COVID can’t stop us
O and I originally wanted to get married 6/20/20, which then was pushed earlier to 6/6/20 for the sake of hosting our wedding at our preferred venue. Who knew that with a year of planning and being so schedule oriented (heavily organizing everything on Google sheets + checklists) we still had to scrap everything? With COVID heavily affecting our lives day to day and concerned overseas family/friends inquiring about our wedding… we decided to postpone our wedding.
I was in complete denial that we’d have to postpone because 1) we’ve scheduled with our vendors and organized so efficiently over Google sheets, so postponing wasn’t “possible,” 2) we spent 9 months planning + coordinating and I was exhausted 3) I was going to pick up my customized wedding dress that I bought with $$$ and 4) I believed that we’d have enough time with beaches reopening in May and our wedding being just barely “safe” in early June. (Hoorah! right?)
Yet after reading that fashion runway shows and concerts originally scheduled for the fall were postponed/cancelled, I realized that a June wedding was too optimistic and incredulous. I couldn’t expect our friends and family to come celebrate with masks by June. I also wouldn’t want to remember my wedding day being filled with hand sanitizer/masks. After screaming into a pillow, we emailed everyone that we were postponing our wedding (and continued to scream into my pillow). While some friends sighed in relief that they could make the ones a few weeks/month after me, I was definitely bitter about being the cut off.
Tip: There are only a few wrong responses you can say to a couple who has a postponed wedding because of a pandemic… and that is one wrong way.
But ultimately, this whole pandemic is a life or death matter; to even think about possibly “going on” with our 80+ person wedding, possibly infecting someone (anyone) and them possibly have symptoms is terrifyingly selfish. Really, love is patient, love is kind – (insert all other biblical definitions of love here) … No matter how many masks /hand sanitizer/ social distancing practices we use….
Pandemics don’t pardon parties – and parties can always wait.
With a friend suggesting that we just do something happy and personal on our designated wedding day, we tentatively decided to at least (possibly) get legally married with paperwork on 6.2.20 as the latest option for that month period of when we contacted the OC bureau via phone. Because LA’s bureau was closed, I didn’t want us to keep having to call the OC bureau, and COVID + black lives matter protests changing every days’ curfew, we decided to just try to go for it and have the required check in with the bureau the day before our scheduled legal marriage date.. Many of our friends and family were confused thinking that meant that we’d completely scrap a wedding ceremony/reception where they wouldn’t have the opportunity to ever join (def…no!)
After researching more extensively, I realized that this wasn’t the “end” of it but a very strange and hopefully fantastic beginning – life is all about improvisations, right? I also have friends who saved thousands of dollars to purchase a house first – then respectively threw their well deserving party with everyone the following year(s) later than when we’re all poor-er. As a woman approaching her 30’s… hey, I get it.
Fast forward to 6.2.20 – 2 days after I flew back from NYC, 1 day after I dyed my hair from blonde to brown and received my first haircut in 1 year… we made it. My fabulous photographer Mike/Villa Visuals saw my announcement of getting legally married at Honda Center, contacted me telling me that he could actually swing by to snap some (stellar) photos of us since he’s nearby, Oly assembled his gopro for us, we tested it late that morning, I did my makeup as best as I can with eyeshadow for the first time, and I slipped on my Bali dress. My mom picked out flowers and assembled it herself and drove me over to meet with the rest of our family in Anaheim’s parking lot. A sheriff scorned a few couples incl. us for mingling with supportive family/friends, so we had to leave our parents/dogs/O’s bro in the car. By our designated time slot, O and I walked up to a kiosk with his mom as our witness.
Was it weird? Obviously yes. I never thought I’d literally get married by some random officiant in a kiosk and mask kissing in a parking lot of a hockey stadium which I knew 0 facts about; I’d like to say that that’s just a part 1 and a circumstance to step into another phase of our lives. In a way it felt magical … (as magical as it could be to “have” our family/friends around via a gopro and being paranoid about the black lives matter protests/curfew) Quite cheesy, but at the end of the day, love… is love.
One perk of something I’ve been looking forward in being a Mrs. Yang is easier reservations. No more repeating my name 5 times, no more “it’s line without the e” it’s “lin” not “rin.” … but more importantly, it’s really nice being officially stuck with Oliver. Oliver is as peaceful as his name means + he’s been a great friend for the past decade + a compatible roommate for the past 3 years. We can be heroes.
Fast forward to a 1+ month later after getting married… is life that different? No, not really. I pretty much feel like it’s still June with the exception of my birthday coming up. I’ve become numb to the facts that I’ve missed my bachelorette party in Mexico City, wedding in Malibu Beach, and am currently missing my honeymoon in Europe + our other friend’s wedding in Germany (that was cancelled). I’ve passed the point dreading of how “2020 is shitty” because I’m just (trying to be) thankful for my blessings like being alive/healthy with Oly, and hoping the best for my friends and family out there + those in the research and healthcare industries. Surely, America sucks terrible right now. But we can make it suck less.
We take it day by day and are extremely thankful for our photographer Mike for capturing these and making us look 100x better with our furry little friends and family. From the bottom of our dear hearts – thank you friends and family around the world for the constant support and love. We genuinely hope everyone just keeps wearing masks + stay safe. We WILL celebrate with everyone when things settle down. XOXO.
