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“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” 

– Maya Angelou

Newnan residents Mikayla Morelli and Shamon Thomas had their dream wedding planned, vendors paid and decorations purchased. But just weeks after they mailed the invitations, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

In March 2020, they made a difficult decision shared by engaged couples across the nation: They canceled their wedding.

“We were supposed to get married September 19, 2020, but I have a lot of family flying in from out of town, a lot of different states, and they’re older; they couldn’t do that,” Morelli says. “As a bride, what are the odds? You dreamed of this day your entire life and a pandemic hits.”

Admittedly, dealing with a canceled wedding and a pandemic has been challenging for many.

Thankfully, the families of both Morelli and Thomas offer support. Morelli says, “We were worried about people being upset, the bridesmaids being upset, but I think everybody knew it’s not a joke. It’s serious, this whole COVID thing.”

One difficulty the couple encountered was in rescheduling their venue.

“The venue didn’t work out because there were a lot of people postponing, and they started to add a fee to postpone,” says the bride-to-be. “We had already paid our full balance, and we didn’t have the money at the time because my hours got cut and we still have bills to pay. So we decided to go ahead and cancel until COVID’s over.”

The couple sympathized with vendors trying to stay afloat during the lockdown. It was in the contracts that payment was not refundable, so Morelli and Thomas were understanding, even though it was hard letting go of that much money.

“That’s a lot of money to just give somebody, hoping that they’ll do right by you,” says Thomas, who encourages engaged couples to keep the pandemic in mind when shopping for wedding venues. “Something like this is not in the contracts. You may want to negotiate it to be in the contract, or you’ll be getting the short end of the stick, just like we did.”

A silver lining to the cancellations was the relationship they developed with their photographer, who gave them full credit for the payment they’d made and now takes their son’s pictures and their family photos.

For other couples dealing with the same struggles, Morelli says, “I think they should do what makes them truly comfortable. If you are family-oriented and you want everybody you love there to see you marry the love of your life, I think you should wait for that day. But if you are just so ready to get married and it doesn’t matter to you who’s there or who’s not, go ahead and go for it. Go do it.”

Thomas adds: “If you don’t care about having a big fancy wedding, what’s stopping you from just going to the courthouse and getting married and taking a little mini honeymoon somewhere?”

Candace Frank and Jennifer Gowing, of Evermore Weddings and Events in Newnan, have worked with couples caught in the pandemic wedding storm and feel the clouds are parting.

“I think brides now understand the climate, the situation that we’re in,” says Gowing. “They know that going into a wedding, there’s going to be a lot of things that may pop up and decisions they have to make that aren't what that dream wedding was maybe a couple years ago. Our job is to make sure that it’s just as special and just as beautiful and just as meaningful. They’re just going to have to think about things that a year ago no one would have imagined thinking about.”

Frank adds: “At least brides now have the advantage of not being blindsided like so many were last spring. We’ve got nine months of working in this environment under our belts. We’ve learned a lot. I think everyone is giving each other a lot of grace and understanding and flexibility and patience.”

Morelli fits the description of grace under pressure and hopes her experience can help other couples who have to postpone their big day. She encourages brides to get pictures of themselves in their dresses if they are holding off on the ceremony.

“I think these brides want to wear their dresses,” she says. “Go get pictures. The groom doesn't have to see. Get pictures alone if you want to. I was so excited to wear my dress.”

Morelli had the opportunity to do just that when she posed for photos during the Newnan-Coweta Magazine cover photoshoot in October. The day wound up being the perfect prelude to her ceremony as she got ideas for hair and makeup, photographs and flower arrangements. 

The couple agree that when they do have their wedding, they want it to be a big celebration.

“I’m looking forward to the reception part of it,” says Thomas. “It’s like a big family reunion almost, but you have some of your best friends there, too.”

The pair say they don’t want to postpone too long and are eager to get married, but they want to give the pandemic a bit of time to see where things go in the new year.

Morelli says she has accepted that though she has the pictures in her head – and now some in print after the magazine photo shoot – of what their day will be, there may be some compromises to their original plan. The couple’s main objective is to have a wedding with everybody from their family in attendance. With that goal in mind, Thomas says the key to getting through the pandemic delays is to stay supportive of each other.

Morelli wants other women who had to delay a wedding to know this:

“Do not give up on your big day,” she concludes. “As a woman, don’t just give up, thinking all your wishes are out the window. Pray for that day that you’ll get your fairytale wedding.”

Hair and Makeup

Brittany Young, of B Young Beauty Studio+Spa in Newnan, reviews photos from brides with a specific look in mind. "For this shoot, we made sure everything we did suited Mikayla's skin tone and hair type," says Young. "Her makeup was skin-focused with a subtle smokey eye to pull attention to her beautiful eyes." For hair, Young used a curling wand to create a soft wave. byoungbeautystudio.com

The Bouquet

Bedazzled Flower Shop, in Sharpsburg, created the wedding bouquet using fuchsia phalaenopsis orchids, burgundy mini calla lilies, cool water (lavender) roses, and white majolica spray roses. Accompanying greenery included cedar, seeded eucalyptus, ornamental kale, succulents and dusty miller. bedazzledflorist.com

The Venue