Courtney & Matt
June 27 , 2021 , at Newport Vineyards in Middletown , RI | Guests : 17
“ At the start of the pandemic , our first worry was that we wouldn ’ t be able to go on our honeymoon to Italy and Greece ,” Courtney recalls . But as the new reality set in , she and Matt realized their big day , originally set for June 27 , 2020 , was going to be impacted , too . “ We had countless discussions with our vendors and wedding coordinator , Maris , at Newport Vineyards — all of whom were incredible — as we navigated not only the various state regulations but what would be feasible and safe for our out-of-town guests , who made up half of our list ,” she explains . The couple rescheduled for December 12 , 2020 , then again for May 1 , 2021 , before finally coming back around to June 27 , 2021 . “ I am so thankful for our family and friends who were so supportive of our decisions and could not have been more willing to help and adjust , even if that meant cancelling and re-booking flights and hotels countless times ,” Courtney says . Per Rhode Island guidelines at the time , she and Matt were able to have an event with up to twenty-five people : this included the couple , their parents , siblings , siblings-in-law and nieces as well as staff and vendors . “ We ’ ve ultimately chose to indefinitely postpone our ‘ big ’ wedding reception knowing that the wedding we already had was irreplaceable ,” she adds .
Kari & Richard
August 22 , 2020 , at the Cathedral at Sts . Peter and Paul , Beavertail State Park in Jamestown , RI , and Clark Cooke House in Newport , RI | Guests : 12
Kari and Richard were all set for a 175-person wedding . But then , in April 2020 , Kari says , “ It became clear that we ’ d need to give up that plan as we sat on our couch in Brooklyn , NY , watching Governor Raimondo announce that no weddings bigger than twenty-five people would take place in Rhode Island that summer .” Simultaneously heartbroken and relieved to finally have clear direction during such uncertain times , she and Richard gave themselves two months to cancel the big reception , recoup their deposits and start brainstorming . “ Eventually , we settled on ‘ Plan E ,’ where we kept our date and ceremony location and then loaded our parents and siblings into a trolley and rode around the state seeing beautiful sites and celebrating with food and booze ,” says Kari . And while some rain did fall , it didn ’ t put a damper on the day . “ When we arrived at Beavertail after the passing shower had cleared out the park , the sun came out and a huge double rainbow crossed the entire sky ,” she explains . “ We got to have our first dance on the rocks under that rainbow , with the ocean in the background and John Prine on a Bluetooth speaker . It ’ s our fondest memory of the entire day .”
64 | ENGAGED IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND 2022