Well, two months have passed since the wedding celebration, but we will remember the entire planning time and the event itself especially vividly. Like most other couples, our plans were significantly changed by the onset of the pandemic, which not only had to postpone the wedding celebration, but also changed several plans.

Our wedding story is not only about ourselves.

It is a story about how not to stop in front of difficulties and uncertainties, how to trust yourself and do everything possible to create exactly the kind of celebration we wanted for ourselves and our guests.

During the planning of the celebration, we had decided quite precisely what and what kind of wedding we wanted, both in terms of the process, the feeling, and the visual design - our main goal was to create a feeling of love and personality, so we took on all the organizational and visual design aspects ourselves. We created and provided everything for our wedding, from the stationery to the decorative inscriptions and the right candles, as well as 1000 origami cranes folded by my husband!

Even though we knew what and how we wanted, we faced several difficulties even before the global crisis.

Of course, almost no couple who have organized their own wedding can claim that everything went as originally planned. But in our case, it seems that within a couple of months things went wrong and almost all positions were rescheduled.

We originally chose April 25 as the wedding date at the guest house Beršas . Shortly after the start of 2020, the guest house coordinator informed us that the chosen catering service provider, with whom we had already agreed on the menu and costs, had closed. This meant that negotiations had to be started from scratch with the staff of the Riga restaurant. A month later, the musicians with whom we had already signed a contract informed us about the possibility of performing in the USA on these dates. As a result, we also changed the musicians, starting negotiations anew.

Not long after, the photographer, whose wife was pregnant, informed us that the ever-changing date of the baby's birth has been clarified and is about a day after the wedding, thus there is a possibility that another photographer, whom we do not know, will come at the last minute. we tried not to allow this scenario in our minds and thinking that the worst is over.

When there was a little more than a month left until the appointed date, a state of emergency began in the country. Although it was officially announced at the time that it would last a month, we could not find peace.

During the week, we called all involved parties, my husband diligently analyzed the experience of other countries and morbidity statistics, as a result of which we concluded one thing - the state of emergency will definitely not last for only a month, and we have to postpone the wedding! We made this decision with a heavy heart, because almost everything was already prepared. We moved the wedding to this year's July 26, Sunday, which fortunately was available to all service providers and guests. For all, except the registry office.

We knew that there was only one option - to complete the documents before the postponed wedding date and hold an unofficial ceremony. And if the marriage must be officially concluded in advance, why not do it when we originally wanted it (the date was already engraved on the rings)? So, in the heat of the pandemic, with only witnesses and without telling anyone else, we got married.

Quietly, without a wedding dress or suit, without rings, but we got married.

We kept our secret, not even telling our family, because we both always wanted a beautiful wedding, where we would wear a white dress, a long-bought suit and rings for the first time. And who would have thought that - during the secret wedding dinner, the photographer sent us the first picture with his newborn daughter, who was actually born on our wedding night!

With the date change came a series of other changes. With the response of the guest house, we moved the celebration to the glazed terrace, which had more space, but with that we had to organize the rental of dishes, which was not necessary before. A month and a half before the now postponed date, it was necessary to look for another host for the evening. After unsuccessful attempts to find a leader of the ceremony, we approached our wedding musician Mārtis Ruski with the question of whether he would be ready to take on not only the duties of a musician, but also the management of the ceremony and the evening, to which he agreed.

Our story is far from short and simple

However, this is exactly how it should have been in order to be able to appreciate the person next to you more, with whom you have undertaken this great and important responsibility - marriage.

Although several times in a couple of months it seemed that all the strings were missing, that it was impossible for anything to go wrong, that the whole world was against us, we are married. And we have been married twice - on April 25 and July 26. And so it will remain. Two special holidays for us, our love and willpower.

After all the worries, last-minute thoughts about the appearance of new restrictions and repeated postponement of the celebration, despite everything, the wedding turned out exactly as we had dreamed.

Although big, somewhat pompous weddings with rich visual design are currently in fashion, we didn't want that, because we're not like that.

The reason why we organized and decorated our own wedding was quite simple - we wanted the wedding to be ours from a to z, so that every smallest detail would be associated with us and only us, so that the wedding would be ours and not other people's treasure. And that makes the wedding even more special.

We weren't afraid to combine different ideas and seemingly incongruous things, because we wanted to reveal our "I", combining everything in a relaxed, airy atmosphere. 1000 origami cranes can be combined with geometric table decorations made of glass and mirror and white flowers, which bring the breath of the intended spring wedding.

An elegant wedding atmosphere can be refreshed with a Latvian accent.

Pēteri and I have been dancing since we were children, we saw each other and got to know each other while dancing, so it was very important for us to reflect this part of our being on this day as well. After the wedding ceremony, we danced the Latvian wedding dance "Gatves deja", where all our dancing guests also participated. Instead of table numbers, we named each table after one of our favorite Latvian folk dances, and gave the cocktails in the bar after significant folk dance names!

Both the first and the second wedding day were as they were meant to be. Our wedding story is about not being afraid to take risks or rethink, about searching for the right feeling, about not thinking "what would be better", because the only thing that really matters is ourselves, so our wedding and wedding story is also about us in every little detail.

Wedding photographer: JURĂS RIKVEILIS

Place of celebration: BĒRšAS