“We began our wedding planning in July 2018, which now seems light years away. We can recall the rollercoaster of emotions, numerous phone calls to deliver the good news, and all of the decisions which seemed daunting at the time. The whole idea of a wedding fascinated us. Hundreds of our favorite people flying in from over the nation, gathered in once place, enthusiastically loving love. We were so ready. By 2019, our venue was booked, Hannah said “yes to the dress”, food tastings on their way, and we were planning our engagement shoot with Jamie.

Our saving grace happened on December 15, 2019. After much reflection and prayer, we decided to elope amongst our parents on The Blue Bridge in Grand Rapids, to start our marriage off in God’s grace. This choice kept us at peace amongst the list of changes that were to come upon us.”

“On March 10, Michigan announced that there were two cases of COVID-19 in the state. By the end of March the Stay At Home Order was in place. Life began to feel like a fictional apocalypse movie. Keeping our guests safe was a non-negotiable. So, on April 1, we decided to announce to our guests that our plan was postpone our wedding until August 22, 2020. We remember thinking at the time, “this will totally blow over by then”….little did we know.

Despite the setbacks, we were overflowed with love. On May 30, our original wedding date, we celebrated our “Was Wedding Day” at our venue, The Leland Lodge. Our families came together and gave us one of the most memorable weekends of our lives.”

“With safety recommendations changing seemingly overnight, our plans changed once again. On July 15, less than 1 month away from our wedding day, we canceled the wedding in Leland. We worked quickly and closely with our families to make a plan that was safe and within the new guidelines. Our final wedding plan came to life on August 22, in Holland amongst an intimate group of close family and friends.”

“This experience showed us what was really important. The virus was threatening our wedding, not our marriage. Additionally, through the numerous difficult decisions and long phone calls with our parents, the virus became a blessing in disguise, as we felt our relationships were stronger than ever before. During this unpredictable pandemic, we have sought out the silver linings in our unique love story. Looking back, we feel very lucky to see how many silver linings came to be. When planning two years ago, we never could have predicted or planned for what was to come. This is our unique story that we wouldn’t change a single detail about.”