2 Ceremonies

How far apart are you thinking to do the reception? We plan to get married regardless on our day, and if we can’t have all our guests we will elope and have a vow renewal and reception next year or possibly 2022. I wouldn’t really call it a re-enactment, usually it’s called a vow renewal or re-commitment ceremony, which I think is going to be happening a lot due to restrictions but is also something people have been doing prior to Covid too. My aunt did a vow renewal on her tenth anniversary.

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Yeah, we are thinking about doing it a year later. The big thing is I want a wedding video that is complete and not missing the ceremony or the reception.

We’re having a very intimate “elopement” with just our parents. Our photographer is coming for 1-2 hours and we also have her for our vow renewal / celebration with our original guest count of 30 later on.

I’m not sure how different or similar the vow renewal will be. We haven’t gotten that far as we’re reconfiguring things.

Do you have a friend or another photographer who could photograph your smaller wedding?

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We're planning on asking a friend of ours to photograph the more intimate wedding ceremony because of course, we want that documented as well. We're in the same boat, we just began thinking about all of this because 3 days ago we were fine to do it as we wanted.

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Oh that’s good! Yeah I would definitely want both documented tbh.

I’m just focusing on rescheduling everything and doing the elopement and then I feel like we’ll be able to take time to think about what we want to integrate into the larger celebration

My brain is pretty much fried at this point lol

View Quoted Comment If you have it in your budget, I’d try to hire someone for just a couple hours for your ceremony this year, and have your photog/videog at the celebration next year with a re-commitment/vow renewal. You could do the exact same vows if you wanted. If it’s not in your budget to pay for a couple hours on your day this year and the package next year, do you have any friends or family that could record it this year? Or know anyone with a nice camera and tripod you could borrow to set up and record? It won’t have the same cinematic value obviously, but you would still have this moment. You could also check Wedmix (I think that’s the name), they will edit your footage into a wedding video and you can even rent their cameras if needed. Good luck!

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It's so nice to be able to relate... Who'd have ever thought we'd have to plan around a worldwide pandemic? Jared and I are almost glad that we can push the fancy, large reception and ceremony back because who knows, maybe our "dreams and ideas" of a wedding will change anyways!

I was thinking of Wedit https://www.wedit.com/, which I guess is still kind of pricey or I Do Cam https://idocam.com/

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That's wise! I think we have a friend who would be more than willing to photograph it for us, which is so helpful! We could probably do the same with someone recording it! And then our company could just come to the vow-renewal/reception and we'd have two cool videos and picture moments!

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It’s so true! I’m starting to feel much better about postponing because it gives us time to save more and have a better wedding.

We’re looking at and are in the process of booking a different ceremony venue, and I’m buying another dress. They’re the two things I felt like I wasn’t satisfied with fully. Not that that matters entirely.

Also I’m excited to take new vows, and see how differently they will be 10 months from now, and to get to share with our close friends and family.

View Quoted Comment That would be awesome, you could even show the video at the reception if you wanted to. I would definitely want to have pictures from both the original ceremony this year and next year. You’ll definitely have stories to tell about this whole experience someday!

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I'd say we have some unique opportunites a lot of people don't get. We'll have been married for however long when we get to recommit and know how powerful those vows are. I think that's kind of cool. And it's awesome that now you'll have the chance to be satisfied with the things you weren't quite content with! Are you going to wear your dress when you elope?

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My future father-in-law suggested the same thing. I think that would be pretty neat! Its almost special that we have such a unique time to plan weddings, but its also nice knowing I'm not the only bride out there going through this. Having positive vibes from other brides is a good way to help me see the unique opportunity and joys that will come through this!

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I agree! It is definitely an opportunity I was a little sad for a few days of course, but I’m coming out of it with some new things to look forward to!

I am planning on wearing my original dress when I elope! FH was a little disappointed when I mentioned this so we agreed a new dress would be a nice addition and surprise for our renewal and celebration He wants to be surprised as much as I do. I don’t know what his attire will look like except for the colors we picked.

What sort of things are you integrating or changing?

View Quoted Comment I agree! Someday I’m going to tell my grandchildren that their grandpa and I overcame a global pandemic together! If we end up having to cancel our wedding this September, I’m going to try to look at it as getting two special days- eloping this year and having the big wedding next year (or 2022).

I think I would probably save that for the larger celebration and get someone else like a friend to do the intimate one

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Since we're anticipating a more casual and less formal ceremony, I think I'll get a different dress, still white and pretty, but less grand and uncomfortable for a small wedding! I think we'll still do a reveal because I'll still be more dressed up than my usual attire We may do some sort of outdoor under our church's Pavillion, or we might do it in the yard of my parent's house. We'll probably keep most of the larger ceremony and reception the same, but that's subject to change as we may have a year to think about it!

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I am more relieved that we have time to think about and plan our bigger celebration

Fortunately my original dress wasn’t “too big” or grand...I think I would have liked something a little simpler, but I already have the dress and would rather plan for a different dress next year.

We rented a gazebo at a garden at a nearby park for a 3 hour window for our micro / elopement ceremony. So it ought work out rain or shine 🌞 🌧