This is normally a very busy time of year for weddings because it is 2020, and many wanted to be married this year. However, the COVID 19 pandemic has put to stop to hundreds and hundreds of nuptials. “I feel okay. I get sad, “said Beatrice Hagert. “I would be lying if I said I did not.”
She and her fiancé, Michael Stoneburner were supposed to tie the knot on June 13, 2020, but COVID-19 forced them, and many others to postpone to 2021.
“Our first weddings were supposed to be in early May,” said Jennae Saltzman, the owner of Blush and Whim, a wedding service based in Northeast Minneapolis. “Those started to cancel in early March. Now it’s been like a steady and now August weddings are starting to go.”
She is encouraging all of her couples who have weddings planned through September to have a “plan B” in place. As far as how brides are taking it, she says their reactions run the gamut;
“The majority of clients are taking it pretty well,” she said. “We have a lot of clients who work in the health care field and they understand.”
Still, it is a loss.
“We definitely have a few brides who are in different phases of grief. Some are in that angry phase, some are in denial, but most are in the sadness to acceptance.”
Jennae is working with Beatrice and Michael, who again were to be married this summer, and made the decision to cancel about two weeks ago.
“We were watching Governor Walz announce the “Stay and Home” order would be extended, and we just said, let’s pull the plug,” said Michael Stoneburner.
The plan was to get married in Spicer Minnesota at the Catholic Church. 350 guests were invited to the service, and then the reception at the Wilmar Conference Center.
They have elderly grandparents and others who were flying in from California and did not want to take the risk. Both are dealing with it just fine, and have not had any major fights over it. The quarantine has made life a little challenging. “If we can get through this, we can get through anything.”
