Wedding plans altered, but couple remains hopeful
Tara Frederick and her fiance, Aaron Hampton, had plans to have a wedding ceremony and reception on April 24. Those plans are now on hold, because of the coronavirus public health emergency.
Frederick said they planned to get married at Willow Creek Events in Browns Valley and are going to reschedule their reception as they find out when the event center can reopen.
But they’re going ahead with a small ceremony on the original day.
“Everything’s just on hold, but, actually, my fiance and I are going to get married on our original day with just our pastor and our parents and then we’ll do the whole reception (later),” Frederick said. “It’s unfortunate because all of the government offices are closed so we can’t even get a marriage license, so we won’t be legally married … but we’ll be married in the eyes of God … We made a commitment to each other to be married before the end of May because we value marriage and moving our life forward.”
She said so far, rescheduling things for the wedding hasn’t been too complicated. Their vendors have been willing to work with them and said to let them know when they have a new date.
“My vendors have been great,” Frederick said. “... None of us have control over what’s going on.”
She said while this is a difficult situation, it’s OK for couples to grieve because a lot of brides have a dream vacation planned and hopes that their wedding day is going to be perfect.
“I think other brides need to know it’s OK to grieve,” she said. “... It’s OK to be disappointed.”
But the situation has also given her some perspective, she said.
“I think what’s gotten me through is that I feel so blessed,” Frederick said. “... At the end of the day, the wedding is just a day, but you get to spend forever with your best friend … It’s helped me gain perspective on what’s actually important. Aaron is important.”
Raegen Elrod, owner, wedding planner and floral designer for Anything’s
Possible Events, said the current situation has been hard on business and the couples, but the weddings she had scheduled up to May haven’t been canceled, they’ve just been rescheduled.
“It just makes these first few months of business difficult,” Elrod said.
She said she’s been working on rebooking dates for the couples and contacting vendors about rescheduling – between March and April, Elrod would’ve had five weddings, but she hasn’t lost their business, it’s just been moved to later in the year.
“It’s been hard for the
couples because it’s a big day of their lives,” Elrod said.
She said wedding season typically picks up around May and June and she’s hoping they won’t have to shuffle those weddings. But she said they’re waiting to see what happens.
She said some couples plan to get married on their original dates and then plan to have their receptions later in the year.
“All of the vendors are being flexible and helping the couples in any way they can because we’re all in this together,” Elrod said.