Local Couples Find Beauty In Intimate, Scaled-Back Weddings

The current health global health situation has impacted almost every aspect of life, especially for those planning weddings.

Tom and Leah Rempel were married on March 22, but the ceremony looked very different from what they had originally planned.

"We basically had everything in place and ready to go when all this was hitting," Leah explains. "We ended up spending the last two weeks before our wedding, virtually every night, re-planning based on the new updates that were coming out."

The couple had their honeymoon paid for, venues booked, caterers paid and were settling in for the final weeks of relaxing. "Then we got the announcement the entire world had changed," Tom says.

Thankfully, Leah notes the vendors and businesses were very understanding and they were able to get much of their money back.

"People were very gracious," Leah adds.

However, the experience was difficult as their dream wedding was scaled back each day to a much simpler, intimate ceremony.

Tom says it was their faith that got them through the disappointment.

"It did get really difficult to bear, but the hope we kept coming back to was ultimately a wedding points back to the relationship between Christ and the Church, so we know at the end of the day we could lose everything... and we still have God and He is good."

Joe and Jessica Bueckert tied the knot on April 3 in a similarly intimate ceremony at a greenhouse in Winkler.

Jessica explains it was humbling to see their friends' and family's support as they gathered in vehicles outside the greenhouse to witness the special moment.

"This wedding wasn't what we planned it would be... but it also brought so many unique and beautiful moments, and so many people showed up for us," she says.

Joe adds seeing the cars with balloons and signs was still an amazing show of support. He notes they also plan on holding a celebration when social-distancing measures are relaxed.