Emily + Heather
May 16, 2020
Emily and Heather first met through mutual friends. They share their first date over breakfast in Carytown. Heather was working nights at the time and could only meet in the morning. The two talked for hours and really hit it off. It was on their second date Emily said “I really knew Heather was the one!”
The pair proposed to each other on back to back weekends. Both wanted the proposals to be intimate and low key. “Just a moment shared between the two of us.” Heather proposed first. The day started with breakfast at the same restaurant as their first date. After they got home, Emily sent an email link to a website she created with all the reasons she loved Heather and proposed. Emily had secretly invited Heather’s family to their house to celebrate over pizza and local beer.
Next was Heather’s turn. She rented a rooftop hotel room that she decorated with string lights. “When you walked into the room, there was just the glow of the lights and pictures from our years together and it was so wonderful.”
Emily and Heather had to adjust from their original wedding plans due to the pandemic. “This is our Covid-19 quarantine wedding! Due to Covid restrictions, we had to come up with a plan B. While this wasn’t ideal for us, as we had spent the past year and a half planning our perfect wedding, we were able to work with family to create an intimate ceremony that stayed true to who we are. This wasn’t the wedding we had originally hoped for, but everything turned out better than we could have imagined! Plus, not too many brides get two chances to wear their wedding dress, and two wedding cakes!” They had their re-do later in the year so they could celebrate with a larger group.
At the November reception celebration the decor was simple with a lot of greenery. There were photos scattered around from their intimate ceremony. In the spirit of Covid, they provided guests with personalized hand sanitizers and extra masks available for those guests who wanted them.
What were your favorite parts of the day?
Emily: My favorite part of the ceremony was being at Hollywood Cemetery with our family. It was just such a beautiful day, the weather was perfect and the view of the river was gorgeous. It was also middle of May so everything was green and in bloom. We couldn’t have asked for better weather!
Heather: My favorite part was during the ceremony and dinner afterwards. Family and friends really went out of their way to make our day as special as possible, even though it wasn’t the ideal circumstances. My parents really put on a wonderful dinner at their house and my mom added so many special touches to make sure the dinner and backyard was decorated nicely. She even found some “Mrs and Mrs” decorations to put around the house!
What was the biggest challenge you faced in planning your wedding?
The biggest challenge we faced when planning our wedding was hands down COVID. Planning one wedding is challenging enough, but at the last minute, having to reschedule and replan everything is a whole other situation.
“While we still haven’t taken our honeymoon to Tahiti we wanted to do something special after our ceremony in May. We booked an airbnb in Charleston for a week and packed a bunch of games and puzzles. While everything was closed because of Covid, it was a wonderful week of playing games, getting takeout from different restaurants and just enjoying the company of each other!”
What is your best piece of advice for couples reading this?
Don’t let any obstacles the come up ruin your day, try to make the best of it, and even though things might not be as you envisioned them, your wedding day will still be super special and memorable. Odds are something will come up that you haven’t planned for, but just roll with it and enjoy the day with the people you love! And hire a day of coordinator!!!!!
