Now that it’s crystal clear that hosting a wedding at this time is just not possible due to the spread of COVID-19, we’re sharing the experiences of real couples navigating the re-scheduling or cancellation process in an attempt to help others make informed decisions and to show our support to all during this time.
Samantha Diebold, who postponed her wedding on Mustique Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is sharing how she and her husband, John, made the final call.
The original plan was to have a civil ceremony in March at city hall prior to a bigger wedding on Mustique on May 23rd, but with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases being reported in the weeks leading up to their wedding, Samantha and John realized that both those plans would have to change. “When our wedding planners, who are up for anything, started sounding hesitant, I knew it was time to look into other dates,” Samantha says.
“There isn’t a hospital on the island and with most of our guests traveling from Manhattan, we’d feel terrible if we brought an outbreak down there,” Samatha says. “The Mustique Company—which is the island’s management company—is being fantastic with rescheduling and made the decision to postpone easy.”
As for the civil ceremony, the couple wanted to avoid large crowds so they pivoted to a Friday luncheon at the restaurant, Manhatta, on the 13th of March. But once they caught word that the city was on the verge of closing a lot of its businesses, they moved it up to Thursday night (the day before Manhatta announced it would be closing).
On the day of, “John ran to pick up the floral arrangements, I jumped in the shower, and we were married two hours later!” Samantha wore a light blue silk Cushnie dress that she had planned on wearing to the rehearsal dinner in Mustique, and as a nod to their parents, she wore her mother’s sapphire ring and John wore his late father’s Cartier watch from the ‘60s.
They had one of John’s best friends, who is a photographer, shoot the service, and had two other best friends, Cassie and Nick (who had also postponed their March wedding), as witnesses. Reverend Annie officiated the ceremony, and their mothers FaceTimed into the service—“we wanted it to be short and sweet, so that Mustique will feel like the real deal,” Samantha says.
After saying, “I do,” the newlyweds and their attendees had a delicious dinner. “The events team at Manhatta really went above and beyond to make it all feel special!”
The new Mustique wedding date is either going to be the last week of August or during one of the first weeks of November, as the island closes for the month of September and the couple’s planners are booked solid in October. “With so much in flux, we haven’t set a date just yet. If we need to wait until next year when there’s a vaccine, so be it!” Samantha says. “All our guests have been incredibly supportive.”
Now, the couple is staying positive and trying to look at the upside in the whole situation. “I’m glad we got married when there was still a tiny bit of normalcy. We definitely did not expect for our mini-moon to be spent in quarantine. We can’t wait for our Mustique wedding and happier celebrations to come!” Samantha adds. “I’m sure everyone is going to be itching for a really big party whenever all of this is over!”
