How has the last year been since you had to postpone your wedding?
The last year since we had to postpone the wedding has been like a roller coaster ride really. The highs and sheer excitement of planning a wedding, flipped on its head by the pandemic and first lockdown and just not knowing what was happening, or how long to expect it to go on for. Planning your hen party then cancelling the hen party, but then thinking we’re going to have to get married here last minute without any of the guests, the excitement or build up beforehand because the information was changing all the time. Obsessed with the news, obsessed with trying to find out about Covid cases & whether travel to Santorini was even allowed or if they were able to hold weddings. My wedding dress stuck at customs and my bridesmaid dresses delayed because the suppliers were closed. All this whilst trying to remain as calm as possible on the outside for my little girl because her nursery was closed & I was trying to manage working from home with no childcare & I just didn’t want her to feel the stress Rob & I were under.
How do you feel the pandemic has affected your wedding planning experience?
The pandemic has really effected our wedding planning experience. Lisa and the team are amazing and we would truly be lost without their guidance and support, but a wedding should be an exciting time and the planning usually starts about 18 months before, but we had to deal with the Thomas Cook collapse & then just as things were looking positive again and everyone was sorted, the pandemic happened. It was like some weird dream & I just kept praying we were going to wake up from it all.
The experience has changed me as a person, but I suppose that in some respects that is a good thing. It’s sad because I feel like I can’t get excited again now for the wedding in July 2021 just in case we are in the same position again and something goes wrong, but at the same time I’ve learnt that stressing about things you cannot control just makes the situation ten times worse. There is absolutely nothing you can do except manage the things you can control like your health, Happiness & your stress levels. Try to stay as positive as possible that everything will work out the way it should in the end. Whilst I am still very wary of the unknown surrounding this pandemic and how long it is going to last or take to be under control, I am confident that IF our wedding is able to go ahead that it is now going to be even more special because of all the obstacles we have overcome….Nothing can stand in the way of TRUE LOVE ????
Do you expect there to be any changes to your plans due to the pandemic?
Some of our guests can no longer attend Our wedding now due to the change of dates & the time of work & maybe even the financial implications etc, but we have also had some guests who couldn’t make it in 2020 due to other commitments now ask us if they could come, so I am not really sure whether the pandemic will have effected the numbers as such, but it has impacted on who can and can’t come. We had to change the date from 29th July 2020 to the 26th July 2021 so the date has been effected too, but we don’t mind as long as we can get married at our dream venue with our loved ones around us then that’s all we want.
Have you made any other wedding plans in the last few months whilst we’ve been in lockdown, have any of these plans been a surprise due to having more time than originally expected to plan?
During the pandemic & lockdown, I don’t think we’ve even had time to think about anything we have wanted or needed to add to our wedding. We’ve probably ate way too much, stressed far too much & just basically tried to survive this current weird world we’re all living in. I truly believe that everything we wanted in our wedding we have already planned for, so there may not be much planning the next time around. The venue is stunning so we wanted to add lots of flowers & romance but not go to too over the top as it isn’t needed. I think once we know over the next few months our official guest list and we start reviewing the paperwork again, we may look to make additions if we feel it is necessary, but as it stands I am perfectly happy with how the wedding is going to look and we have everything crossed that our big day will go ahead as planned this time around.
