Diary of a COVID Bride

Greg proposed to me in May 2019 while on-board the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship on a Caribbean cruise with his family. He proposed on the balcony overlooking the water, it was the perfect proposal, during a perfect vacation.

When we arrived back home from our cruise, we excitedly dove into our wedding planning right away. By summer 2019, we had our venue booked at the beautiful White Point Beach Resort in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, with our date set of May 17, 2020 on the Canadian long weekend in May.

Our original invitations, with our wedding date of “May 17, 2020”

The next year of planning flew by, and in March 2020 we were just putting together the final details before our big day. All of a sudden, all of our planning and excitement was put on hold as the pandemic started to get worse and worse. Myself and other 2020 brides started creating back-up plans so that we had something in place for the worse case scenario. We quickly called White Point and managed to secure a date in September 2020 hoping that everything would be settled down by then.

White Point Beach Resort, Liverpool, Nova Scotia

Greg and I (disappointed but relieved that we were able to secure another date in 2020) started replanning the details and contacting all of our vendors. All of which were more than accommodating and helpful with rescheduling to our new date. We resent our invitations and informed all of our family and friends of the new date.

On May 17th, 2020, what would have been our original wedding date, Greg and I made the most of our special day. We can’t recommend this enough for any couple that had to reschedule their wedding for any reason – still do something special together and make the most of the time you have together. On May 17th we woke up and ordered breakfast from Skip the Dishes – so that we could have a delicious, fancy breakfast and not have to do any work. After breakfast, we went outside (and of course it was a GORGEOUS day!) and spent the entire day together on our back deck. We played board games and had summery drinks together, and just spent the day enjoying our time together. That evening, we had cooked a lovely meal together. We made brisket, ravioli, potatoes, mussels, and stuffed mushrooms – which were some of the dishes that we were offering at our wedding. Then we had a little cake to finish off and watched a movie together. Notice how many times I wrote “Together”, that was the key point for the day. It really was the perfect day, and the distraction was so great that I didn’t even shed a single tear. Not one! And I can be very emotional! But despite all of the disappointment, we just spent the day being thankful for one another, and knew that we would be married soon enough.

The meal Greg and I made together on our “almost” wedding date,.

Three days later, more news hit. White Point Beach Resort had called us to tell us that they were cancelling all of their weddings until the end of September. I’m not going to lie, on this day I definitely did cry. It was a lot of disappointment yet again, and we had JUST sent out the new wedding invitations the week before. It was a hard evening for us both as we had to go right back to the drawing board again. White Point had cancelled for understandable reasons – this is a very uncertain time for everyone, including businesses. So don’t forget to still be nice, no matter who it is!

I called White Point a few days later to secure a new date for 2021 (let’s be honest, we are all over 2020 at this point, right?) however, they were so booked up now for 2021 that they couldn’t secure a new date for us. Again, totally understandable, but we were back to the drawing board completely now.

We were both starting to feel pretty discouraged. Looking back now, White Point cancelling the wedding was actually a blessing for us. Greg is from the United States, and all of his family and his half of the wedding party all live in the states. So with the travel ban still in effect (writing this in August and it still doesn’t look promising!) there was no way that September would have worked out. And more than anything we want his family there for our big day too.

The following weekend, my Maid of Honour was texting me with ideas to help us plan. All of a sudden, Greg asked me “Why don’t we start looking at venues in Halifax? My family will be landing at the Halifax airport anyway, and then it’s less additional travel and there’s a lot more for everyone to do!” Perfect. We now had a new goal: Find a wedding venue that we both loved (and was affordable) in Halifax.

We both spent the day out on the back deck on our phones looking up possible wedding venues on Wedding Wire (if you haven’t used this app or website to plan your wedding yet – I highly recommend!) All of a sudden, Greg noticed a particular venue and said “You never told me that we could get married on a SHIP!” and showed me the Tall Ship Silva in the Halifax harbour. Greg is obsessed with all things nautical and the ocean, living in Ohio he was no where near the ocean but he absolutely loves the water. That’s part of the reason that we had originally chosen White Point as our venue, because it was right on the water. Now, he had found the perfect nautical venue, literally ON the water.

Greg & I in front of the Tall Ship Silva, Halifax, Nova Scotia

All of a sudden, we were both really excited again. Totally starting fresh and figuring out the perfect wedding that fit both of our needs and personalities. We had now found our ceremony location: Tall Ship Silva, and our reception location: The Lower Deck – Tap Room. Who knew that the Lower Deck had a third floor venue room? Perfect! We couldn’t ask for a more Halifax or “Maritimer” wedding than this!

Greg and I aboard the Tall Ship Silva, in Halifax, NS

Quickly and excitedly, our new plans came into place, and we have a brand new wedding date on the (Canadian) long weekend in May next year in 2021. At this point we all have our fingers crossed and hoping that everything has calmed down by then enough that our American family and friends can join us for our big day.

I am so thankful that even though this entire process has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, that I have the best fiancé by my side. I am so lucky and blessed to get to marry my best friend, and can’t wait for that day, whenever it will be.

But third time’s a charm, right?

To check out our wedding planning fun in Halifax, check out our YouTube vlog here:

Don’t be shy! We want to hear from you! Any tips you have as a COVID bride or groom? Let us know in the comments!

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