Area couples finally saying ‘I do’ in 2021
Courtesy of Wedding Wishes
Ty and Scarlett Fisher, with their daughter, Skye Fisher, at their July 2020 wedding. The Pittsburgh couple, with the help of wedding planner Brenda Widows of Wedding Wishes of Washington, changed their wedding plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic and held an outdoor ceremony and reception in their back yard.
Courtesy of Hannah Barlow Photography
Bryce and Samantha Walter were married June 5 at Fernstone Retreat in Farmington, Fayette County. Wedding planner Jaclyn Pheasant of Dream Creations helped them plan the wedding, which moved from an indoor venue to the outdoor Fernstone location.
Courtesy of Wedding Wishes
Wedding planner Brenda Widows of Wedding Wishes helped plan the wedding of Bryan and Jen Sunday, who were married at an outdoor ceremony that was followed by an small indoor reception of 12 people.
After a year full of wedding cancellations and postponements in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year has been a busy one for wedding venues and vendors.
“2021 seems to be making up for it. It’s such a busy year. We have more weddings now than we ever have,” said Joelle Cowden, co-owner of Shady Elms Farm in Hickory. “People are excited to be able to get out again and celebrate.”
The outdoor wedding venue, which rescheduled five weddings set for last year to 2021, has only two open dates available this year and is booking well into 2022.
A recent survey by The Knot found that, of 7,600 couples across the country who originally set their wedding date between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, nearly half of the couples – 47% – rescheduled a reception into 2021 and beyond. The survey also showed, in 2020, 32% of couples held a “minimony” or legally got married, but planned to throw a reception in 2021.
And, according to the survey, 43% of couples who initially set their wedding date for 2020 moved forward with the wedding and ceremony.
“Last year, the wedding industry got hit pretty hard. But we do have vaccinations now, and weddings have picked up steam,” said wedding planner Brenda Widows, owner of Wedding Wishes in Washington and a mental health nurse. “A lot of outdoor venues are booking faster than indoor venues because being outdoors, where fresh air is always circulating, is the safest at the moment.”
Wedding planners’ advice to any couple looking to have a wedding this year or in 2022 is to start planning as soon as possible.
Wedding planner Jaclyn Pheasant of Dream Creations in Smithfield, advises couples to hire vendors as soon as possible.
“The biggest thing I’ve been recommending to my couples is securing their vendors as early as they can. Secure your date and your vendors. DJs, photographers, videographers and caterers are booking a filling up quickly due to so many postponements last year and so many weddings getting pushed into 2021,” said Pheasant.
Wedding planners also suggest couples consider being flexible with the wedding date, like having a mid-week ceremony instead of a Saturday wedding.
Bryce and Samantha Walter, who were married June 5 at Fernstone Retreat in Farmington, Fayette County, were forced to switch venues when the indoor site where they originally planned to exchange vows was closed because of the pandemic.
“We got lucky. We got engaged in July of 2019, before COVID was a thought. We weighed all our options – we had thought about delaying or eloping. We called all around, and Fernstone was available on only one weekend day for the entire year, at it was our original date, June 5. So it worked out perfectly,” said Walter, who now lives in Bellefonte. ” It was really nice to be able to get together with friends and family we hadn’t seen in a long time, since COVID started.”
Pheasant, who served as the Walters’ wedding planner, said about 95% of the weddings she is planning for this year are at outdoor locations.
Widows and Pheasant both said even with the COVID-19 vaccine now available, couples are incorporating health and safety measures into their weddings.
Those measures include hand sanitizer stations, face masks and socially distanced layouts.
It’s recommended to serve food to guests instead of having buffet lines, and tongs and gloves are being supplied for cookie tables and candy stations to avoid contact with food.
“Some people are still skittish and won’t come to weddings yet, but a lot of people are feeling more comfortable,” said Widows, who is currently finalizing details for two weddings that were moved from 2020 until this year. “Couples have to make considerations for their guests. If a family member has a health issue, be aware and seat them on the outside of the seating arrangement, where there is not a lot of traffic.”
Widows also said it’s appropriate to include in invitations for weddings that are scheduled for fall or winter, or indoors, a note that if guests are ill they are encouraged to stay home.
Above all, wedding planners are encouraging couples to enjoy their engagement and nuptial planning.
It’s advice Samantha and Bryce Walter embraced.
Samantha and Bryce were junior high school sweethearts who met in eighth grade.
In the summer before their senior year of college – she graduated from Robert Morris University, he graduated from Juniata College – Bryce proposed to Samantha by a waterfall at Bedford Springs, one of their favorite spots.
Samantha Walter said the challenges of planning a wedding during the pandemic helped her focus on what matters.
“I feel like you really learn what’s important. Starting out the wedding planning process, before COVID, we were focused on all the little details. But we had to make a lot of concessions, and the thing that really got us through was the thought that we were still going to marry each other in the end,” said Walter, 23, who is attending law school at Penn State University. “That’s the most important thing. And it was a perfect day.”