We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share what's been happening with their upcoming weddings due to the coronavirus.
Here's what 19 engaged couples have been experiencing:
1. "We’re supposed to get married on May 23. So far, I’ve had to cancel my bridal shower and my fiancé had to cancel his bachelor weekend. We all expect to make tough decisions, be stressed, nervous, and excited. But this is way more than expected. It has been tough to say the least."
2. "The day people started receiving their invitations, our venue canceled. I'm still hoping to do a small, intimate lunch or dinner celebration — even if it means courthouse vows."
3. "This week I was supposed to be in India visiting my family and shopping for my wedding outfits. Instead, I am quarantined and stressed. I planned one of those big, fat, weeklong Indian weddings with like 400 people. Now, my fiancé and I have to make a difficult decision of whether to postpone our June wedding or not. I’m absolutely heartbroken, sad, and confused. The worst part is the unknown of what’s to come."
4. "I was so excited and planned a big Star Wars–themed wedding. Financially, it’s hurting us to postpone. But I learned early on that you have to adapt to whatever life throws at you. I have not cried over this yet. I believe my mother has cried enough for all of us... In a way I feel at peace because if we can handle this together, then I’ve obviously found my perfect soulmate."
5. "Our wedding was scheduled for April 25 and we rescheduled for later this year. However, we still intend on getting legally married on our original date because our rings are already engraved with the date!"
6. "Our wedding was supposed to be on March 20, but we were forced to cancel less than a week before what was supposed to be the best day of our lives. I still feel like I’m in shock and haven’t yet fully processed it. I am so thankful at the end of the day to have my fiancé. It’s too hard to think about future plans right now and if we will reschedule. Unfortunately, because we had to cancel so close to our wedding day, we are losing a lot of money."
7. "I'm not even upset over the fact that we have decided to postpone having a reception right away. I'm more upset over the fact that it will be impossible to find a date on which all of my vendors will be available."
8. "My fiancé and I have been having a really hard time planning our wedding. We've been engaged for two years and our joke has always been that someone else needs to plan the wedding because, with us being two men, it'll never get done. Now the planning has been halted and we're very sad, but the running joke now is, 'Hooray! At least it's not *entirely* our fault anymore!'"
9. "I was supposed to be getting married in Fiji in May, but I am going to have to postpone! We have been planning and saving for our wedding for five years. We were literally just about to make our final payment when they started putting the precautions in. I have my dress ready to go but no idea when I will be able to wear it. ☹️"
10. "We’re gutted. Our wedding is set for June 14, and this current state of limbo has been torturous. It’s been awful to suddenly have everything thrown into uncertainty during the homestretch. We’re also in a bind because we already got our marriage license before this all started, and it's only valid for six months! So now we’ll have to get married in a county clerk setting if we can’t have the wedding ceremony and reception we’ve been planning. That hurts the most."
"The thought that we may have to be officially married without our loved ones has been heartbreaking. We absolutely recognize that there are much bigger problems in the world, but nonetheless, we’re gutted. We’re trying to remain cautiously optimistic, but that gets harder each day."
11. "We are getting married in the early fall. We are lucky that we are having a small wedding in a village church and hall, but one thing that is worrying us is job uncertainty. We are lucky to have been able to save enough money for the wedding, but since the outbreak, our once-comfortable jobs in retail and hospitality have been threatened. This has definitely impacted us!"
12. "I cried all day yesterday because our venue is trying to price-gouge us for rescheduling an event that they can no longer host due to large gathering restrictions. However, our other vendors are amazing and we seem to have found a date that works. I am trying to look at the bright side because now my family in Europe and India will be able to attend!"
13. "Once the CDC guidelines dropped we felt a bit of relief only because we were no longer in limbo about what we were going to do with our May 2 wedding — we knew we had to postpone. This whole process has made me realize not to sweat the small wedding-planning stuff. For example, I no longer give a single fuck about our welcome sign."
"Sending love and light to all other brides who are dealing with this right now, but we all deserve to have days where we can kiss and hug and dance with our family and friends."
—Jen Abidor, BuzzFeed
14. "I live in Southern California and was supposed to do a courthouse wedding the first week of April. I though that maybe I should get our license a couple weeks ahead of time just in case they closed the government buildings. Unfortunately, by the time I thought to do this, the government buildings were already shut down. Now I have NO way to obtain a marriage license. So I can’t even get married any time soon."
15. My fiancé and I canceled our May wedding. Just days ago, we were doing cake tastings. Now, we don't think we'll be able to even afford to postpone due to missed hours from work. I’m trying to hold it all together, but it’s been impossible. It’s not easy to see your dream wedding that you worked so hard for disappear within a blink of an eye."
16. "We got married on March 13, but we had a super-tiny backyard wedding that had under 10 people in attendance. My mother gave me a pack of toilet paper as a wedding gift... So, that's nice."
Sending well-wishes to all the engaged couples during this time!
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.