Pandemic thwarts wedding plans, so bride makes vaccine a formal affair

After more than a year of wearing stretchy pants and hoodies on repeat, the prospect of putting on a dress – much less a formal gown – seemed very far away to Sarah Studley.

But when it came time for her long-awaited coronavirus vaccine appointment, the Baltimore woman decided that the momentous occasion was worthy of a momentous outfit. So she slipped into her unused wedding reception dress.

“I hadn’t gotten gussied up in the past year, so I wanted to take this moment to celebrate for myself,” Studley, 39, said.

She entered the M&T Bank Stadium mass vaccination site in Baltimore on Sunday wearing her retro, white, A-line satin dress with polka-dot tulle. She paired it with peeptoe pumps.

It’s the outfit she would have worn to her wedding reception, she said, had it not been canceled because of the pandemic.

Studley and Brian Horlor, 39, got engaged in November 2019. They set a wedding date for a year later and planned an elegant, 100-person celebration in San Diego. Of course, plans changed.

The couple did, however, get married in November. In a civil ceremony – they did wear traditional wedding attire – the couple tied the knot outside the San Diego County clerk’s office. That was followed by a small dinner with immediate family and a cake from Costco.

Still, the couple wanted a larger reception to celebrate with extended family and friends. They started planning an event for June, and Studley bought a whimsical, polka-dot wedding gown to wear to the party.

When the vaccine rollout was lagging in January, though, they pulled the plug.

She was inspired to whip out her wedding reception dress after stumbling upon a tweet of someone wearing a full-length sequin gown to a vaccine appointment in February.

“It was an excellent idea,” Studley said. “It resonated with me so much because things have been really dark and the idea of getting a vaccine is such a bright moment.”

So on April 11, Studley pulled her hair back into a bun, put on pearl earrings and eye liner, zipped up her gown and headed to the vaccination site. There, she made an impression.

“She just glowed,” said nurse Julie Lefkowitz, who administered the shot. “She was super upbeat and excited, and you could just tell that she was trying to do her part to get the world back to normal,” Lefkowitz said. “It definitely brought a lot of joy. We all need positive, and this is positive.”

‘I hadn’t gotten gussied up in the past year, so I wanted to take this moment to celebrate for myself.’ Sarah Studley

RICHIE STEVER/UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL SYSTEM Sarah Studley decided the dress for her pandemic-postponed wedding reception was not going to go to waste as she wears it to her first coronavirus vaccination appointment April 11 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.