A Drive-By Wedding

Photo Credit Tiffany Olson Photography

This is my adorable niece Hannah and her new husband Cooper. They were scheduled to be married in the Ogden Utah temple at the end of April, but the temple was closed recently as has most everything we are used to as a society in general. Can you believe how much our lives have changed since the beginning of March. It’s really been unbelievable, truly. I wanted to share how this amazing couple and their parents navigated this sudden change of plans. It was such a fun experience, I thought many of you would enjoy reading about a little bit of sunshine today. 😉

The happy couple decided to get married in Hannah’s parents living room. My sister-in-law Mary (Hannah’s mom) is stunningly talented in many areas and went to work building flower arrangements and setting up her home for a wedding. Doesn’t it look lovely! (Proud sister, here!)

So stunning!

Only the parents and sibling of the bride and groom were in attendance at the actual ceremony. Hannah’s Dad was able to get registered online to become an official “minister” and was able to marry them officially. Many of our extended family members and friends sat outside their home in our vehicles and watched the ceremony over a Zoom Video Call. It was pretty unusual, but still great.

 

After the ceremony…

Photo Credit Tiffany Olson Photography

Hannah and Cooper came outside and waved…

…as car after car after car drove by honking, and cheering and sending their congratulations. Their friends and neighbors came out in droves. People were throwing wedding cards and rice out the windows and just being generally fabulous.

These are my cute nieces, happy for their older cousin.

One family rigged up this celebratory trailer.

Another brought a fishing pole with a wad of money attached to gift the happy couple. 6 foot distance at all times…;)

It really was so much fun. It felt so good to be part of something as a group. Even if it was unusual, all those people lined up cheering and supporting was medicine to my soul.

Life seems pretty isolated right now, doesn’t it? Even though we aren’t able to gather in large groups like we are used to, I take a lot of comfort in realizing that we are all choosing to be home in an effort to support the greater good.

I saw this awesome video on the news yesterday that I loved…

Click HERE or on the picture to see it. It’s a view of people in New York taking time to cheer and clap as a way to thank those on the front lines. Medical professionals, grocery store employees, etc. So good.

My kids and I were talking about how things will be when this is all over, what we think might change and be different as we eventually transition back to “normal”. Who knows what that will look like and how our world will be changed! I suspect that kids will be able to go back to school. We’ll be able to worship in churches again. There will be toilet paper available at the grocery store. 😉

There is definitely one thing that will have changed.

We will be different. Hopefully we’ll come out the other side stronger for the struggle. Stay safe out there, my friends. My love to all of you.