The Jones Wedding Update – October 2020 – WE DID IT!

Well, it felt like it took far too long to get here, but I finally get to say it. On 3rd October 2020 at 2pm, we became man and wife.

Most of you know that we had to postpone our 120 person wedding back in March 2020, as coronavirus took over (I literally never want to hear that word again?). We pushed it back until October, not knowing that the c-word was very much still going to be out in force.

The decision was taken out of our hands again on 22nd September when Boris Johnson announced that only 15 people could attend a wedding ceremony and reception (a reduction from the original 30). I had a LOT to say about this, and most of you who follow me on social media will have seen that I was on BBC, ITV, Sky News and BBC London Radio talking about the stress the restrictions are putting couples under across England, as well as the impact on the wedding industry – and events in general. It was a whole thing. I was on telly every day for five days. Can I just say, I’d hate to be a celeb? It was exhausting!

Our COVID wedding

LUCKILY, we’d decided to reduce our numbers down to 12 (including us) anyway, so we didn’t face the heartbreaking task of having to ring people and uninvite them, like many others had to do. We chose to just have our parents, siblings and my friend Lucy attend.

It was honestly the best day of my life, the proudest I’ve ever been. We were so worried about it as we’d been told the restrictions were so intense. We weren’t going to be have a toast, throw confetti and all of the other things you’d like to do on your wedding day. But none of it mattered.

Thankfully because we were such a small group, allowances were made in that we were allowed pictures after the ceremony together and to throw that bloody confetti! We had hired the upstairs of a restaurant with a 15 capacity, so we just jolly well got on with it and ate, drank and enjoyed the day.

People keep saying nice things like hope you had a lovely day even though it wasn’t what you wanted – but realistically, it was exactly what we wanted. We wanted to stand opposite each other and bond ourselves together – which we did.

When the registrar left my room after my pre-marriage interview and it was time to go downstairs to see my husband-to-be, everything melted away and I truly wasn’t bothered whether there was 10, 50, 120 or 500 people waiting to see us tie the knot – all that mattered was him and I.

I don’t have much advice for other brides and grooms who are affected by coronavirus, except to really think about what you want. Who knows how long this will go on for? Yes of course, the planning and the vision you have for your wedding may not work out exactly, but does it matter? Realistically? Regardless, you need to do what YOU want to do and bugger everyone else to be quite frank. It’s not their wedding, it’s yours.

Jones Wedding 2.0?

I’ve added a few never-before-seen pictures of our little COVID wedding here, but most of the pictures and details of the day I’m keeping back. I don’t really know why. I think maybe it’s because it was so lovely and intimate, I’m not willing to bring too many people into it, as it was perfect the way it was.

We’ve still got the renewal of the vows and big party booked in for April 2021, but whether we can go ahead with that is anyone’s guess. Of course, we’d love to go ahead with it to celebrate and give everyone the party they’ve been waiting for, but if for whatever reason we can’t, I won’t be too upset. This was enough.

Sincerely,

Mrs Jones x