ALESSIA + PAUL | intimate wedding quarantine wedding, hamilton ontario

This story is nothing like I’ve ever heard before. Mind you, I’ve never ran a business or even run my LIFE during a worldwide pandemic. During these uncertain times + circumstances I have warm-heartedly found that there are a few things that CANNOT, WILL NOT + REFUSE to be canceled:

• Music + Podcasts – Thank GOD because I need people like John Mayer, “Mood Booster” playlist, Stassi Schroeder + Jackie Schimmel to get me through this thing + say sh*t how it is!

• Reading – I’m not a HUGE reader but I’ve taken some (FREE) advice from successful photographers + now more than ever is the perfect opportunity to invest in your business + educate ourselves to plan for our future!

• Self-care – GET YOURSELF SOME BATH SUDS, FACE MASKS, GLASS OF VINO + YOU SOAK. YOU SOAK IN THAT TUB UNTIL THIS WHOLE THING IS OVER, BUDDY.

• And lastly, but most importantly… L O V E. I’ll go ahead + let Alessia + Paul show you e.x.a.c.t.l.y what I mean.

  “As we move into May, it is hard for me to believe that later this month marks the two year anniversary of our engagement. I remember everything about that day; the shock, the joy, the celebration. I do not remember, however, ever considering that this upcoming journey from Miss to Mrs. would be one of the toughest and craziest journeys I have ever been a part of.

  The engagement started very smoothly. We made a point to sit back and enjoy it. We planned things slowly and took the time to make meaningful decisions about how we wanted this wedding day to look. Eventually we settled on October 19th, 2019. It had no particular significance, but we liked the idea of a winery in the fall, and so plans started to fall into place. We spent the next spent the next ten months putting all the little details into place that would result in a day perfectly suited to who we were as a couple. We were growing increasingly excited about what our day was becoming and we were itching to finally get there, but it at that exact moment life decided to throw us a curveball. 

  On July 2nd, 2019, I was at home packing for a surprise destination Bachelorette party. My fiancé came home from work with stomach pain that we dismissed as typical and temporary. But the pain intensified and I abandoned my packing to drop him off at the emergency room. Hours later, the doctors were convinced there was a rare (but fixable) problem of intussusception – a blockage in his intestines. He would need surgery, but he would be fine. I felt guilty leaving, but he insisted I take my trip and I knew his very supportive family would step up in my absence. So off I went and enjoyed a very memorable Bachelorette send off in Austin, Texas. 

  I got updates on Paul’s condition throughout my trip, so I felt confident that I was coming home to a “good as new” fiancé (with the exception of new bad ass surgical scar). I was wrong. Paul and his family decided to spare me the pain of worry and waited until I returned home to tell me that the pain and blockage was actually caused by a mass that the surgeon quickly removed. We spent the month of July waiting and hoping to hear that the mass was benign.  We had a Europe trip planned for the month of August and a wedding just a few months later; we desperately needed good news. But it wasn’t in the cards. It was Lymphoma and Paul would need chemotherapy. There was, however, a ray of light that kept us going – it was curable, and no matter the intensity or the stage, his doctors were aiming for that cure. 

  We went through a ton of emotions which all eventually led to the cancellation of our trip, and then the cancellation of our wedding. We both agreed that we would much rather reschedule than look back on this day and think of the cancer treatments that were sure to have an impact. So we settled on April 25th, 2020. It was enough time for Paul to finish treatment, regain his strength and hopefully grow back his luxurious head of hair. It was tough, but we pulled through and we were lucky enough to work with understanding vendors who just shifted all of our original wedding plans from Fall to Spring. We were back on track! Enter COVID. 

  Although it seemed scary, we were convinced things would settle down and our second wedding would be able to go ahead as planned. We waited and waited and held off for as long as we could, hoping the world would sort itself out just in time. It seemed laughable that we would have to cancel AGAIN! But as we had learned just a short few months before, life doesn’t always work out the way we plan. This time, however, we were sticking to our decision. A massive global pandemic wasn’t going to get in our way! 

  We were fortunate enough to have our marriage license in hand, a willing officiant, a fabulous photographer, and a family owned restaurant to throw the cutest (and safest) little pandemic wedding. It wasn’t what we planned, but it was everything we could’ve hoped for. And along the way, we learned that by being stripped of everything we thought we wanted, we ended up getting exactly what we needed. He’s my husband, I’m his wife and that’s all that really matters. “ -Mr. + Mrs.