It is the season of weddings, and while couples are always encouraged to prepare for something that might go awry in the planning, those getting married in 2020 have had to be creative and willing to adapt to all the challenges brought on by COVID-19.
Jonathon Leslie, son of Cam and Dorianne Leslie, met his future bride Nikki Kralka, on a dating website which was followed by a first date of dinner and a movie. After getting engaged in 2018 they set May 17, 2020 as their wedding date and began preparing for “a typical, yet smaller wedding” to be held in Outlook with about 80 guests and their plus ones. In mid-April they knew those plans would have to be changed. “Even if Saskatchewan began reopening,” Nikki said, “we didn’t feel right continuing with our plans and putting our more vulnerable guests at risk.”
They began investigating streaming options and searching for a new venue, and decided a backyard wedding was the best option. The way things turned out, they actually ended up with a wedding that suited them perfectly. “The wedding we were able to do during the virus was the wedding we had always wanted,” Jon said, minus a key element. “The toughest change and plan to give up was not being able to have our grandparents present at the ceremony.”
On the morning of May 17, Jon and Nikki did some decorating and got the camera ready to stream the wedding to their guests. Both sets of parents arrived for a visit prior to the ceremony and then at 3:00 pm, in front of friends and family online, Jon and Nikki took their wedding vows. Following the ceremony, and after the commissioner left, they were able to welcome their siblings for a small, lovely reception all the while staying within the provincial guidelines.
Jon and Nikki wish they had been able to celebrate in-person with more of their friends and family, and they were also looking forward to introducing their guests to an Outlook eatery. “The reception was going to be held at the legion,” Nikki explained, “with supper being provided by Piccola Pizza and we were really looking forward to the evening we had planned. This being said we still enjoyed simply sharing a meal with our parents and siblings.”
Leah Adelman and Michael Rusk met at a Diggit Volleyball Camp where they were both coaching. They were engaged in September 2019 and began planning a wedding that was to take place July 11 on the LCBI campus where Leah (daughter of Cliff and Bea Adelman) is a teacher, coach and athletic director. The ceremony would be followed by a brunch across the road at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and then out to the Wolf Willow Winery for a social. But as so much began shutting down, they knew those plans would be impacted. Leah said, “When the NBA was postponed and shortly after all other professional sports and then schools, Michael’s grandma called him and said we should just scrap the whole thing and find a justice of the peace and do it now.” But Leah wasn’t so sure. “I said, well let’s wait and see if time will give us a small wedding anyways.”
The new plan, which could still be impacted by changes the Saskatchewan Health Authority may announce, is to have a drive in wedding at LCBI possibly using an FM transmitter so guests can hear the ceremony through their vehicle radios, or perhaps having guests sit in lawn chairs six feet apart. There will be a drive-by receiving line and a photographer taking pictures of each group of guests so a guest book can be created.
Leah’s dress is ready to go, while Michael’s suit is still in the works. Even as guidelines are changing rapidly, they now have to wait to see if guests from a distance and across the border will be able to attend, including an uncle in Texas who is supposed to officiate the ceremony. However, they have a back-up plan and are ready to adapt to what the next weeks might bring. “The uncertainty and questions from everyone else has been incredibly difficult,” Leah remarked. “We have been trying to plan during an unplannable period of time. So we have just embraced a go with the flow attitude, which may not appeal to others.” But it is working for them. “Honestly neither of us feel much of a loss at this point,” Michael remarked. “We are still incredibly excited for the day, and it has been something to look forward to and be optimistic about.”
These couples found it easy to see the silver lining in planning their weddings in such an unusual time. Jon said, “Our unexpected blessing was us having the wedding we wanted without the guilt or need to explain ourselves for why we were doing a wedding like this.”
Leah and Michael enjoyed the opportunity of getting to spend more time together since they weren’t on the road coaching and working, and they are very much anticipating their wedding day. “It really has been something we can look forward to in all of this,” Leah remarked. “When there doesn’t seem to be a lot of great news and everything has been cancelled, we know that no matter how the day goes, it means we get to spend the rest of our lives together and that’s all that really matters to us.”
