Our Wedding Guide for a Changed World

Pandemic Pivots, Creative Trends, Kamala Harris’s Courthouse Ceremony, and Santa Barbara Vendor List

By: Emily Cosentino Lee and Terry Ortega | Published February 11, 2021

As if planning a wedding weren’t challenging enough… there wasn’t a how-to guide on planning a wedding during a worldwide pandemic. For many couples, prior to COVID-19, the steps to legalize your union were a given: Get engaged; set a date; make a guest list; book the location, food, flowers, and photographer; and plan the parties — so many parties. It’s been almost one year since the betrothed have had to scrap huge ceremonies, receptions, and celebration parties and reimagine their special day on a smaller scale with social distancing, masks, and hand sanitizer readily available, or plan an entirely virtual event.

This year’s couple on the cover, Emily Cosentino and Jerry Lee, faced that challenge head-on. Their story, “From Plan A to Z: A Bride and Groom’s Pandemic Pivot Saves the Date,” gives a firsthand account of how they came out of the experience closer and more aware of what a wedding day is really all about.