COVID ruined my beautiful Canadian mountain wedding, but gave me the greatest gift EVER
In January of 2020, my husband and I officially got engaged. We had been living together since 2016 and in 2018, we finally bought a cute house in my favorite city, Austin, TX. In a traditional sense you might say we were doing things backwards, but what I’m finding out is that many couples first live together, buy property, and then wed later or even not at all. It doesn’t matter which order this is done, ONLY except if the order you chose meant having your wedding in 2020 when COVID swept through the U.S and Canada like a wildfire.
In January of 2020, we announced our engagement and then began the arduous and painful journey of planning our wedding. I wanted to have a quiet, small wedding — an elopement. Although we wouldn’t be having a reception, catering, or guests, finding a wedding venue, hotel, officiator, dress, tux, and photographer were still a lot to plan. I can’t imagine the stress a couple goes through if they’re planning an all-out wedding! We wanted to get married somewhere peaceful, scenic, cool, & breathtaking. I wanted a mountain wedding. While researching mountain weddings, I came across Emerald Lake Lodge in Yoho National Park. The lake was truly the color of emeralds. The mountains were so tall and winter-white with snow, and the lodge sat quaintly tucked at the edge of the lake and the bottom of the mountains. You can probably guess that I wasn’t able to get married there, which made me very sad because my wedding dress was $1300 and I had it tailored to perfection. I planned on taking a helicopter ride to the top of the mountains where my husband and I would capture our wedding photos. Our suite at the lodge had a balcony overlooking Emerald Lake and the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains. The lodge would have made us a small custom wedding cake delivered to our suite where we would have popped champagne near the fireplace and ate chocolate-covered strawberries. I know. I cry thinking about it. We planned our wedding for July 15, 2020. There are so many “would-haves” that should have happened, but in March of 2020 the U.S went into lock down and Canada closed its borders.
In June, Canada had opened it’s borders, but with the rule that one must quarantine for 2 weeks. I was able to do so, but my husband was not because he works in the medical field. We had to cancel our wedding because we could not meet Canada’s quarantine rule. I was definitely devastated, but I had hopes that we could push it back to December and have a beautiful winter wedding. It didn’t get to happen for two reasons. The first reason was that in December 2020 there was a resurgence of COVID; a huge spike, and the U.S went into lockdown again. Another reason is because I could no longer fit my wedding dress. Okay, well I’m about to tell you why I couldn’t fit my dress. Approximately three weeks prior to July 15th (our wedding day) we had an appointment with my doctor about getting pregnant in 2021. I was 32 years old and we thought it would take forever for me to get pregnant. I was positive it would take maybe 3–5 years or never to get pregnant, so we decided to go a year in advance and inform my doctor to make a solid plan and ensure pregnancy potential. The reason I thought it would take forever to get pregnant was because I’ve been married before. I was married for 7 years before I met my current husband. My ex and I could never get pregnant and I was in my 20s. When a woman hits her 30s, the chances of getting pregnant decline. I was told by previous doctors that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and becoming pregnant would be hard, but we also never sought help to get pregnant. I knew that in my second marriage, I wanted medical help and that is why we went to my doctor early in June of 2020. I was sad during that time. Our wedding was cancelled and now I was about to go through the hardships of trying to get pregnant for 2021 and we didn’t even know if I could have children. At some point in my 20s, I had given up on trying to have children. I was even upset about it to the point that it hurt me and on the outside, I acted like I didn’t want to have kids. I would share sarcastic memes on Facebook and Instagram that would say something like “Crying because I don’t have kids”, and then it was a picture of a person wiping their tears away with multiple $50 bills. Haha. The meme still makes me laugh, but when I shared memes like this, it was definitely because I was cynical. Now I just laugh because it’s actually funny. You do save a lot without kids though, haha. When I met my now-husband, Kevin, he made that all go away. His logic, patience, and rationale made it seem that pregnancy was possible and we just needed help. My doctor told me, “Rebekah, you can come off of birth control if you’d like, but it may stay in your system for some time. It usually takes couples about a year until they’re pregnant”. I did. I came off of birth control late-late June.
We were getting closer to our “should’ve wedding” and because we already had time off for it, we decided to book a staycation at a Texas lake resort. In the mornings we’d wake up early and go down to the cafeteria. I’d order an eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce, potatoes, and coffee. Kevin always ordered the spinach omelet. After that we’d go down to the pool, order drinks, swim and sun-bathe. Kevin would rub a lot of sunblock on my back, and I’d make sure to get his neck and ears. At noon we’d go back to the resort restaurant, eat something healthy, and the concierge would find us a ride for other activities. We like to be mostly active, so our afternoons consisted of either bike riding, kayaking, tennis, or more swimming. For dinner, we’d book a restaurant in town. Although I was having fun, at times, in the back of my mind, I’d think about what I’d be doing if I was in Canada at Emerald Lake Lodge. We wanted to hike the mountains and visit the Burgess Shale fossils. I love dinosaurs.
On July 13th, we booked a dinner with paired wine at an organic winery. Now this place was stationed in the rolling Texas hill country. It was evening and we had a five course meal. With each course, I was given a different wine that I drank quickly and hard. Now, I’m only 4'8" so I’m an incredibly short woman and there is not a lot of blood in my body. With the hot Texas sunset, wine, my sunburns, and great food, I quickly became tipsy. Okay, I’ll say it. I quickly became drunk. All I remember was the main course was a delicious pork chop made to perfection and later we toured the vineyard to take pictures. I bought some bottles of wine, but I never got to open them until a year later. This might be a little TMI, but that night we conceived my son. It was only 3 weeks after we had the consultation with my doctor, and the whole time I thought it would take years for me to get pregnant. In late July, I took an at-home pregnancy test. I was so sure I was not pregnant that I double-checked the test four hours later. When I saw the positive indicator, I thought “WTF”. Now, a year later, I have my baby boy and I can’t imagine life without him. A beautiful mountain wedding was definitely what I wanted, but with the circumstances I don’t think we would have conceived my baby in Canada. I would not have gotten drunk on my serene, peaceful, picture-perfect wedding. The cancellation of it all and the disappointment led to my desire for an active alternate vacation and in my sadness, I drank a lot that night. Some might say it is not the way to go when you’re sad — to get drunk. I was not reckless-drunk and my husband was by my side the entire time. We were responsible.
I used to cringe when moms were so gushy about their children, but now I feel I might be turning into one of those moms, and it’s okay. I absolutely love my baby boy. I’m so protective of him and sometimes when he cries, I cry. Sometimes I have dreams of him as an older boy coming home from school and I make him a dinner he loves. Getting pregnant was something I was not expecting. Overall, my son is the best, most wonderful thing that has happened to me. Although COVID ruined my wedding, it gave me my son. I know that I’m looking on the bright side here and for some COVID did not create any positives. For some people, it brought pain, suffering, & death. My condolences go out to anyone who lost a loved one due to COVID. Really, what I’m trying to say is sometimes bad circumstances can have good outcomes. It is not always the case, but in this tough life we sometimes have a serendipity story, and that’s a great thing.
