How are you brides coping with this year (and beyond)?

This year was definitely a lesson in letting go of expectations pretty early on. From Covid to terminally ill FMIL we have had to adapt to change and really just be in the moment and enjoy each moment so far. Yes it’s come with a degree of stress, some disappointment, but we have things to look forward to as well. The changes in plans have allowed us to get more creative & change to a more beautiful venue. There is definitely a large amount of good that came out of this year.

I think it's remembering the purpose of the day is you're marrying your husband not about the ceremony being a certain way. No disrespect to other Brides but any restrictions or what not wouldn't bother me because I just want to marry my man and become his wife. That's what matters most.

I went through so many stages of emotion. At the beginning of all this I was cocky and thought that it wouldn’t even affect my wedding. I’ve been bitter because I’ve felt like some of the normalcy has been taken from me. My anxiety was terrible in July when all I could think was majority of my guest wouldn’t show. Now that we are a month away I’m feeling much better about things, I still gets bouts of anxiety. So far more guest have rsvpd than I honestly expected. I’m just praying that Missouri doesn’t tighten up restrictions. We’ve been lucky because Missouri opened back up fully in June and our governor has no interest in imposing restrictions. Now I’m just worried about everything going the way I imagined in my head, and my fiancé’s grandparents attending. I take it one day at a time. When I get emotional, I just cry it out and know that tomorrow will be a different day. My fiancé has been so incredibly supportive, and has been doing great at planning.

At first, before we postponed our July 2020 wedding, I was a total emotional roller coaster. The unknown surrounding our wedding was just awful, and it was getting to both me and my fiance. Once we decided to postpone, it took a lot of pressure off of everything and things improved. I now feel so much more relaxed, since my wedding is delayed to 2022. So much easier for me to keep a positive attitude. Plenty of time to perfect plans, focus on small details, etc. Our governor announced tighter restrictions on the day before our original date, which took effect on our original date. If we hadn't postponed, we would have had to cancel/postpone literally the day before our wedding due to the restrictions, so I'm super relieved that we postponed when we did. We kept a positive attitude by planning a fun weekend getaway for our original date, and planned fun dates nights for us throughout the summer. I'm a little nervous that COVID is still going to be an issue by 2022, but I try to remember that it's out of my control and I have two years to figure things out. If COVID is still a major threat by 2022, we'll work around it in any way we'd need to. I'm not planning to postpone again. Just keep pushing ahead and be willing to be flexible.

View Quoted Comment I totally get it, my wedding isn’t until 2022 as well but by then I am hoping we have a better understanding of this virus as well as treatments. I do know that something has to give as we cannot continue to live our lives the way we have this year. There has been too much damage and devastation, we need a sense of normalcy again. The fact that we both have weddings in 2022 has me relieved as well as something tells me next year is going to be total chaos especially if things start to turn around and improve. Sending you lots of hugs!

I was devestated, but luckily I was able to get all my money back. Now, I'm paranoid about a second wave and that things will be shut down again. Due to this, my FH and I have decided to either elope or only have my mom and his parents as guests.

Hi Rachel! We postponed from 11/14/20 to 12/04/21. I have an anxiety condition so I worry A LOT. Covid has certainly not helped. I stress about usually wedding stuff plus the worry that things still won't be better by then. I have regrets for my choices (many of them) but I can't change them so I'm working to let go. I fear if things aren't better that we will postpone again ($500 fee for doing so) and at that point we will have to re-evaluate our expectations because honestly, if by 2022 things aren't better then they won't be for a LONG time and we'll have to settle. If we can proceed next year, it still might not be exactly as expected- and that's a stress and fear, too.


As far as coping and hope.. My FH is really my rock and my light. The reality is that I'm struggling, deeply and often. My life has drastically changed in a short time and I feel really alone almost all the time (outside my FH that is, but I miss friendships.) Therapy is important, medication, self care, and a support system. Hang in there ❤

View Quoted Comment Hi, Casey!


I needed this comment today! I can totally relate to how you’re feeling. My wedding is in September 2022, but now because of these wildfires happening in California, I’m worried about that and have thought about moving up our wedding date (if possible, we’ll see). Our wedding ceremony is going to take place on the beach here in California so that’s why I’m a little concerned. It’s crazy that even though my wedding is two years away, I’m still worrying. I worry a lot as well. I always expect the worst in many situations, but I do think that by the end of 2021 we will have a better understanding of this virus and we will see things turn around, even before then. I would not lose hope about that. Rest assured that your wedding will still be fabulous and worth the hassle and wait! I think we all have the perfect image of our wedding in our minds and we lost focus on the fact that this is a day where we marry the love of our life. You hang in there as well, I’m keeping faith that we will see some positive things happen next year 💕

For myself, I have to plan, plan, and have backup plans. LOL So when FH and I decided to move forward with the big celebration I made three other plans for "just in case" situations. That is honestly what's been helping me so much with planning. I also don't stay on this site for too long because I get anxious and forget that I have other things to do LOL I also have the checklist that I check off the boxes the tasks I have completed and what else I need to do. When I do feel I am starting to get too negative about things, I dance to my favorite songs and memes LOL I always like to say how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Also, just laughing and brushing things off because I know things are not going to go exactly the way they are planned and it will be a gorgeous day anyways!! I hope some of the things I do help you with how you feel. I know right now it's stressful and can be overwhelming but we are all in the same boat of getting married and figuring out all those details so if we stick together and work through it we got this!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much 💗 I needed your reply today, too! You are right, I just need to keiko positive! Chin up haha.


As for your wedding- don't worry! The wildfires can't last forever! We will eventually get them! The good news is that the beach is probably safe and will remain beautiful and untouched! The woods will need time to recover but I have faith they will (with years of time 🤧 but not never, trees just grow slowly.) I'm positive you will get the wedding of your dreams ❤

View Quoted Comment I totally agree with you - by 2022, either we will all be adjusted to a new normal if COVID is still a major threat, or (even better) hopefully the whole COVID scenario will be greatly improved either through new treatments or additional studies. The virus and the impact from it won't go away overnight, but I'm also concerned that the shutdowns and tight restrictions won't be sustainable for multiple years. Something has to give. So many industries, jobs, and everyone's health at stake, no matter what decisions are made. It'll take time, but I'm hoping for the best for everyone!! I think you were smart to set your wedding date to 2022, I truly believe things will at least be more stable by then.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for the kind words, Lisa. I agree with you 100%! I think we will have a way better understanding and have better expectations by 2022, that is for sure. I am also curious to see how things with Covid shake out for the rest of this year, especially by December. I think that if we aren’t able to get things figured out by then or at least by 2021, that would be sad. I am truly optimistic that we will have some answers by then. We definitely can’t afford more shut downs in California, that is for sure. If we just have regulations/rules in place, that’s good enough for me. I believe the people have suffered enough this year and we should be able to go back to some sort of normalcy, whatever that looks like!

We had a vision for our wedding shortly after we got engaged and kept that vision through the end of 2019 and then suddenly changed our direction. So basically our wedding was all planned and decided this year beginning after the new year. After a ton of research and already booked venues - we were willing to settle on a location familiar to us. But then this venue popped up and they had our date open and we decided on it site unseen (that was Valentines weekend) we told our Event Manager to block and contract us. We also decided we'd change our annual extended weekend getaway to visit the venue / resort in the Keys. This would be 3 weeks after asking for a contract. We visited the resort, fell in love and told our manager again, contract us, we'll give you the deposit then.... 2 weeks passes, no contract. The WORLD shuts down... the resort closed down, no contract.... So basically from March until June we were just waiting for the resort to reopen and get our contract and trust that they held it for us. They did. so basically our wedding planning really didn't start until June. Other than that March hiccup, it's been pretty smooth sailing. My dress arrived in March, got it altered in July / August and now we're just handing the fine-tuning. All in all, despite Covid we held our faith and trust in God for everything to work out for us and so far it has. 30-days to go and trusting all will continue on this path.

No event (weddings included) are ever 100% perfect. There are always flaws but only the planner ever sees those. The guests have no clue that you're upset they gave you white linen for an evening dinner versus ivory (white always rubs and leaves residue on women's dress slacks). I suspect something will go wrong, but WHO CARES if I get to marry my best friend, lover and soul mate.

I am the MOB of a 2020 Covid bride in the Bay Area (CA). Her original wedding was supposed to be in June but by April she postponed it to August. She also had to change venues because her original one was in a county that had very tight restrictions. Her new venue ended up being a godsend (gave us 50% discount on venue fee since they had so many cancellations and included day of coordinator). It was a beautiful day

(before the heat waves and fires happened) and all Covid protocols were in place with 85 guests on 10 acres with outdoor ceremony and reception. The only disappointment was that the bride/groom's military comrades (to include officiant) could not attend due to the military ban, so her grandfather stepped in to officiate. I will admit we were on pins and needles from March-day of wedding praying there would be no more restrictions/shutdowns.