LEGAL restrictions on weddings failed to deter one couple from tying the knot in Loxton recently.
Berri’s Samuel and Erin Taylor (nee Harrald) became husband and wife on Sunday, March 29, in a private garden with their fathers as witnesses.
The couple had prepared for the big day for a while – which was set to take place on Saturday, April 25, in a private garden followed by a reception at the Berri Hotel – but due to legal reasons ended up having a smaller service and streaming it live online for family and friends to see.
“We wanted a big wedding but we also just wanted to be husband and wife,” Mrs Taylor said.
“We had planned to invite more than 150 people but when the coronavirus started to spread and legal restrictions were set in place, we started to change our plans.
“When there couldn’t be crowds of more than 100 people indoors, we said goodbye to the Berri Hotel and then before we knew it, more rules got changed daily.
“When it eventually got to the Prime Minister announcing that weddings were limited to five people we didn’t want to cancel so we had to compromise, which led us to decide to live-stream our wedding.
“We wanted to get married as soon as we could before more restrictions were put in to place.
“If it came to the country being in lockdown, we wanted to be in lockdown as husband and wife.”
Mrs Taylor said the wedding was planned within a few days.
“It was all last minute but it was perfect,” she said.
“I rang my pastor a few days before the wedding and basically asked if he could marry us on Sunday – and he didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“My husband is very tech-savvy and works in IT so he was able to set the live-stream up.
“We told our guests the day before the wedding happened and asked them to send us selfies of themselves watching our wedding.
“It was nice to see that some people were dressed up, some were in trackies and some were eating popcorn.
“People don’t usually eat popcorn during a wedding ceremony so it was cool they got to do that at home.”
Mrs Taylor said she was “overwhelmed” by how many people watched the live-stream.
“At the time about 650 people were watching our wedding live,” she said.
“Since then, our wedding has gotten another 200 views.
“It felt like our family and friends were there with us and that made us feel so loved.”
Mrs Taylor said the duo will hold a big celebration and head on their honeymoon when “life has gone back to normal”.
“We will hold a big party with the 150 guests that were invited so we don’t miss out on celebrating in person,” she said.
“We planned to honeymoon in Bali – which also changed once our borders shut – so hopefully we can stick to that plan and enjoy time away as husband and wife.”