Heirloom Gowns & Pandemic Weddings

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

Continuing our blog series with Bride Kristin and Groom Sven, we have the final part, part three! In this blog we will share more about the couple’s love story and how they navigated their wedding plans during the unpredictable moment of the pandemic.

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

Kristin and Sven had a long engagement and meanwhile were traveling the world together. After three years of being engaged they had some exciting wedding plans in the works for 2020. They decided to get married underwater by the President of Palau (Micronesia) in May 2020 and then to come home to a lively New York City 350-personal black tie wedding party on June 20, 2020, Of course, the pandemic completely wiped these exciting plans away.

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

The couple ideally wanted to wait to re-plan the wedding celebrations until the pandemic was a thing of the past. But sentimentally, Bride Kristin, felt it was important to find a way to move forward with some type of celebrations. Wearing her grandmother’s wedding gown and honoring all the women who had worn it before while also inspiring future generations of brides was very important to her. As the pandemic continued to carry on, Kristin began dreaming up a “deconstructed wedding” where special parts of the wedding would all be celebrated individually. And then, their plan B for the wedding began to take form.

Photography by Madelynne Lorraine

In the end, the couple opted to do a small elopement, traditional Tahitian “ring” ceremony, at a small island in southern French Polynesia called RURUTU (Australe Islands north of Antarctica) in October 2020. Then they came home to Maui, and Bride Kristin worked together with Jennifer to finish the restyling of her grandmother’s dress. She then began planning a bridal portrait celebration and a blessing which would take place on their island home of Maui. Kristin wanted to include some special women in her life, junior and senior bridesmaids. They held a lovely procession at the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center under a rainbow and then were blessed with a rain shower as the officiant did a traditional Hawaiian blessing. They did a pikake lei ceremony which was common in Hawaii in the early half of the 1900s. They also shared their vows on their 81st month anniversary in the fast ice of the Weddell Sea near Snow Hill Island on the continent of Antarctica!

In the end, the couple had a very beautiful and memorable wedding celebration. We were so happy to get to work together with Bride Kristin and we are very happy that they were able to find a way to make their celebrations special even amongst the chaos of the pandemic. Congratulations Kristin and Sven! We wish you endless love and happiness in your new life together!