改变计划：恢复我们的大流行婚礼教会了我最重要的

As a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, couples all over the world are having to make a very difficult, and often heartbreaking, decision to cancel, postpone, or adjust their best-laid wedding plans. To share their stories—and, hopefully, help our readers process this admittedly emotional and fluid situation, we are asking those affected to share their "Change of Plans" stories in their own words. Below, Alexandra Zuckermantells her story from Washington, D.C.

在大流行中，这是生活中的简单事物，让我们继续前进。所以当它来恢复我们的大婚礼日时，有一件事不会改变：我们想吃冰淇淋。

我的丈夫和我永远不想要传统婚礼蛋糕，我们总是要为托马斯甜冰淇淋提供服务。这是一个普林斯顿，新泽西州，主食，是我最喜欢的冰淇淋店成长。在我们结婚的教堂里，它也恰好在街对面。

但我们如何安全地从教堂到冰淇淋获得40人？有一件事想到了：a“第二行。” A “second line” is a wedding parade tradition that originated in New Orleans, in which brass band (the first line) often leads party goers (second line) through the streets in celebration. In college, I spent some time volunteering in New Orleans and always loved the idea of a “second line.” On our wedding day, we weren’t accompanied by a big brass band, but we masked up, and we strutted through the crosswalk to retrieve our sweet post-ceremony reward.

Reimaging a wedding in 2020 can come in many forms, and let me tell you, we thought through all of them—elopement, micro wedding, zoom wedding, postponing. At one point, we talked about getting married in the church with only our parents in attendance. In every revision, we still planned to go get ice cream after the ceremony. The best decision for us was to ultimately缩小。We went from having 175 people on the guest list to 40.

As with most couples planning weddings in 2020, the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions was just a speed bump, we all thought would pass. Matt and I had just returned from a ski trip and were really rolling into high gear for wedding planning. We’d paid a deposit on the venue, the caterers, and an eight-piece band. Next up on the list was a trip to Philadelphia to meet my mom and maid-of-honor to go d罗斯购物。

好吧，我们没有将它到Philadelphia周末。相反，我购买了一个样本销售连衣裙onlineand prayed for the best. The dress arrived just as shelter in place orders went into effect. I called my neighbor to ask her to zip me up and hold the phone for a FaceTime with my mom. She immediately ran over with her two young boys, who were already in their pajamas. They were in awe of theballgown兴奋地跳了一下。

6月，我们的地点告诉我们，他们只会允许35人的聚会。此时，我们已经决定将我们的邀请列表扩展为40人。由于场地无法履行合同的结束，因此他们给了我们全额退款，并且狩猎正在为一个新的场地。

一旦我们决定保持我们的婚礼日期，压力就开始了 - 我允许，我是一个沉船。拥有超级撒播公司Covid事件的想法严重称为我。在几个月的时间里，我获得了近15磅。

I was still exercising regularly but would fill my non-working time with mindless television on Netflix and stress baking. I perfected my challah making skills, made those delicious纽约时报巨型皱纹饼干numerous times, and started cooking elaborate dinners. I ate whatever carbs we had stocked up on during our bi-monthly grocery trips and tried to ignore the fact that I had to fit into a wedding dress.

我推着婚纱礼服fitting直到最后可能的一分钟。在8月底，我终于去了女裁缝。当我把婚纱放在它的时候，拉链......但我几乎无法呼吸。在没有跳过节拍的情况下，女裁缝提出了一个替代拉链的计划 - 它是一种样本销售连衣裙，所以ZIPPER无论如何都是漂亮的 - 并用后面的一些织物给我一些额外的房间折动。

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回顾一下，我意识到大流行，像婚姻一样，可以成为幽默的经历。我们的计划变更有助于我实现了真正重要的生活中的事情。我没有打我的婚礼当天的目标体重，但是连衣裙felt fantastic, we were healthy, and most importantly, we were deeply in love. Matt tells me every day that I’m beautiful, he dotes on me, he looks at me longingly. He loves me for everything that I am. The pandemic has also given me a new appreciation for our relationship withfamily and close friends。幸福来自你周围的人们如何让你感受到，而不是你在你生命中的一天看的。

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I’m not going to lie, hosting a大流行婚礼is hard. Our wedding reception didn’t include我们的原始客人列表，膳食计划或八件乐队，但我们一定要包括重要的事情：家庭，终生的朋友，以及专注于我们的爱。如果我们从这一切中学到了一件事，那就是生命是短暂的，所以欣赏你拥有的东西，不要爱着敬请，先吃甜点。