It's been a strange old time for us all lately, whilst some of us have been working heroically on the front line helping with the fight against Covid 19, others have been working at home taking Zoom meetings with their boss whilst still in their pyjamas. Others (Like me) have been sat at home doing the garden and watching Netflix. 5 months of gardening was epic in fairness and if I hadn’t finished the entire catalogue of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus I would perhaps be up for another few weeks off!
Weddings have now begun once again and after spending the last few weeks in the office I dare to say life at Keyhole feels pretty much back to normal, or certainly as normal as we could hope for given the circumstances. We have been involved in a number of weddings over the past few weeks and we have spoken to and met with many of our clients who had wished for a wedding with over a hundred guests but now have been forced to reduce their numbers to 30.
We have been overwhelmed by the courage, determination and focus our clients have displayed during this turbulent time. Since our Governments guidelines and advice only leaves us with more questions than answers, many of you planning a wedding have been left in limbo and it has been difficult to determine the best cause of action for yourself.
When it comes to planning a wedding there’s no getting away from the fact that it can be a stressful time at the best of times! There is so much to organise and plan ( last weeks blog may help you with this, so click here for some help! ), so when you throw into the mix major changes such as no receptions allowed or limited numbers, is the best course of action to postpone the entire event?
At the start of the pandemic I would probably have said yes, postpone until a time you are certain your special day can go ahead as planned. Whether you have booked wedding photography with us, videography or our wedding cars, we always endeavour to provide the very best service we can with no restrictions. We understand this is a day you will likely only ever do once, so it's important that everything is exactly as you wish!
Six months after we began to postpone so many weddings from 2020, my original thoughts have changed. One of the first couples I met who were planning a wedding for October with over 100 guests were both key workers. The first thing I noted when speaking to them was their unbelievable determination and desire to make their wedding work.
They had both been battling through the previous months, selflessly working to help others and keep our country in motion. When listening to them explain what they had been doing over the past 6 months, I had an enormous sense of guilt that I was sat in my garden pruning my hydrangeas whilst they were at work making a difference to the world.
To amplify my admiration for this couple their mindset to their wedding day really opened my mind to the reality of our current situation.
They are getting married no matter what, because their wedding is about the love they both share. Of course it's important that your closest family and friends are present to witness the event, but essentially it's about the couple and a landmark in their life, a page being turned to an entirely new chapter together.
It's strange because pre pandemic people often ask me what is the best wedding you have ever seen and I would always tell them of a couple who got married in a local church, returned to their family home and had their reception in a small marquee in the garden. The catering consisted of a hog roast and the entertainment was a pre prepared playlist and some garden games. The entire affair was done on a budget yet it was one of the most impressive wedding days I have ever witnessed. Why? Well it was simple, the entire day was a celebration of the love and new life the couple share and have embarked upon.
Although there were only 40-50 guests, the atmosphere was electric and the images we captured were incredible. You could really feel the emotion and the togetherness of everyone present. This made me realise that it's not all about the fancy venues, flash wedding cars and the all singing, all dancing entertainment that make a wedding day, it's about the people you care most about being there and the love you both share for each other. It's acknowledging that the wedding isn’t a show or an event and it's not meant to be a stage production. It's a day that marks a fresh chapter in your life and is a celebration and declaration of your love to each other. It's easy to forget this when we are planning a wedding. After all, we are all told that the average wedding costs circa 20k. We believe we need all of this stuff to make our day special!
It's interesting to think about our parents and their wedding day. Where did they get married? I know my folks got married in a local church and then went to the social club behind the church for a finger buffet of stale sausage rolls and mini frozen desserts from the local supermarket. DJ Dave was on hand to pump some of the finest tunes the 1970s had to offer into the sticky floored hall. Times have changed and it's no longer acceptable to have DJ Dave with his scratched records and the sausage rolls as your main course. That’s probably a good thing, but my point is when did it become the norm to hire a castle, helicopter, 7 tier wedding cake, fire juggler, saxophonist and a 4 course wedding breakfast for our weddings?
It's not the venue or the services we book that make our wedding special, it's the people we care most about who are with us at the wedding. I sat down with my wife and looked at what our guest list would have looked like if we had only been able to invite our closest family. I was surprised that after inviting the most important people in our lives, we still had a few potential spaces available for extended family or close friends.
Of course this isn't ideal and limitations on numbers is very hard to accept. BUT, if a couple who have been fighting so hard over the past 6 months to keep people alive and keep the country moving along can accept that restrictions on their wedding doesn't have to be seen as a disaster, perhaps it's worth a consideration on your own wedding day?
To add to this, the weddings we have attended over the past few weeks have all been incredible. It's felt like we were back to normal, a feeling which we have rarely been able to experience of late. Sure it's noticeable that the numbers are lower, but the day runs the same and the couple have the same experience in terms of the marriage. I've thoroughly enjoyed being a part of these weddings and I don’t feel they have lost any of their magic whilst I've been in attendance. I've witnessed the same emotions of happiness, laughter, enjoyment and captured moments that will last forever more.
For more information on our wedding photography and videography, visit us at www.keyholestudios.com or call us on 0151 708 7077. For more information about our wedding car hire, visit us at www.keyholemotors.com
