Thank you all so much for your questions and for sticking with us this past year as we navigated through cancellations, rescheduling and finally getting married! Along with all the emotions of how to feel this past year, it has helped so much connecting with you all in similar situations. If you are new around here both the two of us (Anne & Kate) are identical twins who were suppose to be married back in June & August 2020 to our college sweethearts. Similar to many of you those weddings were both cancelled and rescheduled then cancelled again and ultimately we both decided to move venues and have smaller intimate weddings this October and November! The journey to get married was definitely not as easy as we always thought, but the end result is the best feeling. We leaned so much on each other this year as we both went through this process together. Wherever you are in the wedding process just know that it will get better and no matter how your story unfolds your day will be perfect.
Q: How did COVID change bridal shower & bachelorette for you ladies?
When covid restrictions hit the beginning of March it was the week before Anne’s bridal shower (Kate already had her shower in February). We had to cancel Anne’s bridal shower and push it off. After a few weeks had past we decided that the safest option at the time would be a “Drive-by Bridal Shower” to celebrate! All the details on favors, invites & how it all worked are in this blog post HERE! As for our bachelorette party we had planned a combined party for Austin, TX back in April that we of course had to cancelled. Due to restrictions and traveling over the summer we didn’t plan anything else, but looking forward to hopefully doing a girls trip in the future to Austin!
Q: Most important safety precautions to take?
Keeping your family and friends safe is so important! Follow the rules of the venue and the state (i.e. total people allowed, wearing masks to the bar/restrooms/social distancing). We supplied masks, hand sanitizer and followed the rules of seating only 6 to a table. This will hopefully help your guests feel safe and comfortable!
Q: How to pick a wedding band?!
I know there are so many options when it comes to wedding bands- for us we decided on matching bands to our engagement rings. Definitely try on some different options- matching vs smaller or larger diamond band vs trendy options and take pictures! All the details on how we picked out our wedding bands (the guys too!) are in these blog posts with Barmakian jewelers HERE & HERE
Q:What did you put in your welcome boxes for guests?
We had welcome bags for when our guests checked into the hotels and the next morning we also did “breakfast boxes” aka grab & go because 1. COVID and we wanted to maintain social distance rather than doing a breakfast and 2. we knew a lot of us guests would be eager to get on the road.
We presented our welcome bags in these canvas totes with a bunch of our favorite snacks, these cute itineraries, personalized water bottles & mini Advil packets
Breakfast boxes had a Gingerbread Company muffin, Perfecto’s bagel + mini cream cheese, Dunkin’ or Starbucks gift card & mini cranberry juice (Anne’s had a cider donut for fall)
Q: What was your wedding weight loss/fitness secret?
Kate and I have always been into running especially finding a love for it after lacrosse! I would say starting this summer we started to stick to a normal schedule for Monday- Friday workouts (2-3 miles) arms, abs & squats after. Limiting sweets and snacking and just sticking to 3 meals (ice cream/ yasso at night, of course). Yogurt, fruit & granola for lunch, chicken and vegetables for dinner. Kate and I mainly focused on certain target areas such as toning arms, stronger, toned legs etc. What was also so special was that Matt did these workouts with us too. He lost 35lbs (in 4 months) before the wedding! SO proud of him, he said he has never felt better and was so excited about the way he looked at the wedding. Even when Kate and I were apart, we would still go on our morning runs together!
Q: Shower & bachelorette planning
Kate’s shower was in February and mine was suppose to be at the end of March. We originally had them planned early because we know how busy springtime is for people. Read all the details on Anne’s drive-by shower HERE. Seriously SO much fun, especially during such a difficult time.
Q: Did the important people who you know wouldn’t miss the wedding end up missing due to Covid? Were people reluctant to attend?
Right up until the weeks before our weddings we were still unsure if Grace was going to make it since she would have to fly and she was pregnant. Luckily she and the boys made it! There were close family and friends that couldn’t make it due to restrictions and/or underlying conditions. Joel’s extended family and best friends from Canada couldn’t make it due to the travel restrictions and rules. Looking forward to celebrating all together in the future when it is safe. We didn’t invite our full guest count only about a 1/4 of the size. We both included the wording on this card HERE to make sure guests knew that we understood and acknowledge everything going on.
Q: Did the masks effect anything?
It was definitely different seeing everyone with masks on, but honestly didn’t change anything. It was such a happy occasion surrounded by so much love.
Q: What was one major change?
Definitely our guest count. We both went from around 130-150 people to under 50. This was so tough and everyone was super understanding. Due to the circumstances and moving forward this year with getting married we decided that keeping our numbers small was the only way to keep everyone safe.
Q: Did you end up streaming either of your ceremonies?
This was definitely an option we wanted to do for our family and friends that couldn’t attend, but we ended up not streaming it. I would definitely say this needs to be planned out in advance not the day of!
Q: Were any of your venues or vendors difficult to work with in terms of rescheduling/cancelling?
Our photographer Esra (Esra Y Photography) was SO amazing! We can’t say enough good things about her and the amazing moments that she captured. Also, James from Meritage Entertainment was amazing to work with! All of our guests couldn’t stop talking about how good the music was.
(Anne) my videographer was not pleasant to work with, with all the stresses during this time you would think she would have been more understanding. We did not have a videographer. My cousin filmed for both of our weddings.
Both our original venues were great to work with. Back in the spring when everything was so new and every day was different they helped us to reschedule then ultimately cancel and were completely understanding.
Q: How did you not compare yourself to other brides who had “normal” weddings?
Such a good question! There was a huge range of emotions this year and it can be hard not to look back on other weddings and feel envious, but the best advice we can give is to not look back or compare! We both stopped wishing that this wasn’t our reality and just fully focused on the importance of why we wanted to get married this year in the first place instead of pushing it off a year or two.
Q: Tips for balancing your own upcoming wedding with your friend’s upcoming wedding.
Definitely live in the moment of each of your weddings! We were both married 3 weeks apart from each other and the week of Anne’s wedding we only focused on the little & big details surrounding her wedding and vice versas when it was Kate’s wedding week. Try to get as much done as possible ahead of your own wedding so that you have time to enjoy your friends wedding!
Q: Are you planning a reception next year or a vow renewal?
Right now we are enjoying married life. I think once things settle down we will think about doing a gathering of people that we missed. After all of that planning it’s nice to relax and think about all the things we can do once it is safe.
Q: Do you feel you missed out/got robbed from the experience?
We both discussed this together and after everything we all went through this year to get married we can say that the day we got married we don’t feel at all like we missed out or got robbed from the experience at all! We still got to plan our weddings like normal (even though there were completely new rules & guidelines), still got ready with our family and friends, still walked down the isle, still said our vows in front of our family and friends and still had an amazing party. The things the matter most to us on the day of our wedding were the exact same and everything we had ever dreamed of! Everything leading up to our wedding, all the cancellations and planning was the only thing that made this experience different, but honestly when you get to your “big day” it will be perfect in its own and new way!
Q: Were any of Joel’s family from Canada able to attend?
Yes! Joel’s parents and his cousin were able to attend from Canada. They took a covid test before their flight to Boston to make sure it was negative and were able to come into the U.S. and had to quarantined for 14 days once they returned home. They received calls a few time to make sure they indeed were staying at their house the full 14 days. We missed the rest of Joel’s family & friends, but so lucky his parents and cousin could be there.
Q: How many people were you allowed to have?
In New Hampshire at the time (I’m not sure if it has since changed) we were able to have up to 100 people indoors. In Massachusetts it was a 25 people indoor then changed to 10 people indoor this fall. This was a main reason we switch venues to NH because even within our bubble of family Massachusetts restrictions wouldn’t allow gatherings.
Q: Were some venues not allowing large groups for weddings?
Every venue is different, but in New Hampshire all were operating at half capacity. Massachusetts weddings and events were only at 25 total people (photographers, DJ included)
Q: How many people did you each have?
Anne had around 50, Kate had about 35.
Q: Are you going on a honeymoon?
We (Anne & Matt) of course cancelled our Hawaiian vacation that was planned for the summer and instead of making any plans for the future we did a last minute trip to Disney World all four of us a few days after Kate and Joel’s wedding. We had the best four days all celebrating together in the sun! We wrote a blog post on our trip and all the new safety measures that Disney took HERE.
Q: Best Bridesmaid dress store?
Anne got here champagne bridesmaid dresses from Bella Bridesmaids! She made us all an appointment to try on different styles (last winter pre-covid) and get measured! So many options and they have locations everywhere! I (Kate) tried on the one shoulder bow dress in their Austin, TX location and immediately told Anne that was the one!
The navy bridesmaid dresses are from David’s Bridal Vera Wang collection! This style is almost sold out, but they have locations everywhere and so many different styles especially if you want to do a few different styles for your girls.
Q: Advice?
The two of us actually reflect on this time a lot. We are so thankful that we were able to get married and keep our guests safe during this time. When discussing our recap we said that it’s important to think of what is most important for you. Is it to have 100+ people there? Is it good timing? Are you ready to move forward? All are great if that is what you truly want. We both decided that after 8 years with Matt and Joel (they are both 29, we are 27) that it was important for us to move forward. I would say wear your dress whether it’s for 10 people or 50 people. The day is so magically that even with our guests it feels like it’s just the two of you.
Some of my favorites moments were getting ready, doing our makeup, laughing, drinking champagne and anticipating the moment we see each other. Stick to those traditions you’ve always dreamed of.
