It’s heartbreaking to hear stories of weddings being canceled for the time being ‘til the pandemic settles down and things get a little better, a date completely unknown to experts and common people alike. How unfortunate to know a day you’ve looked forward to since your engagement to the one you love has to wait, the wedding you’ve dreamed of since you were young is postponed? Still, love always finds a way.
Take for instance Unsha Bakker, a Muslim bride to be, who had to make the decision to call off her dream wedding to a man she’s completely smitten for in exchange for a wedding over zoom.
The decision was nothing light for bride, who knew her traditional Muslim family would be disappointed. As she explains in her guest post on HuffPost, “Traditionally, [the wedding] would take place in a mosque and would require an Imam or Muslim Officiant.”
As Unsha Bakker says in her guest post, “After waiting what felt like a lifetime to meet the person whose soul was connected to mine, postponing the main events truly felt devastating. I felt as though the world was playing a trick on me. I could not wrap my head around how battling numerous obstacles and roadblocks could yet lead to another challenge. I could not imagine my special day without my family, best friends and loved ones we grew up with, next to me in person. Despite acknowledging that we were indeed postponing, not having a clear date in mind and not knowing that it could even happen this year made me feel anxious and deeply saddened me.”
Still, in the end she acknowledged that her thoughts were privileged ones as she witnessed loved ones and coworkers barely making ends meet during the pandemic. And thus the couple decided to have their wedding over zoom.
For the couple the experience was obviously a stressful one, but in the end one they were grateful to have. As they explained, the planning of the wedding is a strenuous experience that they thought they were done with after they picked their date and a vendor they liked. But with the obstacle of the pandemic they would have needed to pick a different date, perhaps a different vendor, and send out another set of invites. In the end, Unsha says, “the essence of what ultimately mattered to us was being together.”