Planning a Samoan wedding during a worldwide pandemic
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — Planning a Samoan wedding during a worldwide pandemic is not for the weak.
After being together since university, ours was the wedding everyone had been waiting for.
So when the venue was found and the date set last year, plans were quickly made and names for the bridal party - all 32 of them, initially - were jotted down.
That was, of course, before Covid-19's Delta variant arrived in the community - and then its big bro Omicron.
Before Covid, brides only needed to worry about colour schemes, seating charts and their dress.
I had those on my list too. But like every other bride planning their big day at the time, I was tuning into the daily 1pm Covid updates, telling guests they needed a vaccine pass and praying the wedding venue wouldn't be identified as a location of interest later.
By the last week of January, Omicron was here to stay and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the cancellation of her own wedding as restrictions meant gatherings were limited to 100 fully vaccinated people.
We started to hear of weddings being postponed again and even our families kept asking whether we would put it back timewise. The answer was no.