2020 the year we have all used the term ‘unprecedented times’ more than we ever thought possible. The year that words such as ‘lockdown’ and ‘furlough’ became part of our daily vocabulary, the year that many of us became ‘teachers’, when the roads and streets stood still, when we all came together on a Thursday evening to clap for the NHS, when our bins went out more than we did and when so many people had to cancel, postpone or change their wedding plans.
Not exactly the year that we had all envisaged 2020 being and it looks like we may be set for more of the same for 2021, so I thought I’d put a little blog together to look at the handful of ‘covid weddings’ I’ve photographed this year to give you all a little insight.
Firstly, the weddings I have been lucky enough to capture have been amazing but very very different.
The majority of couples that chose to go ahead and get married this year had to make lots of changes to their ‘big’ day, mainly by limiting guest numbers but also by shortening their day and some weren’t even able to have family present to witness their vows.
So what have 2020 weddings looked like? Well a lot of that depends on the couple and their friends and families.
As social creatures, these government guidelines have stopped us doing all of the things that come naturally to us and that make us happy.
Therefore it hasn’t been a huge surprise that some wedding parties have chosen to hug their friends and family, a wedding is after all supposed to be a happy and social event!
As a photographer the biggest hurdle has definitely been the dreaded face masks – capturing the raw emotion in guests faces during a wedding ceremony is a must, this doesn’t always work when half of their face is hidden behind cloth unless they have very expressive eyes of course haha!
Group photos, although now of much smaller groups have been challenging with the joys of social distancing.
And the hardest thing of all, not being able to congratulate the happy couple and say goodbye the way that I normally do at the end of the day with a heartfelt cuddle; an elbow bump doesn’t quite convey the message I’m trying to get across.
I know that lots of couples are now asking themselves (again), ‘Do we go ahead with our spring 2021 wedding?’ and I’m afraid that I don’t have a crystal ball to help you to answer that question.
It’s not as simple as ‘getting married to the one you love is all that matters’, it’s about enjoying your dream day and sharing it with those that you love and whom love you.
Virtual weddings have been a huge theme this year but they just aren’t necessarily what you want and no one should ever feel that they are having to ‘make do’ on what should be the most special day of their lives.
I can promise you this though, as different as post-covid weddings are they are still an absolute blast and so so full of love!
You can find the latest government guidelines for weddings here.
