For insurance broker Mychaela Stoddart, 25, and videography company owner Isaiah Richardson, 23, all that matters right now is that they get married.
Like many other couples, though, the wedding they’re planning may not be the one they’d hoped for before COVID.
After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, most couples looking to get married in 2022 seem to have learned the art of managing expectations, having backup plans, and focusing on what’s most important by stripping away the option to have large gatherings and elaborate celebrations.
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For Stoddart and Richardson, planning their wedding for September 2022 has been a learning curve.
The couple was separated due to border closures between provinces back in 2020 and spent six months apart, with Stoddart in Fredericton, N.B. and Richardson in Amherst, N.S. Through that separation, they’ve learned the value of intentional communication.
They had originally planned a 100-person guest list that had to be brought down to the current 49 with current COVID protocols in mind, they’ve learned the importance of embracing unpredictability.
That can be tough, especially for someone like Stoddart, who calls herself a planner.
“I’m definitely thinking 10 steps ahead usually,” says Stoddart, who has now moved to Amherst.
Her fiance has taught her, even before the pandemic and especially during the wedding planning process, to take things as they come and to not worry about the small stuff.
“Yes, we do want to have a nice wedding, but we are also looking at our future together as a married couple. We want to be able to go on vacations and have a nice honeymoon together,” said Stoddart. “Our guest list of 49 includes people who have, in one way or another, impacted our relationship.”
Small wedding trend continues
According to marriage commissioner Diana Lariviere of Weddings PEI by Diana located in Argyle Shore, PEI, the trend for 2022 has been toward elopements and small, intimate gatherings – with guest numbers being limited by PEI-COVID dictates.
“The trend has been to plan ‘as normal,’ but be prepared with a back-up plan of ‘whatever limitations are introduced because of COVID,'” she explains.
“With the up-down approach resulting from COVID, some couples have been able to have a nearly normal traditional wedding, entirely by chance; however, with so many COVID-imposed uncertainties over the past two years, a significant majority have focused on just getting married and being married rather than on the huge celebration and expense that has become the expectation.”
Pharmacist Brittany Creamer, 29, and her fiance, full-time student Roger Shurb, 28, were among the couples who decided to postpone their wedding from July 2021 to July 2022. They made that decision, says Creamer, mainly because they wanted to have their close friends and family with them on their special day.
“Ninety per cent of our guests are from out of Nova Scotia and at that time, in January 2021, we weren’t allowed to leave the province and people weren’t allowed in,” said Creamer.
“It’s not so important for us to have a huge wedding with over a hundred people but it’s really important for both of us to have our parents, our siblings, and our closest friends there.”
Fortunately for the couple, it was very easy to reschedule with their vendors.
“Everyone – our wedding planner, photographer, caterer, our DJ – was available for the next year, so we just shifted everything. We didn’t lose out on any deposits or anything like that,” she says. “I do hear of other couples for whom it hasn’t been so easy because vendors are booking up fast.”
How to invite people?
The biggest struggle Creamer and Shurb are having right now is sending out invitations and save-the-dates to their guests.
“If we do have to downsize due to restrictions, we’d have to message our friends and tell them we wanted to invite them but now we can’t because of restrictions.”
Their wedding planner, Claudia Habib, Founder of Simply Weddings, believes that people understand that changes may happen at this point in the pandemic.
“People get it. They understand that if restrictions are in place, you’re gonna only have your nearest and dearest,” she says.
The Creamer and Shurb guest list, which initially included 120 people, is now at below 100, and Habib has also advised the couple to have a 50-person guest list just in case.
“In Nova Scotia, at present, you can have a wedding — a church wedding or some type of service – with up to 50 guests but you can’t have a reception. Restaurants are still at a maximum of 10 per table and that 10 should be your close social circle, but they can’t host events of 50, for example,” explained Habib.
She’s waiting until Feb. 14 to see what restrictions are lifted.
“I’m hoping something changes because right now, nobody can have a special event, reception, or gathering of any kind.”
Forging ahead with plans
Creamer and Shurb are hoping to get married at Hubbards Farmers’ Market barn in Nova Scotia.
“Even before COVID, we planned to get married outside. I just like the idea of trees and nature being a part of our ceremony,” said Creamer.
The couple is planning to go ahead with a reception in the hopes that some of the restrictions will be lifted by then.
“I know that’s going to be tricky. We’re hoping that some of the restrictions ease up a little bit, but at the same time, it’s a balance,” she says. “I don’t want anyone getting sick at the wedding either. We are making sure that all of our guests have had two doses of the vaccine.”
The bride- and groom-to-be are also somewhat grateful for the delay as it’s given them two years to plan their special day without being overwhelmed.
“We’ve had a lot of time to think about what we want and who we want to be there. It’s also given us more time to save money,” Creamer added.
“We’re hoping that we’re on the other side of things and there are no strict regulations, but in the event that there are and if we’re told the gathering limit is 10 people, then we’ve set back-up plans in place for what we would do in that situation.”
– Mychaela Stoddart
Stoddart and Richardson, meanwhile, are hoping to say ‘I do’ at the Revival Centre in Amherst.
“The theme is going to be Bohemian rustic,” says Stoddart, adding that since she’s not a big “flower person,” she’s going to incorporate a lot of greenery in the decorations.
“I’m going to have rust-coloured table runners on a lot of the tables, some eucalyptus and greenery on top, and then have some candles in glass vases.”
The most difficult thing so far has been to stay up-to-date on the changes in regulations.
“Come September, who knows what could happen,” Stoddart says. “We’re hoping that we’re on the other side of things and there are no strict regulations, but in the event that there are and if we’re told the gathering limit is 10 people, then we’ve set back-up plans in place for what we would do in that situation.”
Stoddart is taking things one day at a time.
“Isaiah keeps reminding me that I can’t wonder about what things will be like seven months from now. At the end of the day, what matters is that we’re married and we can start this next chapter of our lives together.”
Small wedding trend continuing
PEI marriage commissioner and wedding officiant Marsha E. Weeks thinks 2022 will see a lot of smaller, more intimate style weddings – destination elopements and weddings with just immediate family.
“There will be a lot more weddings on non-traditional wedding days like weekdays, and more tent and at-home weddings,” she believes.
She also feels that there will be a lot of couples exchanging their vows in other non-traditional wedding venues like AirBnBs, camp facilities and flower farms.
“Finally, there will be a number of vow renewal celebrations for those couples that had an elopement-style wedding the last two years but are hoping to re-create their day with a larger group of their friends and family,” she adds.
There’s another thing couples need to keep in mind as well. Stephanie Brown of Sky’s the Limit Events, based in Halifax, is advising couples to keep in mind that the cost of things has risen exponentially, from florals to food to bar service.
“In late 2021, we started hearing this buzz about a wedding boom coming and that’s proven to be true,” she adds.
“People who’ve been waiting for two years are saying that they want to do it now, no matter what, even if it means having to cut back on having a huge dream wedding to just having ten or fifteen of their closest people there. I see people having their weddings come hell or high water at this point.”