Zoe morrell
9/6/20 mini-mony recap
2021.01.15 21:17 alizadk 9/6/20 mini-mony recap
 | Planning submitted by alizadk to weddingplanning [link] [comments] In June, we postponed our wedding from Sept 6, 2020 to May 8, 2021, but decided we still wanted to get married on our original date for two main reasons: First, we wanted the legal protections and ability to make medical decisions for each other in case either of us got sick. Second, I want to be able to pull him onto my health insurance if and when I get a job that offers benefits. We had decided in May that, if we had to postpone, we would do it at a park near our house. We visited it during the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyover, and saw that it had a beautiful area next to the Anacostia River where we could have the ceremony, plus a pavilion area where we could have dinner. https://preview.redd.it/a4md3kjb1kb61.jpg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93b6195d7c69a4efcead8b9d799588d21a748780 Being in DC, we did not need an officiant or witnesses, but both of our immediate families are local, so we wanted to include them. We decided we did not want an officiant because we didn’t want to take anything away from my aunt, who is set to perform the ceremony for the full wedding. Originally, the plan was to invite a dozen people (both of our parents, my grandparents, his brother’s family of four, and my brother and his girlfriend) and our photographer. But then my aunt and uncle informed us that they would be visiting at that time and staying with my grandparents, so we worked things out to include them. It took me several weeks after we postponed to stop crying about it all the time. At the end of June/beginning of July, I began looking for a caterer. The one we decided on came from a neighborhood recommendation, and was very easy to work with as she created a custom menu for us. This was especially important, since we had a vegan, a pescatarian, and a gluten-free/dairy free guest. From there, I reached out to our photographer to see if he was available. He basically let us set our own price, which we did based on his current prices. I also began the application process for the use of the pavilion, which was very up in the air as to if and when DC would allow permits to be issued. We found out on Tuesday - five days before the ceremony - that they would be issuing permits. (Since then they have stopped issuing permits, so we were really lucky in that regard.) The biggest stressor in setting everything up was the marriage license. At the end of July, five weeks before the ceremony, someone posted in washingtondc that there was a huge backlog in processing applications, as well as no transparency in whether the applications had been received, when they may be processed, etc. I freaked out and immediately applied. About a week later, someone in the neighborhood Facebook group who had applied after I did heard from the Marriage Bureau. I freaked out again and reapplied. A week later, I received an email and a call to get the ball rolling on our application. We received our license about three weeks before the ceremony - and two days before I started a new job (having been unemployed since Feb) and four days before our three year anniversary. Day of: Makeup took a bit longer than expected (over an hour), so I felt a little rushed getting dressed. It didn’t help that my parents - who were supposed to meet us at the location at 5:30 - showed up at our house at 5. Nor that the caterer showed up at the location 20 minutes early. In fact, even though we told everyone to be there at 6, we were the last ones there when we showed up at 5:40. Everyone got to work setting up the chairs, despite me saying to focus on the tables so that the caterer could drop off the food. We also got flustered and didn’t get to tip the caterer. Once things were mostly set up, we left everything in the hands of our friends and headed to a nearby area for the ceremony. No one thought to remove the poop bags from the dog’s leash, so those kind of figured prominently in the pics. Also, I am kicking myself for letting my dad handle the recording, instead of checking his work and making sure it was recording first. So the picture framing isn’t great, we’re not in focus, and we had to do the ceremony twice because it didn’t record the first go-round. Whatever, the second take was 34 seconds long, and it’s something we can totally laugh about (video here). We signed the paperwork, then our photographer did some quick group pictures. He dismissed the highest risk guests (my grandfather and FIL) first, so they could go through the buffet first. Then we went on our way to do some portraits. When we got back, everyone was waiting for us, even though we had told them to go through the buffet. We had gloves and hand sanitizer on the buffet table, and had people go through in order of risk. Even the two kids were good about it - my now-nephew (9) asked me to serve him, rather than try to serve himself. My now-niece (3) was really too young to serve herself. We also gave everyone custom masks from my MIL’s store, which were a big hit. DH was so smart, and made us each two masks. When I grabbed one to put on, he grabbed one that had the design on the opposite side, so you can see the design on both of us in the pics. It’s something I never would have thought of, but was absolutely brilliant. Masks designed by DH We started cleaning up around 8pm, when the park closed. Things went very smoothly, other than my FIL grabbing my phone, thinking it was my MIL’s. We were home by 8:30, with a ton of delicious leftovers, which we are not complaining about. We received 15 sneak peeks from the photographer by 1pm the next day. The setting was great, even though it wasn’t exactly private. There was a step troupe practicing next to the pavilion when we got there, and everyone joked that they were cheering for us. Also, at various points, some teenage boys biked by and screamed congratulations and rang their bells at us. It was totally adorable. Once we sat down to eat, though, it really did feel private, despite the soccer game happening on the field behind us. I definitely recommend the location to anyone in DC looking for a cheap location for a similar event. Things we learned:
Beauty:
Food:
|