David and Ivy 's Wedding in Waltham, Massachusetts

The story of our wedding

Plans changed constantly with our wedding. When COVID hit and our wedding venue cancelled, we were crushed. But we were so grateful that my parents offered their home to us for our wedding, which is the same home that I grew up at (which ended up making the day extra sweet!) We re-planned every detail of the wedding in just two months. The week of the wedding, a huge tropical storm was in sight to hit on the wedding day and we were again crushed that our dreams and plans would be ruined. Thankfully, the night before, the weather report looked better and better, and the day turned out beautiful. The anxiety, frustration and fear prior to the wedding, paid off for the most amazing day of our lives. We had a blast and the intimacy of a small wedding was a blessing in disguise, as we were able to truly enjoy time with our guests and with each other.Although we had to cut our guest list significantly (250 to 30), we live streamed our wedding via Zoom and had a Facebook group for people to post selfies and complete our virtual mad-lib guest book and virtual "How Well Do You Know the Bride and Groom" quiz. Both our online and in person guests had a blast and those in person said it was the best backyard wedding they had ever been to!In addition, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019 and I knew I wanted to honor her at the wedding. I surprised her at the wedding with a mother-daughter dance to a song that has defined our relationship, "Don't Change" by Musiq Soulchild. Seeing her light up with surprise and excitement and cry happy tears during our dance was one of the best moments of my life.We had the wedding of our dreams, even with the drastic change of plans. As I said in my vows, "Today might not be how we planned, but I get to spend the rest of my life with you, and that in itself is greater than any plan I had ever imagined". We realized the true meaning of a wedding, finding each other and starting our forever, so although COVID sucks, we are so grateful that something out of our control, grounded us in what is important.