True Love Reigns: Navigating Weddings During a Pandemic
A couple celebrates their wedding day at Moonlight Ballroom. The national pandemic has forced many couples to reconfigure or cancel their original plans for celebration. Photo: Dionicio Perez.
July 11, 2020 - San Antonio
Article By: Brigid Cooley - Staff Intern, SA Sentinel
An example of a wedding setup at the venue Moonlight Ballroom. The venue has had to reschedule many events this year due to the pandemic. Photo: Dionicio Perez.
On June 27, a hundred of Marissa and Miguel Zermeño’s closest family and friends gathered in the historical San Fernando Cathedral to witness their wedding. The church, which can normally seat 400 guests, looked different than usual as guests wore masks and spread out from one another to ensure a socially distant ceremony.
“During our ceremony, we got the mass text about staying home because COVID was really bad,” Marissa said, referring to the emergency message sent by the city of San Antonio to encourage people to stay home.
The couple made the decision to have their wedding on their original date after planning for almost two years. For safety, they had to cut down their guest list to stay within the 25% capacity required by the church. They also made the decision to move their reception to September.
“We don’t know if we’ll even be able to have a reception in September,” Marissa said. “Of course, we’re hoping that we can and if not, we’ll probably have to push it back again. It’s a lot of unknown.”
In addition to rescheduling their reception, the couple pushed their honeymoon to December, knowing they may have to postpone it until next year if the pandemic worsens.
While the couple did not receive the dream wedding they had initially planned, they are taking time to reflect on how much their bond has grown because of the challenges they have faced.
“People joke like, y’all got married during the pandemic, if you can handle this, y’all can handle anything, which I think is true because we were tested a lot of times,” Marissa said.
The Zermaño’s aren’t the only couple having to make difficult decisions. Raquel Belden and Thomas Redmond originally planned to be married on June 6 at the Southwest School of Art but decided to postpone their wedding because of the uptick in local cases of COVID-19.
“We got a phone call from the director of the Southwest School and said they understood the extenuating circumstances and that they would let me reschedule my wedding up to a year out,” Belden said.
Belden felt overwhelmed by the planning process even before she had to move the wedding. Fearing having to reschedule a second time, she and her fiance chose to push the wedding to June 2021.
“There’s no way I’m going to be able to push this thing back two times,” Belden said. “My brain cannot take this, my heart cannot take this, so I’m going to give myself a whole year and have the wedding that I wanted in the month that I wanted and definitely leave very little opportunity for any kind of surprises to occur.”
Although Belden was heartbroken by the sudden change of plans, she also appreciates the extra time the situation offers her.
“Having had more distance from the situation, I’ve realized that this gives me more time,” Belden said. “I’m not going to be in school this next year, I’m going to get to have more control over the details of the planning.”
Marissa and Miguel Zermeño were married on June 27, 2020 at San Fernando Cathedral during the latest coronavirus spike in San Antonio. The couple decided to move forward with their ceremony but postponed their wedding reception. Courtesy Photo.
Losing Business, Slowly Recovering
For wedding vendors, however, the recent rescheduling of events has resulted in concerns for their business.
Kat Carey, a wedding photographer and owner of Darkroom Foto, had to navigate losing her income because of the pandemic.
“I’m definitely putting health before money because I feel like money will always be there; we’re just going to have to adjust some things,” Carey said. “I just also don’t want to lose my house over it. I don’t want to lose my livelihood, but my life and the lives of my neighbors and my friends are more important.”
Since lockdowns have loosened, Carey has been able to slowly reopen her business, conducting socially distant photography sessions and even photographing an elopement. However, as coronavirus cases increase, Carey continues to lose business.
“I didn’t expect any of my September weddings to have to cancel or my October weddings,” Carey said. “That’s something that’s happening.”
While some couples have chosen to cancel their weddings altogether, others have rescheduled, creating a scenario where vendors have to trade new business for previous bookings.
“It really affects our business because not only are we having to change the date, but it’s really hard for us to re-book and make any business because we’re just transferring these events to further dates,” said Isaac Soto, owner of Moonlight Ballroom, a local event venue. “It’s a trickle effect. We’re not able to book any new business because those dates are gone.”
Since their reopening, Moonlight Ballroom has taken preventative measures to ensure safety at the venue. Currently, only one hundred people are allowed in the space and guests are required to wear face masks and have their temperatures taken before entering. Even with these steps in place, Soto said people are hesitant to host events.
“People are scared,” Soto said. “I have several people that have come in who have done tours that want to book. They’re excited, they really like our venue, they’re ready to book, but when they’re ready to sign the contract … they’re hesitant.”
Soto wants people to understand that small business owners like himself are aware of safety concerns, but also want to keep their business open so they can bring in a paycheck for their families.
“We understand the situation, we do,” Soto said. “We understand that these are dire times, that people need to take drastic measures to make sure that everybody is safe. We’re doing everything possible to try to make sure that everybody’s safe.”
Brigid Cooley is the editor-in-chief of The Mesquite, a student publication of Texas A&M - San Antonio. E-mail her at reporter@sasentinel.com.