Wedding Wednesday: Our Original Wedding Date

Many of you already know this if you follow me on Instagram but this past weekend was supposed to be our wedding...16 months (almost exactly) from the day my fiancé proposed. We had to postpone due to Coronavirus and you can read the details in this blog post.  I share that again because some people miss the information and ask a ton of questions, but I have tried to be as comprehensive as possible in blog posts because I know (unfortunately) so many others are dealing with similar situations and reading about our situation has helped them feel less alone. So definitely check out that blog post first. 

I also put together a list of ideas and ways to possibly celebrate a big milestone while at home. Today I wanted to share our weekend with all of you and how we celebrated what would have been our wedding day. One, I want to share because I have gotten tons of questions from friends and family members of people who have also had to postpone their weddings asking how to support the couple and what they can do. I don't think you need to send gifts or anything like that, but I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated the kind words, the thoughtful cards, and just the all-around show of support from my friends and family. I think the best thing you can do is be thoughtful and kind and supportive! I also want to share to document this past weekend forever and I'm sure you'll see why as I share... 

In hindsight, as wonderful as this past weekend was, I am SO glad that this weekend is behind us. I'm glad that there is no more April 25, 2020, looming over us. We got through it and now we only have the future to look forward to. I say this because leading up to this past weekend was a weird slew of emotions. One day I was relieved we postponed, one day I was incredibly sad, one day I wanted to ignore it all entirely, one day I was dreading it... the list goes on. Now that it has passed, I think a little bit of 'relief' has set in. I feel like the weight of April 25th is off of my shoulders and we only have the future to look forward to. If you have your original wedding date coming up, I can only hope you'll be able to feel peace about it, too. 

During the day on Friday, we were flooded by surprises from friends and family near, and far. Some dropping off baked goods, others sent flowers, some dropped off wine. My aunt and uncle sent my favorite Veuve Clicquot from Georgia! It was SO thoughtful. While the 'things' that they gave us don't matter, the thought meant the most in the world. 

Friday night we got takeout from our rehearsal dinner spot. We had champagne and red wine and just relaxed. Saturday we slept in, ate Chik Fil A for breakfast (our favorite), and actually did a second coat of paint on our master bathroom, haha!! It was hard going through that day but the painting really did help to take my mind off everything rather than just sitting there and wallowing. I looked at the clock at 2:59pm and said to my fiancé 'I would be about to walk down the aisle with my dad right now.'  As we were driving over to my parent's house that night, I looked at the clock again, and said 'you would have been my husband by now'. That kind of thing was tough.

My parents had told us to come over to their house at 6pm. All they told us was to 'dress up' and that they were going to make dinner for us (just the 4 of us) that we would have been serving at our wedding. The gesture was so sweet and so thoughtful and when they told me, I got tears in my eyes. 

So, we headed over, and on the way over, my fiancé said 'don't you think it's a little weird your parents told you to be there at 6pm sharp?'... I never even thought about it until he said something but I just assumed that is because they wanted everything to line up with our wedding timeline or something like that. 

We arrived and my parents were dressed up! We were greeted with champagne, the dining room table was beautifully set and my parents even hung string lights everywhere. My parents got a 'wedding cake', and even had all of our favorite appetizers for 'cocktail hour' (shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon dip, etc). My dad was so funny, even when we walked in, he had bagpipes playing from the speakers to replicate what it might have been like on our actual wedding day! 

It ended up being a beautiful night weather-wise so we went outside to enjoy everything on the front porch. All of a sudden, my aunt and uncle and cousin pulled up in their car. They had their own bottles of champagne in hand!! Then family friends started coming by with their own champagne. All of the neighbors came out of their houses and were banging on wind chimes and cheering and honking. 

You guys, I was SHOCKED. I cried!!! I could not believe what they had pulled off. So many friends and family all around supporting us. I was so overwhelmed in the best way possible.

A family friend of ours baked cookies and gave us them and called it our 'cookie' table. A family friend had one of the band members from our wedding band record us a special video and song for us to watch! I mean the thought from every single friend and family member was just truly something I could not have even imagined. 

April 25, 2020, was not what we had planned, but oh my goodness was it a night that I will never forget for the rest of my life. To say I feel unbelievably lucky is an understatement. My parents, family, and friends pulled out ALL of the stops. This will truly be a story that we will share forever. 

Although we are not married, we have so much to look forward to and so much to be grateful for. There's a silver lining in everything, and this is ours.