A WET AND RAINY FIRST LOOK PHOTOSHOOT AT MCMICHAELS ART GALLERY | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
In March 2020 when Canada and many countries in the world went into lockdown, Justin and I were entering the final phase of preparations for our wedding. This phase included a long list of important preparations, many of which could not be completed until we were a few months away from the big day; picking up the marriage license, fitting my wedding dress and Justin’s suit, designing, and preparing the wedding florals, confirming the guest count and accommodations, preparing a seating plan, arranging for hotels and transportation etc.
HUSBAND TO BE JUSTIN FRANK BOLIEIRO AWAITING HIS BRIDE | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
Everything that was yet to be completed was immediately put on hold until we had more information about the emerging corona virus. It was a stressful time filled with many emails and calls to keep over a hundred guests and our support team—photographer, DJ, hair and make-up, minister—up to date on news from the government and the venue. As the weeks passed it became less and less likely we would be able to get married on our contracted date, let alone execute all the final preparations.
The months of June and July were a very difficult and depressing time for both Justin and me. We considered going ahead with a small wedding, but many of our key family members would not be able to attend, nor felt comfortable attending; and of course, the guests from Holland had all by now cancelled their trips. Eventually we did the difficult task of postponing our wedding day to the following year and confirmed it for Saturday June 5th, 2021. We re-signed all our contracts, put our wedding planning aside for eight months, and moved on.
ARRIVING FOR FIRST LOOK PHOTOS IN THE POURING RAIN | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
The year 2020 was a difficult year to get through, but I was able to make peace with it because the entire world was experiencing the same thing. “We were all in this together”. The following year 2021, however, took a heavy emotional toll. From February 2021 to May 2021, we went through the whole process of gearing up for the wedding a second time. During that period, the government mandated another lockdown; meaning that from month to month, and week to week, we had no idea whether the wedding was going to happen. As we approached the final weeks before the new June 05th wedding date, once again, for many pandemic related reasons, we made the difficult decision to postpone.
A BEAUTIFUL BORROWED STOLE FROM THE MAID OF HONOURS MOTHER | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
Those of you who have planned a medium to large scale wedding can appreciate the stress and chaos that would come with planning that same wedding twice over. However, I’m not sure anyone can fully appreciate trying to plan it three times in a row in three different seasons. Justin and I had reached the point where we needed to commit to a plan in order to keep our sanity. Being the wedding planner/designer for my own wedding, my brain was overloaded with wedding details, and it was negatively affecting everything else in my life. I cannot imagine how actual wedding planners survived those two years, with every one of their clients going through the same stress and chaos. With each cancellation there is major disappointment, and then another phase of re-planning for an uncertain outcome.
Justin and I decided to pick a third and final wedding date and commit to it no matter what the circumstances. For the second time around, we re-signed all our contracts with our venue and vendors and booked a third wedding date for Sunday November 14th, 2021.
The months leading up to the wedding were exhausting. Everything in our situation was in a constant state of flux, and it would be that way until the day of the wedding. We knew we were getting married, but we had no idea how many people would be attending, or if the venue would even be able to host our wedding. If they were mandated to shut down during another lockdown and we went ahead with our plans, we would lose the sizable deposit we invested back in 2019 to secure the chapel and the reception hall.
STEALING A FEW QUIET MOMENTS ALONE BEFORE THE CEREMONY | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
In preparation for the third and final wedding date, I bustled around confirming a myriad of details: who was coming to the ceremony, who was coming to the reception, who needed a hotel, who needed transportation. I prearranged my business work schedule so that I was free the last six weeks before our wedding day—this would not have been necessary in a normal world climate—because now I needed to pull the whole event together at the eleventh hour. It was a crazy time, but our excitement was building as we inched closer to November 14th.
Towards the end of September—eight weeks before our third wedding date—we learned that the venue we booked was unable to host our wedding reception. We were still able to rent the chapel for the ceremony, but if we wanted to stay on track for our third wedding date, the reception would be cancelled. You can imagine that our spirits took a hard beating; our dream of having a fun, memorable evening/dinner at an upscale venue with our family and friends around us seemed forever out of our grasp.
GORGEOUS FALL COLOURS POP IN THE RAINY OVERCAST WEATHER | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
To make matters worse, I had not seen my immediate family for over two years. They were traveling all the way to Toronto for our wedding, only to go back to their hotel room afterwards, because there would be no place where we could all gather comfortably. Not having a reception hall or even a reception felt wrong on so many levels.
CELIA AND JUSTIN STROLLING THROUGH THE MCMICHAELS GALLERY GARDENS | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
Once again Justin and I went through discussions about whether we should go ahead and get married in November; but after all the personal challenges we had been through in 2020 and 2021, neither of us had the energy or enthusiasm to rebook. We committed to the November 14th date, accepting all consequences that came with that decision.
CELIA ALIDA RUTTE ONCE A FASHION MODEL ALWAYS A FASHION MODEL | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
It was precisely at this point in our wedding journey—feeling deflated, beaten down, angry, frustrated, vulnerable, and completely fed up with everything that was going on in the world—that something inside of me broke. What was supposed to be the celebration of a beautiful milestone in my life had become a suffocating experience, and consequently an impossible task. Instead of tending to the hundreds of details that still surrounded the ceremony, I did nothing… nothing at all… for weeks.
HEADING TO CHURCH FOR THE WEDDING CEREMONY | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS
Continue reading My Wedding Story | Part Three
Justin and I extend a very special thank you to my mom and dad for gifting me my wedding dress, and all the accessories that went along with it; and for making the journey to Toronto to spend time with us during our week of celebrations. We love you both very much.
JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS | PHOTOGRAPHER
We are so very grateful to our wedding photographer Jennifer See Studios, and we highly recommend her to anyone looking for a wedding photographer. She was full of energy and enthusiasm the entire day, and graciously put up with all the turmoil of the pandemic wedding era. We love our wedding photos (My Wedding Story | Part One thru Part Five), and her beautiful work speaks for itself.
MY WEDDING STORY | PART ONE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART TWO
MY WEDDING STORY | PART THREE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART FOUR
MY WEDDING STORY | PART FIVE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART SIX
Beautiful story and photos Celia.