Canadian Prairie Wedding Planned Twice Due to Covid: Margeaux & Ryan

Canadian Prairie Wedding Planned Twice Due to Covid

Our wedding was originally supposed to take place at a large wedding venue, but due to COVID, we opted to move the wedding outside to a private property, instead of a predominantly indoor wedding to ensure ample fresh air and guest comfort.

We married and had the reception at my sister-in-law’s property and reduced the guest count from about 140 to 55. The reduction in guests was two-fold 1) to adhere with the ever-changing gathering size regulations, and 2) a lot of our original guest list was made up of out of towners who couldn’t visit the province.

Words by Margeaux. Images by Krista Hawryluk Photography

The Ceremony

Both our Mom and Dad walked each of us down the aisle. That was important to us because they are both so special to us and we wanted to recognize that.

I’ve always loved the song All I Want Is You’ {Barry Palisar} from Napoleon Dynamite. It has this great acoustic prelude before the harmonica starts and it perfectly set the stage for our ceremony processional. It’s upbeat, casual and made our guests smile.

Ryan has a secret (not so secret) affinity for Mariah Carey so for our recessional we picked her classic ‘Fantasy’ and it was hilarious, memorable and set a fun tone for our cocktail reception afterwards.

Planning

I am so lucky that my sister is a wedding planner so we worked together from day 1! Alli exudes professionalism, organization, and enthusiasm. She accounts for every little detail, but made sure we didn’t get bogged down with the small stuff. Alli gave great advice and also listened to what we wanted and truly brought our vision to life.

Unfortunately, COVID made planning a wedding even more stressful than usual but Alli met every stressful situation with grace and openness. She always had solutions to problems and eased our planning anxiety. She was the primary contact for all of our wedding vendors and worked to switch over the planning details multiple times during the COVID- pivot.

Photographer

We loved our photographer Krista and boy did she deliver! She memorized everyone in the wedding party and took the time during our meetings to get to know us and really hone in on what was important for us. Plain and simple, she delivered amazing photos and she made us feel so comfortable on the wedding day.

Bridesmaids

We opted for a ‘fall’ colour palette since the original wedding plans were supposed to happen later in 2020. I allowed the girls to pick whatever made them feel comfortable and confident. Pant suits, rompers, prints – whatever! They all looked gorgeous.

Words of Wisdom

I am so happy we had a more intimate celebration. It felt good being able to talk to every guest and spend time with everyone at the wedding. Word of advice for other couples up against COVID, just do it! Those who can’t make your wedding will be supportive of your decision. No one knows what the future holds, so you have to do what’s right for you in this moment.

Don’t compromise on anything else- have the food, flowers, dress and photographer that you’ve always wanted because it’s still your special day regardless of the number of people physically present. Take time as a couple after the wedding, even if it’s just a staycation and Netflix marathon, to stay present and celebrate your new marriage.

I don’t know about you, but I’m loving this Canadian Prairie wedding planned twice due to Covid. Congratulations Margeaux and Ryan, your day looks amazing, despite this global pandemic.