Our next episode of Wedding Secrets Unveiled! is live and we’re thrilled to be introducing you to one of our 2020 brides, Victoria Horsfield. From the moment we dreamed up this podcast, we knew that we wanted her to be a guest. Planning a wedding is stressful, but planning a wedding during a pandemic is even more so and she has first-hand experience. Despite all of the changes, she (and Brad)’s Blithewold Mansion wedding was just stunning. And, we’re thrilled she’s here to chat about how to plan the perfect wedding – even in a pandemic!
Meet Victoria!
Originally, we were booked the day Victoria and Brad were supposed to get married. With all of the changes and cancellations that came with COVID, their wedding date opened up on our calendar. It was meant to be! We loved capturing her wedding day in Bristol, RI. And, now, she’s probably one of our most famous brides! She’s actually on the Providence Diamond billboard on 95S (after the Thurbers Ave Exit on the lefthand side driving south.) Seriously, how cool is that?
What is the one piece of advice that you would give about planning a wedding and then becoming a Mrs.?
Well, never did I expect to get married during a pandemic or be on a billboard, but here we are. My greatest piece of advice would be to create a list. Physically write down a list of your top five must haves, whether it’s a concept, a vendor you want to use, a color scheme… write them down and stick to them. Those are then the things that you don’t waver on or don’t compromise on. And, that kind of drives your vision for the day!
Love that! Before you even dive into wedding planning, your advice is to sit down with your fiancé and go over the five things you want to have as part of your day.
Yeah, I think most brides think about their day before they get engaged, or before they even are with the person that they’re going to end up marrying. And, I think that list really drives your wedding planning. That is why it’s important to do the list in the beginning of your planning.
Okay, so for your wedding… What were some of the COVID restrictions in place when you got married in September and can you explain the process of planning with those restrictions?
I feel like at the time we started learning about the restrictions, it was disappointing to us. You’re always told that to have a nice wedding, you have to have passed appetizers, an open bar or it’s supposed to look like X, Y and Z. And, then, we were being told what it had to look like instead…and they weren’t the same thing! So that was difficult. I worried if I was doing the right thing by not postponing. Our wedding had already all been planned by the time we were told to change things – but we didn’t have a choice if we still wanted to get married on that day. We had to make updates to meet the restrictions, and even changed our wedding venue. So that was hard, but we also knew it was necessary.
What were some of the restrictions you were unsure about but turned out to be positive in the end?
We had to have a seated cocktail hour and I loved it! Everyone got to have a little plate of all of the appetizers – instead of missing out on a particular kind of appetizer when they’re passed around! Another restriction was that our guests couldn’t walk up to the bar. But, not having typical bar service turned out to be great! Guests ordered drinks from their table and were served directly to them, everyone loved it!
Karen from Blackstone Catering, (who actually catered Victoria’s wedding, too!) said the same thing while she was a guest on the podcast. Those two little changes really elevate your entire event!
(To hear Karen’s podcast episode on Wedding Secrets Unveiled! Click on link above!)
Having no bar service was one of those things that I felt disappointed about at first. As a couple planning, you’re not used to people telling you what you CAN’T do. And, then, all of a sudden, you have people from every vendor’s business telling you that this one thing is the only option. But, then our wedding happened and it was beautiful. And, I wouldn’t change a thing. So, I think that’s pretty cool.
Another change we had to make was the pod dancing. I mean, who doesn’t want everyone to be up and having a good time? And, you know what? We were worried about this idea of only being able to dance with your table – but everyone LOVED it. Instead of just dancing on the dance floor, like a “normal wedding,” the entire tent had people dancing! Total Win!
You seriously made the most of it! So, you knew that you were going to be getting married in September, no matter what! Why didn’t you think of postponing?
So, my mom’s a photographer, and she was telling me that all these Facebook pages were saying that brides are canceling their weddings for the spring. And I just kept thinking, that’s crazy! No way. Then April, May and June came and people were still canceling their events.
We knew, whether it was 10 people or 100 people, this was happening. I had to really strip everything down to what was important. And, you know, it wasn’t about the linen color anymore. It was who’s going to be there?, what’s it going to look like?, and I’m marrying Brad on that day, no matter what. And that’s kind of how I had to drive the rest of my wedding planning.
This was the next step for Brad and I, we were ready to get married. I just didn’t want to put my life on hold. There were a lot of disappointing things about 2020. It was a hard year for everybody. And, I knew that this was one thing that we wanted to do and we wanted to make happen, no matter how it looked.
What about masks? How did you feel about having to have them for your wedding day?
Safety is the number one priority. But there are ways to ensure that masks either aren’t photographed or captured in the videos, which is pretty neat. I mean, they were definitely there and on our guests. But looking at the photos, you can hardly tell this was a “COVID-19 Wedding.” And, since we had to keep our guests in “pods” with whom they came with, once they were seated for the reception, they could take their masks off to eat and drink which was really nice, too.
What wedding secrets can you share about helping others plan their weddings?
I think that the people that make your wedding come together are your vendors. Those are the people that you’re working with to create this vision that you have, whether it’s on your Pinterest board, or in a magazine, or just how you always wanted it. And those are the people that you’re going to work closely with in the planning process as well as on that day. So, picking vendors that you trust and have a good relationship with is really important.
Wrap Up Question!
What are some key points that couples should think about when planning their big day? You have been through it, so what are your main tips you would suggest to them to ensure that their wedding day is a perfect event.
-Pick your 5 “Must Haves” that are important to you
-Pick Vendors that you trust and are your perfect match.
-Make the most of it!
Links Mentioned in the Episode
You can see Victoria and Brad’s wedding HERE!
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