Wedding plans in flux for brides and grooms due to COVID-19 restrictions

The big day Jill Aylward and Cody Dawson have been planning for more than a year is now 100 days away.

But as each day of the COVID-19 pandemic passes with borders closed and public health orders in place, they are coming to the realization that their wedding ceremony with 247 people and reception at a fancy hotel ballroom is turning into an intimate backyard ceremony and a reception at … well, forget about that for now.

"We're just trying to play it by ear and try to keep everything easy breezy," Aylward said.

"Our end goal is to get married. It's not about the big party."

Aylward and Dawson are one of many couples trying to navigate their nuptials in a time of physical distancing.

Do they go ahead with it, but in groups of no more than five? Do they postpone it? Will they get their deposits back? Can they even get a marriage licence? 

May they kiss the bride if they're standing six feet apart? 

Kristina Allen, a wedding planner with Elysian Weddings & Events, said brides and grooms are trying to stay positive but growing more concerned as summer approaches. 

"It's really hard, especially when you consider that a lot of our couples have been planning for upwards of two years and they've been concentrating on having their event be something specific for that whole time," she said.

"The closest thing I can really compare it to is grief."

'Huge impact'

Allen has 43 weddings from June to October. She said some are holding on hope but many are postponing because of travel restrictions. Many, like Aylward and Dawson, have guests coming from out of the province and country. Some of the brides and grooms are from off-Island as well and chose P.E.I. as their wedding destination.

It's also difficult for Allen and others in the wedding business who rely on a large part of their earnings in the summer months.

"It's definitely a huge impact," Allen said.

"For me it's a little bit easier because I can expand my team where we can do multiple weddings in a day. But when you see venues and photographers who can only service one couple in a day they'll either need to somehow extend their season and have couples getting married through the week or in the shoulder season."

Many of the wedding vendors have been working with couples to accommodate them.  Allen said she's not surprised, because the wedding industry truly is a "labour of love" for the people who work in it.

"Nobody's in it, you know, to make a million dollars," said Allen.

"They're doing it because they really care about their couples. They still want to celebrate with them whenever that does happen. They want to see them happy and they want to maintain that relationship."

Backup plan

Aylward said the big church wedding is "becoming, more realistically, not happening," but they have a good backup plan — the beautiful backyard of their Cape Traverse home.

"If we are allowed to have a small gathering of people, our plan is just have a small backyard wedding, intimate ceremony, and then having a bigger reception when all of the restrictions are lifted."

Another problem is the vital statistics office is closed because of COVID-19, so couples are unable to get a marriage licence. According to the province, marriage licences are only available in person, and there is no other way to issue them at this time.

However, the province is keeping track of all inquiries and submissions so that it can follow up once normal operations resume, according to an email from the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

Aylward said living through COVID-19 is at least a good test of a relationship.

"With social distancing everyone's been joking that, like, 'Oh you can make it through this….' Like seriously if we can make it through this I feel we'll be celebrating 60 years in 60 years time."

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