23rd May 2020, Lockdown Level 4, Johannesburg.
2020 so far as been as a pretty somber year, living through the treat of the COVID virus, social distancing ourselves from our loved once and restructuring our daily routines not to mention all the canceled celebrations.
But luckly love isnt canceld!
Have a look at Jayde and Matt's Intimate Garden Wedding.
Why we decided to do it
Matt and I got engaged in Paris In October 2018. We have a lot of families and close friends that live overseas so decided to have the wedding in May 2020 to give everyone time to save and plan! When lockdown began, I was convinced our wedding would still go ahead as planned. However, with the flight restrictions, it would mean that both my parents would not be able to make it, so we pushed it out to August. Two weeks before our original wedding date I was thinking about how so much has been robbed from people during this time - particularly joy - and couldn't understand why we could gather to mourn death but not to celebrate life. So we decided no, we were going to go ahead, even if it wasn't in the way we originally planned.
Challenges
When we first decided to go ahead we wanted to have an immediate family and our bridesmaids and groomsmen. However, some of our friends were not comfortable to join because of the risk to their families. So, it narrowed the guest list down to just close family. Unfortunately, this meant neither of my parents could attend and my dad could not walk me down the aisle. We were obviously concerned about the legality of the occasion so popped into two local police stations who took down our details and said as long as there were less than 10 people and no overcrowding nothing was stopping the marriage. We also couldn't officiate the marriage on the day because home affairs weren't operational - so this had to be done post-level 4! The curfew meant we had to leave by 7 and limited people meant the bride and groom helped wash and tidy up!
Worth it
It was SO worth it. The limited time and other restrictions meant we had to keep it simple (but still fabulous) and focused on the marriage. The intimacy and simplicity made it feel so much more authentic and we could really savor every moment. The fact that we pulled it off despite the restrictions made us appreciate it even more. If you're committed to something you can make it work. It was such a relief not to spend the day worrying about if the seating chart was right or if people were having a good time - it was about us!
