The two weeks before their wedding were extremely stressful for Kait and Ian. "It evolved into elaborate plans to keep our guests safe by installing hand sanitizer stations, putting gloves and masks out at the reception, providing travel sized sanitizer and wipes in welcome bags. Wedding planning is stressful to begin with and when we were in the home stretch and it felt like the stressful part was done, it started all over again." When the CDC recommended limiting gatherings to under 50 people, they made the decision to reschedule the big party, but get married officially anyway! The biggest thing is that they, just like all of my other couples that are dealing with this, had this experience together and worked together to stay positive and make things work. "It was definitely one of the toughest things we’ve ever done as a couple, but the decision was the right one. We felt a sense of relief as soon as we told everyone."
I feel terribly sad for all of my couples having to reschedule or cancel plans therefore I reached out to all of them offering complimentary photography for a small ceremony or just photos of the two of them if they decide to reschedule the big celebration. Since Kait and Ian decided to do a small ceremony in her parent's backyard here in Tampa with just their parents and Kait's brother officiating, I was able to capture it for them while still practicing social distancing. They also invited all of their wedding party and close family to join them on Zoom! It was brilliant and everyone had a blast celebrating together. Kait even FaceTimed with her bridesmaids in the morning while she was getting ready. Everyone was still involved and included. "My dad installed a canopy/trellis in the backyard, my brother got ordained by the universal life church to marry us, and my mom organized and set up every detail. Ian’s parents drove all the way here from Jacksonville (with gloves and extra precautions, of course). We felt so loved and supported because everyone just wanted to see us get married to each other." The flowers from 2Birds from their original wedding plans still got delivered since they had already been ordered so they made the best of it!
"We were able to focus on the most important part of the wedding—our marriage and our future together as a couple. In that moment that we saw each other and locked eyes, it was like everything going on outside of us wasn’t there anymore. For a few moments, we were able to forget about the pandemic and the fear and the stress. It was like a dream!" Please enjoy their images and some fun gifs below!
