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Amidst a national pandemic two couples share how they managed, planned and                      adjusted

Save the Date for Later

Greenville couple shares their surprise wedding story during COVID-19

The last thing bride Jenny Woods was thinking about when she was planning for her dream wedding was a global pandemic. But that’s exactly what happened when the coronavirus hit throwing her April wedding plans for a loop. 
“We had everything in place for the big day – it was perfect,” says Jenny Woods. “It was just going to be a party and be so much fun.”
Woods had known her fiancé Cooper Lemons for more than a decade. 
“He is my brother’s best friend, and both of our families are good friends,” Woods says. “We have always joked that our marriage was an arranged marriage.” 

Lemons proposed to Woods on Jan. 3, 2020, at Hotel Domestique. 
Because Lemons was in military training in Ga., the couple planned to tie the knot four months later. 
“We both have such big families in Greenville and wanted to do something smaller and a little different, so we decided to turn our engagement party into a surprise wedding,” Woods says.
The date for the engagement party was set for Friday, April 24, at The Venue at Falls Park in downtown Greenville. To throw people off, a fake wedding date was set for Aug. 15. 
“We envisioned our guests arriving at our cocktail party, and during the toast, we would announce that the engagement party was actually our wedding,” she says. “We would then change clothes while guests moved to an area outside for the ceremony and reception. The three-piece band would then turn into a live party band. Just thinking about the energy of it all and the element of surprise – I wanted it to feel like you were part of something so special. I was so excited about having a wedding this way.”
Wedding planner Harriett Graham handled all of the details for the surprise wedding. Engagement party announcements were sent, the venue was reserved, as well as band, caterer, and flowers. Woods had her dress express delivered to make it in time. 

During the planning, reports about the pandemic began to dominate the news. 
“While we were aware of what was happening, we didn’t realize the severity of it,” says Woods. “About the middle of March, things were changing rapidly. The CDC recommended canceling gatherings with 250 or more. We had 180 guests and were within the guidelines. But then events with 50, and 10 or more were being cancelled, followed by stay-at-home orders.” 
Woods says with friends traveling from all over the country, and hotel rooms blocked, it was time to make some decisions. 
“It was all overwhelming, and I was so paralyzed,” says Woods. “I was also in the process of relocating to Columbus, Ga. to be with Cooper and had already quit my job and trained my replacement. Thankfully, Harriett took the reins – she was so incredible. She was only supposed to manage the details the day-of the wedding but went well beyond that. She expeditiously rebooked everything and reworked every detail.” 

Woods says that they had hoped to get their marriage license on their original wedding date, but at the time, the courts were considered non-essential and closed. 
“Because of the pandemic, there’s so much that’s aloof up in the air, so we are still taking it day by day,” she says. 
The wedding is now rescheduled for Friday, Aug. 21. The couple plan to honeymoon in Italy once travel restrictions are lifted.
“At the end of the day, I am marrying the man that I love, and we are going to have a good story to tell our kids.” 

Plan B

Even COVID can’t stop CUPID

When Caroline Reynolds and Greg Aiken got engaged around Thanksgiving 2019, there was no way they could have known that a global pandemic would be a part of their plan. They always knew they wanted something different from a traditional venue, and spent hours orchestrating a wedding weekend for friends and family that would reflect their personalities and honor family traditions. What happened next is an exercise in flexibility, creativity, and a look at what true love is. Maybe not such a bad way to start a marriage after all.
“We are some of our last friends to get married,” explained Caroline, “and we had been in more weddings than we could count in mostly the same places. Our first thought was let’s go somewhere and our friends were chanting destination wedding as well, so we were thrilled. We began with a map of the world and that world got smaller and smaller as we looked into the details, but we landed on Memorial Day at Amelia Island. It was going to be a whole weekend of fun with our family and friends at the beach.”
In March when closures started, Greg immediately wanted to start making “back up” plans. Caroline kept pushing it off, not wanting to even think about planning a wedding all over again. When the resort closed in April  and wouldn’t reopen until June, the decision was made for them. 
“Once it was closed I had a moment of tears in my car, mainly just because a lot of emotional energy had been put into planning and I don’t really enjoy that part of the process. The main thing was we knew we were ready to get married and postponing it was not something we were interested
in doing.” 
Of course, as any bride knows, these things don’t come together without a lot of help in the first place, not to mention a wedding that had to be totally replanned. In stepped Caroline’s mother, Sharon Reynolds, and the two got to work.
So on to Plan B.
“We needed a place, a photographer, some music, our pastor, and that was about it,” said Caroline. “Securing a location was sterling so I locked in Pretty Place. The whole second planning only took about 2 weeks.” 
Sharon was busy adjusting to the new plan as well.
“My first belief was a wedding at home, and then when Caroline was able to secure Pretty status, what can we do there within COVID restrictions?”
The answer to Sharon’s question was one that many brides are asking these days, and inevitably some things were bound 
to be different.

“We had fewer people there than originally planned,” said Caroline. “My brother and his wife were not able to travel because of the pandemic and that was definitely really sad, but they celebrated with us virtually and we had cut outs of their faces at the wedding! No party, but we can always have that later if we want to.
We didn’t miss it.”
“I did wear my mom’s dress my grandmother and her friends made as planned, but Greg and I both used family rings since we were unable to go get ours. The two things that were non-negotiable for me were my sparkly tennis shoes and having our pastor do the ceremony so both of those happened as well.”
Sharon says one more thing was exactly as it was planned.
“The love Caroline and Greg shared in their commitment was the same as it would have been anywhere on any day.”
 As for other brides who find themselves in the same situation, Caroline has some words of advice.
“I would say to just remember that at the end of the day you are trying to plan a wedding so that you get married. There are a million different ways to make that happen.”
As for the Mother of the Bride, the day couldn’t have been better.
“When we finished we all said it was supposed to be Plan B, but it felt just like Plan A.”
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