Small & Low-Key COVID Adapted Wedding Ceremony

We’re quite a laid back couple so limiting the amount of staged photos is a massive plus for us! Hoping it’ll be a relaxed day, with plenty of laughs, food and drink hopefully! But we have been forced to postpone our wedding due to the pandemic and couldn’t wait any longer. As things are getting better, it was time for them to start our new life as well. The wedding held at the church in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. It was an intimate ceremony with only close ones and their broad smiles were the proof how happy they were.

Michaela and Danny

A very warm welcome to Michaela and Danny today who are kindly sharing their beautiful Covid wedding ceremony with us. They tied the knot on Saturday 15th August 2020 in a gorgeous church ceremony before having stunning portraits together with their photographer IG Time Photography. Their wedding plans may have changed due to COVID-19 but cutting their guest list to thirty was a really positive experience for them. You can find out more if you read their wedding report below. Plus they are planning a fantastic reception for Saturday 29th May 2021. Hooray! Twice the fun, twice the memories.

Their day was beautifully intimate as small weddings often are, with low-key relaxed vibes. They both looked gorgeous in their chosen outfits, there were a lush bouquets and a lot of smiles all round. Perfection.

Covid Wedding Ceremony

The Proposal

We’d been together so long I was beginning to think the day would never come! After meeting in Kavos on a drunken holiday at the tender age of 18, I turned 29 and thought – “well, maybe it won’t happen!”. We were off on a family trip to New York in March 2019 to celebrate my mums 60th birthday. When friends found out we were going I was inundated with “oh, he’s definitely going to propose!”, and my answer was always the same, “highly unlikely with my entire family being there”.

So we flew out to NYC, all 12 of us, and the holiday began. We’d planned a lot together, but there was one evening where we’d booked to go and see Book of Mormon, just us two. Danny suggested we walk to the theatre, and stop in at Central Park on the way. We were obviously in a rush after underestimating the walking time required, but we made it to the park and Danny decided we should take a seat. It was at this point I started having the internal chat with myself, “is this going to happen?!”. He got down on one knee, and popped the question with one of my Nan’s rings. It was honestly perfect. Afterwards, we were in our own little world and arrived to the theatre in a bit of daze.

It was only afterwards, when we met up with the family to have a LOT of champagne, that I realised they all knew! Danny had asked my parents a few weeks before and chosen the ring he would like to use, and Mum had handed over the ring to him at some point that day on the Brooklyn Bridge without me realising. Dad had also got too giddy that morning and told the rest of the family at breakfast!

It was definitely worth the wait.

The Vision

With the reception, we’ve planned to have a blessing and the reception next year 2021.

The Planning Process

Our original wedding date was 16th May, 2020. Planning for this was honestly a dream – laidback but organised. We’d booked to have a church wedding in the village Danny grew up in, followed by tipis in a field with the most breath-taking views. We were pretty much set, worrying about small things like the table plan when COVID hit. At the end of March, we were blissfully naive thinking that the day may still go ahead, but in April we made the decision to postpone until May, 2021.

However, we stayed in touch with the vicar to try and get legally married as soon as we could. We realised after making the decision to postpone the original date, that the most important thing to us was saying “I Do”.  We were prepared to do this with just us, two witnesses and Rev. Keith when it was announced in July weddings to happen again. However, due to risk assessments and the Church roof needing fixing, we finally managed to get a date booked in. Saturday 12th September, 2020 – our new wedding date.  In hindsight, it’s great that we had to wait until September, as by then we were allowed up to 30 people. After including the Church staff, Danny and I and our wonderful photographer, that left room for 24 guests. Twenty-four of our nearest and dearest when at one point we thought we were going to have to choose two.

A few updates to the original invites, and a WhatsApp group with all attendees in, and we were ready to go. Flowers were arranged, I collected my dress (no time for alterations!), and we spoke to Dominos about providing us with food afterwards.

We were so touched that all of guests made themselves available, and travelled the length of the country to be there with us. It honestly made the day.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Suit – TM Lewin, Bow tie – Mrs Bow Tie.

Shoes – ASOS Bargain at £14! Then the obvious change into VANS for the walk up through the village.

AHW Bride – Uppermill

Beauty

Jessica Goodall Make-up Artist

The Flowers

Hobson’s Florist

Your Photographer

IG Time Photography

Ingrid photographed our newly-adapted COVID September wedding, and we cannot recommend her enough. She was absolutely amazing!

We didn’t manage to fit in a pre-shoot and were just winging it, but she made us feel so at ease and captured the most beautiful shots of our special day.

Can’t wait for her to document take two next year with the rest of our guests!

Memorable Moments

There were a few, but the main ones would have to be;

• Walking down the aisle to a non-traditional Fleetwood Mac
• Turning to face all the guests during the service to be greeted with 24 masked (presumably smiling) faces
• The walk up from the Church to the reception venue through the beautiful village of Hepworth
• Two mass deliveries of Dominos at 4pm and 6pm

Advice For Other Couples

If you’ve had to postpone your wedding, we know how tough a decision that is. But honestly, we had the best day we could have hoped for. For us, the whole saga just reinforced why we were getting married. It was for us – for me and Danny. And as long as we could have that, we were happy. And, as we’ve still got the reception booked for this year, we’re going to have a multitude of wedding memories!

If you’re unaffected by COVID, but just planning a small wedding, I can now understand why. Going from our original 120 guest list for the day, down to 25 at first seemed daunting. Would it be as good? Would people be upset if they didn’t get an invite? But, it turned out amazingly. I got to speak to each and every guest repeatedly throughout the day, spending time with them. I wouldn’t have had that opportunity with a larger guest list. I really enjoyed the intimacy of the day.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Simply gorgeous. What a special day indeed.

Michaela and Danny thank you so much for sharing your wedding story and I hope you get to truly celebrate in style this year. IG Time Photography thank you so much too for sharing these amazing shots.