Couple Postpones Grand Wedding and Gets Married in Intimate Ceremony

Kelly and Ryan’s wedding planning was going smoothly until the entire world was rocked in March.

“We had originally planned a wedding for 150 guests at our church, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tallahassee and a reception at Goodwood Museum and Gardens. We were working with John Gandy and Emily Pozzuoli. We had just picked out furniture for our numerous guests to lounge on. We had the most amazing seasonal menu worked out with Catering Capers! Then COVID-19 hit.”

“The CDC guidelines recommended gatherings of no more than 10 people. Our priest suggested that we go ahead and get married and have a blessing of the marriage ceremony later on with all of our friends and family. Luckily, a blessing of the marriage ceremony looks almost identical to a wedding ceremony!”

“We sent out change the date cards to our guests and very few people knew that we were still planning to marry on our date. We ordered a mini version of our cake from Artistic Confections. When I say mini, I mean the cake for the blessing of our marriage will be nineteen times larger! Darin Jones placed a small order of flowers for us and made the most beautiful, whimsical bridal bouquet.”

“I wanted to save my gown from the White Magnolia in Tampa for our big ceremony, so I ordered an affordable dress from ASOS. Ryan is waiting to wear his tux for our big ceremony too, so he went to Nic’s Toggery for his linen suit and bowtie. We invited only our parents, our priest, and our pups to the ceremony.”

“Goodwood was kind enough to open the gates and allow us to use the grounds. We planned to get married by the pool, but when it rained that morning, John and Emily moved our celebration into the Jubilee Cottage. We had never been inside the Jubilee Cottage before.The mood was supposed to be ‘Modern Garden & Gun,’ but we moved inside because of the rain and the cottage had a vintage vibe.”

“Our wedding day was nothing like we had planned, but it was joyous. We’re very happy to be married and are thankful that we didn’t wait. Our grand blessing of the marriage ceremony is scheduled to take place November 6.”