Real Weddings: A Stunning and Intimate Social-Distanced Wedding
Under a sunny sky in their backyard, Harneet and Sim tied the knot with an intimate, socially-distanced wedding. Even though their big day was downgraded from a celebration with hundreds of their friends and family to a 34-person guest list, it was still absolutely breathtaking and the smaller ceremony ended up feeling even more personal and heartfelt. Harneet and Sim took health and safety precautions to minimize contact and prevent spread of the coronavirus. They had to reimagine their wedding and guest experience. Currently, British Columbia has a 50-person limit on gatherings, but to ensure social distancing practices would be safely met, Harneet and Sim reduced their guest count to 34. Finesse Décor created family pods, in which only family members living in the same household were seated together. In addition to a reduced guest count, the couple also implemented safety precautions such as outdoor handwashing and sanitizing stations near the ceremony space and staffed food stations instead of a self-serve buffet. While COVID-19 may cause the cancellation of your planned wedding ceremony, this doesn’t mean that you need to cancel your wedding entirely. Harneet and Sim’s intimate backyard Sikh wedding is proof that the ceremony is just as special and meaningful whether in front of 50 or 500. If you want to start the beautiful journey of married life now rather than waiting another year, you can have a simple wedding ceremony in the time frame that you wanted and enjoy a larger celebration at a later date. The bride Haneet shares the couple's love story with us.
- 1/18
Couple: Harneet & Sim
Venue: Bride’s Backyard in Vancouver, BC
Photography: Amrit Photography
Videography: Studio 101
Hair & Makeup: Aquarius Art
Design & Decor: Finesse Decor
Floral Design: Da Fiori Floral Design
Canopy: Natural Oasis Events
Ribbons: Cfleursdesign
Attire: Vivah Collection
- 2/18
- 3/18
- 4/18
- 5/18
- 6/18
- 7/18
Words of advice for couples planning a wedding during these unusual times: "Don’t be overwhelmed by all the changes. Covid has allowed couples to get creative with their weddings. It can be daunting to plan a wedding that isn’t typical or normal for families, but it can also be exciting and remind you to focus on the most important part- the couple getting married!"
- 8/18
- 9/18
- 10/18
The most special thing about the wedding: "The day before the wedding, he sent me messages about how excited he was to spend his life with me. At that moment, I knew that I was the luckiest girl despite having a Covid wedding. In the end, I would get to marry my best friend, and I was so glad that we focused on beginning our life together instead of waiting to have a big wedding."
- 11/18
- 12/18
- 13/18
"In order to ensure everyone’s safety, we didn’t have a week of festivities prior to the wedding. I got my mehendi done and limited my guest count to just my siblings and a few close cousins. On the wedding day, we had personalized hand sanitizers for every guest, a handwashing station near the ceremony, and designated seating for guests that was socially distant."
- 14/18
" We pondered the idea of having the wedding in my parents’ backyard, but it didn’t seem possible to be able to have all our family and friends attend, so this wasn’t an option at the time. As we worked on planning our ceremony in the Gurudwara, Covid spread and introduced a lot of other challenges. We knew we wanted to move forward with our lives in marriage, regardless of these challenges. However, it was important for us to plan a wedding that was safe, and was also a great experience for us and our families. While everyone was supportive of our wishes for a wedding this summer, it took some time to get people to feel comfortable breaking away from some traditions such as large indoor weddings and a week of festivities."
- 15/18
- 16/18
"When we first began planning our wedding, we wanted it to feel intimate, which isn’t always possible when you have huge families like we do. It had been a dream of mine to have a boho style summer wedding in my parents’ backyard, under a pergola adorned with fresh florals. I loved the idea of being able to watch my husband-to-be arrive at the house and walk down the aisle, and watch our guests be seating for the ceremony as they await my arrival. It was also a comforting thought that I could be married in my family home, where I have so many cherished memories."
- 17/18
- 18/18
"When Sim and I met, we instantly connected and felt like we’d known each other our whole lives. We spent our first date talking about our shared love for travel; particularly Bali, where we both hoped to spend more time in the future. We realized that we’d grown up in the same neighbourhoods, attended the same high school, and numerous members of our families were friends. All these possible encounters, and it wasn’t until we both went online that we finally met. After our first date, we spent most of our days with each other. We spent a lot of time outdoors, eating sushi, or searching for the best chocolate dessert. It wasn’t long before we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.