teared up a bit during the readings. Our family members also ended up playing integral roles in the ceremony. One of my uncles is the pastor who married us, and two of my other uncles performed readings. Our brothers were our attendants, complete with Nick’s brother handling the rings and my brother holding my bouquet. All of these details made the ceremony all the more special.

After the ceremony, we had a small reception at my parents’ house. Again, the love of our families was in every detail of the reception. My mom set up wedding decorations around the house, and my aunt made the (delicious) appetizers and cookies we served to the guests. Dinner was Nick and I’s favorite -- Italian food! The reception was low-key, but we had a ton of fun. The most special part of the evening was our first dance, which we had in my parents’ kitchen. We hadn’t planned on doing a first dance, but it ended up being such a sweet moment. Our “microwedding” turned out to be such an amazing, special day, and I couldn’t be happier that we went through with it.

If you and your partner are considering a microwedding or minimony, here are three suggestions I would give:

1. Decide what matters to you.

For Nick and I, we really cared about having formal photos to remember our day by, and to share with our loved ones who weren’t able to attend our microwedding. Because these were top priorities for us, we decided to have professional photographs taken by Brittany, as we had originally planned for our larger ceremony, and we also decided to still wear our formal wedding attire. I’m so glad we did, because these are pictures we will cherish forever. If you’re downsizing your nuptials, my advice would be to focus on the parts of your original wedding plan you most want to keep for your smaller celebration.

2. Enlist the help of loved ones.

I was so touched by how many of our friends and relatives, both near and far, wanted to help us have a special day. If you are planning a minimony, don’t be afraid to say “yes” when your loved ones ask if they can help. Even a fifteen or twenty-person ceremony can be stressful to plan at times -- you are still getting married, after all! I especially leaned on my mom a LOT, as well as my aunts.

3. Enjoy every moment.

Heather, the previous bride that Brittany featured, said it best - any wedding day goes by quickly, but a minimony/microwedding goes by even quicker! I tried to make sure I was fully present in all of the moments that day, but especially the ceremony. I took time to notice all the little things, like the way the light shone on my partner in the church, and every decoration my family put in the house and the backyard for the reception. I’m so glad I did -- I’ve been finding myself reliving these moments time and time again. :)