A Wildflower-Filled Minimony at Hope Flower Farm in Waterford, Virginia

Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced Laila and Andre to postpone their larger wedding celebration, the couple found a way to still commemorate their original wedding date with a socially-distanced minimony on the grounds of Hope Flower Farm in Virginia. "After several long conversations with each other, and with our floral designer, we wanted to continue honoring the day and not let a pandemic get in the way of marrying each other and celebrating our love. Holly is an amazing person and offered for us to use her farm to host our celebration with our closest family and friends. Everything about May 23 was beyond our wildest dreams and Hope Flower Farm was the perfect backdrop to create long lasting memories," they share of the flower-filled intimate event. Although the couple's minimony was small and intimate, that didn't stop the day from being packed with memorable details. "Our favorite part of the wedding was how intimate it was. Going from inviting over 150 people to having less than 10 people in attendance allowed us to be more present in the day and really cherish and create memories with our closest family. In true COVID fashion, we created custom face masks with our last names and 'Team Bride' or 'Team Groom' for our respective family members." Flowers were also a big part of the socially-distanced minimony. The couple's floral designer, whose farm served as their venue, "created an amazing floral surround for us to use as a ceremony marker, designed a gorgeous bridal bouquet and provided take home arrangements that served as center pieces during our mini reception." Another unexpected highlight for the couple was how the day got started. "Because we were still under a stay at home order on our wedding day, we didn't have the flexibility to go the traditional route and not see each other leading into our ceremony. This was actually a blessing in disguise and allowed us to spend the morning together watching movies and hanging out with each other until it was time to get ready. Spending that quality time together took the likely stress and jitters away from the day, because we constantly got to focus on each other and the commitment we were planning to make to each other." While their minimony might not have been what Laila and Andre expected, they had this advice to share with to-be-weds: "Go with the flow! Everything won't go as planned even when you get things close to perfect, but the best memories will be made. Just let go and focus on each other and creating memories together."