Socially-Distant Virginia Beach Oceanfront Elopement
April 4, 2020
Like so many brides across the US and the world, Caroline and Connor had to postpone their wedding because of the coronavirus. Originally scheduled for mid-April at King Family Vineyards in Charlottesville, it had become abundantly clear in the weeks leading up to their wedding day that moving forward with their celebration as scheduled was just not going to be possible. However, it was still important to Caroline and Connor that they be married this Spring. They had both just graduated from college (a semester early) and were so excited to move into together once they were married! And when they decided to postpone their celebration at King until 2021, they decided it wasn’t worth waiting for. So they scheduled a new wedding day – a small, intimate elopement near Caroline’s family home on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. As it turns out, they chose their new date perfectly. Less than 24 hours after they tied the knot, Virginia’s Governor closed the beaches for the next 10 weeks.
But when we arrived at Caroline’s home that afternoon, we did not find a bride overwhelmed with disappointment at what her wedding had turned out to be. We found a young woman who couldn’t be more excited to be marrying her best friend in just a few hours. And of course — we didn’t expect anything else from her or Connor. Not only had Sarah and I gotten to spend some great two-on-two time with them during their King Family Vineyards engagement session this fall, but I had had the privilege of mentoring Connor through Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at UVA for several years. We knew their hearts as a couple, and knew that marrying each other could never be a disappointment, whether surrounded by 150 guests…. or 8.
Caroline + Connor,
You two have served as an incredible example to so many other couples out there fighting through a situation that, three months ago, most engaged couples couldn’t have imagined in their worst nightmares. We remember from our own wedding planning experience the incredible amount of time, energy and money that goes into wedding planning, and to have that ripped from your arms and punted more than a year down the road could not have been easy. Yet you two remembered what we try to encourage all of our couples to remember at certain points in the wedding planning process: at the end of the day, you’re married. And whatever the day looked like, you now have a covenant partner for life. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to get some great photos while you do it! 😉 We hope that these images serve as a small joy in your early days of marriage, and we’ll see you again in 13 months to do it all over again!
With love,
Sarah + Hunter
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