Planning a Wedding During a Pandemic | Nicole + Brian's Love Story • Xsperience Photography

Planning a wedding during a pandemic can take a toll on even the most organized and optimistic bride. Planning a wedding in general is no easy task, but then you add the uncertainty, the anger and depression filling the air, literally life or death decisions, and stress can overpower the whole joy and meaning a wedding day is suppose to embrace. I asked Nicole to describe her journey through all this and I love how her and Brian chose to turn, what could be a very negative situation, into a positive life lesson they can carry with them through marriage!

“Since a little girl, I have always dreamed of my wedding day. I’d imagine everything from the most elegant of venues to the tiniest of details. Since Brian and I got engaged in April 2019, we have experienced every emotion possible in planning our wedding day. I have been over the moon excited to plan the flowers, decide the colors, choose the decor, ask one of my favorite acoustic performers to be a part of the day, and play dress up getting my hair and makeup done. Brian has been ecstatic to plan the DJ playlist, try all of the desserts [yes, this was the toughest part of wedding planning ;)], and decide on suits. We both were overjoyed to ask our friends and families to play special roles in our big day, have all of our loved ones in one room at the same time, and to capture our day in photos we knew we would cherish for a lifetime.

While all of these joys remained, we experienced emotions we never had anticipated when planning our wedding in 2020. For a few months, we were unsure. Unsure of what our wedding day would look like, unsure if we would be surrounded by our loved ones, and unsure if going forward with a wedding was the right decision given the unprecedented times our world is facing with the current coronavirus pandemic. Brian and I made the decision to move forward with our wedding with hearts [and minds] wide open. Although we were deeply saddened to not be able to have all of our family and friends there alongside us in person due to restrictions of social distancing and indoor occupancy limits, we can agree that we have the best support system behind us. Brian and I received such an outpouring of love, support, and gracious blessings leading up to, during, and after our wedding day. We truly have the best family, wedding party, friends, and vendors we could have dreamed of.

Looking back, getting married in 2020 was such a blessing (ask me three months ago and my answer would be quite different!). It allowed us to see the overwhelming amount of love and support we have behind us as we enter into this new journey as husband and wife. It taught us how to be patient, let go of the things we cannot control, and to have faith that God has a plan for us. It taught us to embrace the ups and downs life has to offer as we lift each other up and face them together.

We came out of wedding planning during a global pandemic, a stronger couple with a deeper appreciation for each other and every person in our lives. Planning our wedding went nothing like we had anticipated on that Spring day in April of 2019, but I’m not sure we would change any of it. Cheers to our new life as Mr. & Mrs. Schlichting!”

Now I know we all have very different opinions on how we should handle this “very wishy washy, confusing, pandemic” but I dare you to look at this love story unfold and try not to smile…in times like these, the best medicine is love and laughter, and that I think we can ALL agree on. So in a way, this wedding blog should be prescribed by every doctor, psychologist and news anchor right;)

Vendors:

If social distancing is more your thing check out THIS GORGEOUS IDAHO ELOPEMENT for inspiration!!

Planning a Wedding During a Pandemic | Nicole + Brian’s Love Story