Hannah and Tim originally planned to marry on 6th June 2020, but as weddings were still banned in England at that point, ended up being one of the first marriages allowed nearly a month later! They were married on 7th July, the first date small weddings were permitted again.
With this, all their best-made plans had to be reconsidered. “We had to completely strip back all our plans due to COVID restrictions,” explained Hannah, “and honestly, none of it mattered! We spent so much time and effort stressing over seating charts and colour schemes, and in the end, all that mattered was standing together with my best friend, in front of people we loved, promising to stick together through this rollercoaster we call life.”
Their ceremony was an interesting setup – at the time of their marriage, laws allowed up to 30 people in the church, and everyone had to be seated in little ‘bubble’ groups. “We were very limited to what we could do as part of the restrictions meant that it had to be kept as brief as reasonably possible so we weren’t able to have a traditional address.
“There was no singing allowed so we couldn’t have any of the hymns we had chosen but we were still able to have a bible reading which meant a lot to both of us. The service was live-streamed by the church to those that couldn’t be there. Tim and I are both committed Christians and so when we have our celebration we would like to be able to have a blessing in church so that we can still have a proper service.”
Well here’s a blog post I never in a million years thought I’d be putting together – the best face masks to keep you safe (but crucially stylish!) on your socially distanced wedding day. WHAT A GODDAMN WORLD. It’s important to be safe and keep others around you safe too, and with wearing them in enclosed public spaces becoming mandatory from today (July 24th) in England, you’re going to need to stock up.
Wearing a face mask now part of daily life in the UK, so here are some of the best face masks I’ve seen around the internet over the past few weeks… All of which would look awesome with your wedding outfit too TBH!
We love LOM and their epic prints here at Rock n Roll Bride and their face masks are well made, comfortable and super freaking cool. The best part about these is the elastic goes around the back of your head, rather than your ears, which makes them much more comfortable to wear.
The brainchild of Jo of The Couture Company and her daughter Millie, who started making masks because she needed something to keep her entertained while off from school. Their story hit the headlines which has enabled Jo to pivot her bridal business during the pandemic to making these awesome patterned masks.
Another Rock n Roll Bride favourite! Isolated Heroes makes the BEST sequined and sparkly clothes, and they’ve bought that same sparkle to their sequinned masks. This ivory one with gold stars would be perfect for a bride!
Jackson and Erik gathered inspiration for their May 2020 wedding from two places – their international travels, and their favourite city, Chicago. Despite their original date falling slap bang in the middle of an international pandemic and most couples postponing, Jackson and Eric had a very important reason to keep to their plans. “The most important reason to keep our original date was to have our beloved and elderly doggo, Bessie, there,” explained the bride. “She walked me down the aisle and had a gold velvet collar that matched my gold and black dress perfectly!”
They originally had a $15,000 budget, but due to COVID-19 and having to change their original plans, they ended up just spending $8,000. Originally they’d planned to have their day on the shore of Lake Michigan, but as their venue was shut, they decided to host a socially distant ceremony in their backyard.
“Creating a garden fit for a wedding out of our very bleak backyard was a challenge,” explained Jackson, “but if there’s one good thing that came out of lockdown, it was my new obsession with gardening!” While lockdown had been lifted in Chicago, they used Zoom to share their ceremony virtually with 95 of their friends from out of state.
We’ve got a really sweet and simple lockdown wedding for you today, which will definitely inspire you if you’ve decided to take advantage of the new guidelines in the UK where small weddings can now take place, or if you want to honour your original wedding date and still have a ceremony.
Ali and Edd had a Zoom ceremony in early June, and although the ceremony wasn’t legally binding they will forever celebrate it as what they see as their wedding anniversary. They plan to have the big wedding and do the legal bit next year.
They spent just £300 to make this happen, and most of that went on the online platform they used to make sure the process was seamless. “Our friends Sam and Ruth put us in touch with splinterfaction.com who ran the whole online platform”, she explained. “Using it was worth every penny. They made sure that everyone of our 80 guests was looked after and had the opportunity to speak to us through a breakout room.”
Ali wore a rainbow dress from Hell Bunny with a DIY flower crown (made at her virtual hen do!) and a yellow veil which she dyed with turmeric herself the morning of. “I had previously been married in 2012 and was going through the loft and found my veil in a bag. That meant so much to me then and I thought that I should give it one more outing as it was so beautiful. I dyed it with turmeric and dried it on the line to wear that day. I loved it and it made me so happy. I then gifted it in the Rock n Roll Bride Facebook group so that another pandemic bride could wear it. She said that she is going to initial it at the bottom with both our names and then pass it on to the next one in the hope that they will keep on the tradition.”
A good friend from their village conduced the ceremony (social distancing of course) while their friends and family tuned in to watch live. They stood in front of a 100-piece rainbow balloon arch, which they made themselves. Afterwards they cut and ate a cake (made by some ladies in the village), ate steaks and did a social distancing shoot with their photographer Rob Dodsworth.
Oh babe, what a time to be planning your wedding. I won’t preface this by going over what a difficult time this is again and again because you know that, and if you clicked the link to read this article it’s because you are SOLUTION FOCUSED and honey, I’m here for it!
While you may have gone into wedding planning thinking it was all going to be about dresses and flowers and champagne breakfasts (believe me, it’s not, even if you don’t have a worldwide pandemic to contend with!) I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all realised what the true meaning of weddings, and marriage, is all about over the past few weeks. Love. Commitment. Standing up in front of your loved ones (or doing it in private yet still signing a bit of paper to declare it) and saying “THIS IS THE ONE I CHOOSE; THIS IS MY PERSON.”
Maybe your original wedding date is coming up soon, and maybe you’re really sad about it. Well, it doesn’t need to be just another day in lockdown, here’s some ideas for you to still mark the date and make it as special as quarantine will allow.
And by the way, I know it’s not the same, but my husband and I celebrated both our birthdays (AND our wedding anniversary!) in quarantine this year and they were honestly some of our favourite birthdays ever. We got to do the days entirely on our own terms, we didn’t have to please or host anybody else and we got to spend them with our favourite person – each other. The pressure was off and we were able to realise that it is possible to still make a day special even when it doesn’t pan out how you may expect. The little efforts we were able to go to (hanging homemade happy birthday bunting, making our favourite drinks, going for a long walk in the sunshine) had so much more impact.
Have a virtual ceremony
While in the UK (somebody please correct me if I’m wrong) a virtual wedding – where you have an officiant ‘marry’ you over Zoom or Skype – won’t be legal, it’s still a wonderful way to mark your original wedding date. At the end of the day, although your marriage won’t be recognised by the state until you’re able to go and do the paper signing bit, you can still CHOOSE to celebrate whichever date you damn well please as your anniversary – OR this way you get two!
Spend your quarantine writing your vows, invite your friends and family to join you online and commit your lives to one another! What better time to celebrate your love than right now? You can always make it legal later.
If your original wedding date falls while we’re still in
quarantine then don’t let that stop you having the best day ever. I mean, gosh,
isn’t that what this whole marriage thing is all about ANYWAY?
Cook your favourite meal (or order in – shout out to all those delivery drivers!), have a living room dance party, have a movie night, take some time to go down memory lane. You could recreate your first date at home, or take the time to go through old photos, letters, or mementos of your relationship. While it’s not going to be what you originally thought you’d do on this date, you can use it to remind yourselves why you fell in love in the first place.
Matt and Julia had planned to get married In Hawaii this coming July, with their reception to follow in their hometown in August. But with the current uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, they weren’t sure if their dream wedding would still happen the way they planned. Voicing concerns to Julia’s co-worker, who happens to be a licensed officiant, she offered to marry the couple at the tattoo shop Julia works at before their state went into lockdown. “I think one of my friends summed it up best by saying ‘you got married at a tattoo shop, by a tattoo artist, in the middle of a pandemic; that’s the most punk-rock thing I’ve ever heard!’” said Julia.
The couple met while working on a production of Green Day’s American Idiot, and their song has always been Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by the band. “This whole thing truly gave new meaning to the lyric ‘something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.”
With four day’s notice, their friends rallied around to help them pull it off. Their photographer, Tiffany, did their engagement photos and is set to shoot their wedding in Hawaii, whenever it ends up being. Julia’s bouquet was made by a friend, and decorative flowers were put together by the officiant’s wife. They also used elements that they were planning to use for their Hawaii wedding; Julia’s outfit was supposed to be for her bridal shower, which got cancelled, and she paired it with her original wedding veil.
They pulled in meaningful props too – an American Idiot heart hand grenade from the stage show that they met at, was also used in their engagement photos, so it felt right to use it in their wedding photos too. Matt wore his Hawaiian print shirt, their officiant wore a Hawaiian shirt, and her wife decorated the whole tattoo shop with Hawaiian inspired decor. “They even cranked the heat up to feel tropical, played Hawaiian music, and burned coconut candles to make it feel like we were in Hawaii!”
👰 
