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  2020-08-05

  Immediate-Family-Only Pandemic Wedding

  This is a picture from my sister’s wedding from August 2020. When she first got engaged no one could have predicted that there would be a global pandemic some months later. Instead of waiting for next year they decided to hold a small ceremony that only the immediate family would be invited to. They decided to make a fun time out of it and had both families rent houses on location to quarantine together for a week before the ceremony. We brought enough food for the week and stayed isolated from the town and any other visitors. It was like a mini pandemic-vacation with both immediate families able to bond while quarantining before the ceremony. I enjoyed the time we got to spend with family more than the stress that would have come from planning and executing a larger wedding that simply wasn’t possible anytime soon because of the pandemic. The ceremony itself was very intimate and special and our dad even got a marriage license online so that he could officiate. We chose a random spot and everyone helped by packing the chairs out there and taking them back with us. It was neither formal nor completely casual. All of the sisters got to help make a small little cake the night before and we had it with our lunch back at the rental houses. I almost wish my husband and I had done something similar for our wedding three years earlier. I hope more couples will consider a smaller intimate on-location ceremony in the future. It’s less stress, less money, but still very special. My sister and her husband are planning to hold two receptions next year at each of the parents’ houses for extended family and friends.