BUFFALO, N.Y. — By now, you probably know at least one couple who has postponed their wedding because of the pandemic, and/or newly engaged couples trying to plan.
With a new wedding season almost upon us, 2 On Your Side spoke with three local couples about the adjustments they've made to their 2020 plans, some of whom are still waiting to tie the knot.
"A lot of uncertainty. A couple months before every date, it's always like okay, do we actually see this happening?"
Julie Riggi and her husband, Matt are close to celebrating their first anniversary, and they're also still planning their wedding.
"Our original wedding date was April 4th, 2020. We postponed to October 31st, 2020," she told 2 On Your Side. "Then we postponed again to March 2021, which was probably ambitious, but it seemed, we were hopeful. Now we have officially postponed April 2nd, 2022."
That's two years after their 315 person reception at the Hotel Lafayette was supposed to happen. The Williamsville couple did get to say their "I do's" on their original date, then had a drive-by celebration at their house.
"It's been really frustrating," Julie said. "But we talk about it all the time, we are so happy that still got married."
It's a reality Karina Lopez and Curt Rogers of Amherst understand on many levels.
"We're scheduled now to get married Memorial Day Weekend, and we're hoping that it can happen, but it's truly up in the air still," Karina told 2 On Your Side.
Not only do they hope their own postponed wedding from 2020 happens this summer, they also run a wedding planning business called KC You There, and are helping other couples navigate their process, too. They say while many of the couples who had planned 2020 weddings have rescheduled for 2021 and 2022, that doesn't mean there isn't anything left for the newly engaged couples.
"There's plenty of places to get married, I think you can get creative," she said. "I think that there's rental companies that you can work with if you have a property, or can find someone with a property, something along those lines, if you want to create a backyard tented wedding. I think that definitely, where there's a will there's way."
Virtual weddings are still an option, too, like Tiffani and Tobit Houston of Buffalo had back in June. They had to call off plans for a destination wedding in Jamaica, and said their vows in an intimate ceremony in Tiffani's aunt's backyard, with more than 300 loved ones watching on Zoom.
"It was a beautiful moment, it was a beautiful day, and just I never forget anything that happened," Tiffani said.
"We had really good support with our family and our friends, so it all worked out," said Tobit. "It just worked out."
If there's one thing these six have learned over the last year, it's that patience is the key to the game when planning a wedding in a pandemic.
As as soon as the big ones are back, the Riggi's vow to be some of the first ones out on the dance floor.
"I love going to weddings," Matt said. :I love dancing and having a great time. To celebrate with loved our ones."