Your celebration has required adjustments. Nothing you anticipated and nothing you would have chosen. One option is to roll up your sleeves and with grit, class, and determination make a day of it in your special way.
That sounds like easy peasy advice, particularly when you had built up your anticipation, made meticulous preparations, paid deposits, and now are left holding the bouquet in your hands with no particular place to go.
Feel free to grieve about all the plans that did not go as expected. It is a real loss, no need to pretend otherwise. Let it all out and have a good cry if you need it. Then pick yourself up, plan a little something anyway, and know that when the rescheduled day eventually comes everyone will be so thrilled to celebrate with you!
Until that day, think about how will you want to remember “the day that would have been.” If you can, don’t let it pass unmarked. The last thing you want to do is remember it with sadness. That is not what you are about when it comes to your love for each other! A wedding, vow renewal, or a baby naming is all about the joy of having Love in our lives.
So to help you keep the day joyful and memorable, here are a few more tips:
- Write new vows, new commitments, wishes for your baby and say them to each other on what would have been your day.
- Cook your favorite meal together and maybe even bake a cake! Share the recipe with your friends and family so they can make the same cake, then enjoy it together over social media (FaceBook Live, Discord, Zoom, Skype, etc.) and some bubbly!
- Pack a picnic with your favorite foods and go for a nature walk. Along the way, pick up wildflowers and greenery. Weave the flowers in your hair, make a bouquet, or simply place them in a container in the middle of your picnic blanket. Say those vows, wishes, and desires while feeding each other what you packed.
- Get dressed up and take selfies on the day. Share your photos with friends and family. They could get dressed up as well and share their photos with you in an act of solidarity.
- Dance to your favorite music and maybe even have that pre-first dance dance!
On a lark, I decided to try something myself over the weekend. What if I wanted to get married, renew my vows, hold that baby naming ceremony in my back yard? This would save a bit of money in not needing to rent a venue twice. I could certainly do that now that some restrictions have been lifted.
My partner and I had a really fun time gathering things from the house, the yard, and even my neighbor’s flower garden to set up an impromptu stage for a celebration.
We scouted a great location in our own yard, looking through the lens of the camera for a spot that would look good in photos. We found one between two trees that made a most beautiful natural canopy overhead. Then we gathered things we had or could easily get:
- hay bales
- battery powered fairy lights and string lights
- rugs
- vases
- flowers from anywhere we could find — including potted plants
I think you will agree that this little spot is well worthy of all our selfies and memories!
We did it all in under an hour and were really pleased with the outcome. This is now such a joyful spot for us — we built it together with all the things we love or that make us smile. He took the photos, but we could very well have used a tripod or selfie stick so we could be in the photos together.
If you choose to do this in a private location or at a location without a post code, you’ll need a Celebrant who can tell your story with pizzazz and won’t be constrained by HSE regulations. If you would really love to be married on the day, you can take care of the HSE paperwork ahead of time. Alternatively, hold your celebration anyway until you are able to do the legal bit! Either way, don’t let the would-have-been day go by without a joyous acknowledgment.
Feel free to contact me if you want to bounce around some ideas!
Joyful Celebrant 