Photography by Rianon Stephens

We’re finally married! It only took eight years to get engaged and an additional two years, five months, a postponed wedding, and a global pandemic to say, “I do.” (Who knew the prerequisites to become a wife was so lengthy?)

All jokes aside, Angel and I are so grateful for the love and support from our friends and family over our recent nuptials. When people ask me what it feels like to be a Mrs., I laugh and say it feels like we’ve been married all along, except now I legally have his last name.

One of the most asked questions I get, especially from recently engaged friends or strangers is, “How’d we do it [plan a wedding during a global pandemic]?” At first, I thought the answer was pretty obvious, we hosted a virtual wedding. But, now that I’ve had a few weeks to think about everything, the answer is we surrendered (read: I surrendered) what I thought our wedding should look like and focused on the marriage instead.

Photography by Rianon Stephens

I think just like many people, I’ve had my dream wedding planned since I was a little girl, and trying to plan it during a global pandemic felt like forcing a square block to fit in a circle hole. I remember meeting with our officiant over the summer and he encouraged us not to postpone [the wedding] any longer. “Do not let the pandemic stop you from celebrating your love,” he said. “Because a wedding is just a day, but a marriage is a lifetime.”

I hated to admit it but he was right. I went home from that meeting feeling sad because my dream wedding felt out of reach. Despite our wedding being postponed and our families’ pressure to keep things traditional, we were able to find the courage to scrap our original wedding plans and build a team of vendors that truly supported our vision of focusing on the marriage and keeping people safe.

Instead of the traditional in-person wedding and reception, we hosted a virtual minimony (mini ceremony) which was professionally live-streamed to our friends and family to watch from the comfort and safety of their homes. This was especially great for Angel’s family, my siblings, and maid of honor to “be with us” because they couldn’t fly in from the Neighbor Islands or the Mainland due to the travel restrictions at the time.

Because our wedding was held at a church, we were able to have up to 50 people at the venue, but we decided to keep it small and only had four guests (everyone else was a vendor) and we socially distanced, wore our masks, and followed every rule and regulation our state posted. I was a little sad knowing I needed to wear my face mask walking down the aisle, but I felt a little better knowing Angel and I were wearing matching masks.

One of the best parts was working with our photographer to bring my moody Mexican desert-themed wedding photos to life. I can’t wait to hang them in our future forever home one day.

Photography by Rianon Stephens

After the wedding and photos, we planned on buying a couple of Coronas and eating at our favorite outdoor Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately, they weren’t open for dining so instead, we ordered take out and enjoyed it in our room at Hotel Renew which overlooked Waikiki Beach.

Our wedding day may not have been anything like that dream wedding I planned all those years ago, but it did have all of the important things like getting married in the church, receiving the Eucharist, and my dad walking me down the aisle.

Photography by Rianon Stephens

Angel and I have made God the foundation of our relationship because we believe that He brought us together all those years ago. Surrendering what I thought a wedding should be has reconfirmed that God is not only the foundation of our relationship but also my life and that is just the best love story ever.

Our virtual minimony was successful because of this amazing team of vendors: