This Unforgettable Moment Never Would Have Happened if COVID Didn't Change Their Wedding Plans
Like many of us, exchanging personal vows in front a large audience can sound like a daunting experience (I know it did for me! Hellooo, bridal stage-fright is real) So when today's couple was forced to bring down their original guest count from a whopping 220 people to a mere 19, they decided to take advantage of the situation and craft their own vows. Turns out - it was their favorite memory of the day. One that never would have happened if they went through with their original wedding plans. how crazy is that?! To watch the magic unfold, don't miss out on the full gallery - taken by The Ganeys with planning from Riley Loves Lulu.
From the bride... Bay Area natives, Matt swam at the University of Virginia and Maddie played soccer at Boston College. As post-grads living in San Francisco, we both joined the Olympic Club to play our respective sports and meet new people. Little did we both know that the club would bring us to each other. We met over a few cocktails one Thursday night at the OClub bar after a swim dinner. We quickly bonded over playing sports at ACC schools, our dear college friendships and our passion for the outdoors. Matt asked me out and that was it. After three apartment moves, a puppy named George, many adventures and four years of dating, Matt proposed on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore with a few of our close friends and family watching. We spent the rest of the weekend skiing, drinking and celebrating our engagement.
Our original vision for our wedding day was a large, black tie wedding at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton on September 12th, 2020. When covid hit, it took Matt and I awhile to postpone. We had a really hard time letting go of our original wedding dream. Optimists at heart, we thought we might be able to have something of our original plan. We had also grown to love our 9/12/20 date and didn’t want to wait any longer to be married. I spent so much time leading up to the wedding concerned about what our wedding could NOT be and living in my fears about getting married without the big party. Would I feel fulfilled? Would I be upset the day of because my family and friends weren’t present? Would I regret getting married without a bachelorette party, a bridal shower or a rehearsal dinner? Would people want to celebrate us next year after we had already been married for a year? It wasn’t until a good friend (aka my therapist) encouraged me to start dreaming about what our day COULD BE and how I would feel standing at the altar marrying Matt that I started to love the idea of a microwedding. With a newfound excitement, our classic, black tie wedding evolved into an intimate backyard garden party. We pushed the larger reception to next year and shifted locations, deciding to get married on my parent’s property - a home that my grandparents bought in the 1970s. My mother was raised in the house and part of my parent’s wedding day was also there. I spent the morning of our wedding flipping through my parent’s wedding photos. It was so fun to see my parents celebrating their marriage in the same space that Matt and I were about to become husband and wife. Everyone present at the wedding felt and knew how incredibly special the location was. My grandparents always talked about their legacy and loved hosting gatherings in that backyard. Knowing that we were continuing our family legacy in their backyard is truly a feeling that is hard for me to articulate.
When I reflect on our wedding day, our ceremony is by far my most cherished memory. Matt and I both are extremely close to our siblings and we really wanted to include them as an integral part of our ceremony. My older brother Wes served as our officiant, crafting the most touching ceremony mixing the perfect balance between humor and heartfelt. Matt’s older sister Sarah read a poem while Matt’s younger sister Emily, a wonderfully talented singer, sang Can’t Help Falling in Love as the bridal processional and Make You Feel My Love part way through the ceremony.
Matt and I weren’t high on reading personal vows in front of 220 people. We feared ugly crying and it felt like far too much pressure. When we realized we only needed to say our vows in front of 19 people and into a camera for the livestream, we decided to craft our own. I am thrilled we did. We shared our favorite memories, our hopes and dreams for our marriage, and, of course, our promises to each other. It was still daunting and there was most definitely some ugly crying, but hearing and saying those words meant everything to us. At the end of the ceremony, we kissed, and danced down the aisle to Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder. Everyone kicked off the cocktail hour crying tears of joy and hugging each other. Every disappointment in wedding planning was worth that moment of pure, unfiltered celebration.
Matt and I weren’t high on reading personal vows in front of 220 people. We feared ugly crying and it felt like far too much pressure. When we realized we only needed to say our vows in front of 19 people and into a camera for the livestream, we decided to craft our own. I am thrilled we did. We shared our favorite memories, our hopes and dreams for our marriage, and, of course, our promises to each other. It was still daunting and there was most definitely some ugly crying, but hearing and saying those words meant everything to us. At the end of the ceremony, we kissed, and danced down the aisle to Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder. Everyone kicked off the cocktail hour crying tears of joy and hugging each other. Every disappointment in wedding planning was worth that moment of pure, unfiltered celebration.
The rest of the evening was spent drinking, toasting and dining around a long farm table under bistro lights. Our family surprised us with a compilation of video toasts from our friends and family from across the country. The toasts - both present and virtual - meant so much to us. Talk about ugly crying. After dinner, we cut the cake in front of our floral arch and under my favorite, “The Murrays” neon sign. We danced our first dance as husband and wife to Diamonds and Twine by Ryan Hurd and kicked off our tito and fresca filled evening. Our silent disco was a definite highlight allowing us to enjoy the party late into the night without disrupting our neighbors.
If I could give my fellow covid brides any piece of advice it is: it will all be worth it. With the help of my amazing vendors, our microwedding enabled me to incorporate some of the details I really wanted into our big day. Monogrammed napkins? Yep! Everyone sitting around one table? Easy! A neon sign dangling from a floral arch of my dreams? Why not!
Having a smaller wedding also enabled Matt and I to focus on what really mattered: our marriage. When the smoke from the fires turned our California sky a dark ominous orange 72 hours before our wedding, we just had to laugh (after sobbing for a bit #2020). We feel so fulfilled from our big day and cannot express enough gratitude to our family and friends who got covid tested to ensure a safe celebration and our vendors who made our wedding day a memory we will cherish forever.
If I could give my fellow covid brides any piece of advice it is: it will all be worth it. With the help of my amazing vendors, our microwedding enabled me to incorporate some of the details I really wanted into our big day. Monogrammed napkins? Yep! Everyone sitting around one table? Easy! A neon sign dangling from a floral arch of my dreams? Why not!
Having a smaller wedding also enabled Matt and I to focus on what really mattered: our marriage. When the smoke from the fires turned our California sky a dark ominous orange 72 hours before our wedding, we just had to laugh (after sobbing for a bit #2020). We feel so fulfilled from our big day and cannot express enough gratitude to our family and friends who got covid tested to ensure a safe celebration and our vendors who made our wedding day a memory we will cherish forever.
