Bride to Have Been

In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry. Let’s keep inspiring each other and celebrate the thing we treasure the most: love.

In the world that we’re living in, plans need to be fluid! In this episode, Emily sits down with Joanna Reardon, who got engaged to her fiancée in the middle of a pandemic, to chat about her love story, her wedding plans, and the biggest challenges she has faced as a future 2021 bride (fingers crossed!). Brides and grooms all over the world have been forced to see the silver lining in everything, even when surrounded by uncertainty. It is important to highlight that when it comes to weddings, there are no rules anymore, so let’s go with the flow and have fun!

Jump straight into:

(01:03) - San Francisco, the city of love: How Joanna met her fiancée, Sam - “As all great relationships start, we met in a dingy bar.”

(03:56) - On the expected (yet delayed) proposal - “He told me that the ring was delayed, and that I had to be a little bit more patient.”

(09:09) - A big Canadian wedding: Joanna’s vision for her special day - “For us, having that excuse to bring everyone together was going to be pretty cool.”

(13:06) - How to plan a wedding in the middle of a pandemic - “There was a part of us that was like, ‘Are we crazy to even think about planning a wedding? Should we just not even bother and do this in 2021, 2022 or 2023, or God knows when?’”

(24:58) - Weddings and siblings: Pushing dates, giving space and rolling with the punches - “With them getting married in 2021 and then us wanting to get married in 2021, we had to be a little bit sensitive about the timing there.”

(29:45) - The biggest roadblocks brides and grooms will bump into - “The demand is so, so high, that I feel like the power is definitely in the hands of vendors.”

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, don’t forget to use the #COVIDBrideTribe, and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories.

Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod. Edits were made at Nodalab and music was produced by GaryOAKland. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with all of your fellow brides.

In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry.

On this week's episode, Emily interviews Erin Stubblefield of Erin Stubblefield Weddings and Portraiture. Erin is a Chicago and St. Louis-based wedding photography studio but is available worldwide. Her and her team specialize in documentary fine art wedding photography with a real and timeless aesthetic. Erin’s professional career started at the University of Missouri, where she graduated with a degree in photojournalism.  After working for newspapers across the country, Erin’s passion for photojournalism and portraiture came together when she founded her company.

While Erin loves nothing more than to document the celebration of love and beginning of marriage, her 2020 was rocked by the pandemic... or was it? Although she lost her team, she show resilience and was able to find ways to break even with the year prior. Tune in to listen how she was able to do so.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories. Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod. Edits were made at Nodalab and music was produced by GaryOAKland. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with all of your fellow brides.

In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry. Let’s keep inspiring each other and celebrate the thing we treasure the most: love.

When Zoe Benson met her partner, Julian, she just knew he was the one, and after the perfect proposal  she started to plan her dream wedding. Unfortunately, COVID left Zoe watching as  her plans slowly fell apart. In this episode, Emily sits down with her doppelgänger, Zoe, to chat about her experience as a bride during 2020. From the initial relief of thinking everything would calm down by her wedding date in  September, to finally canceling her ceremony, Zoe opens up about how she finally surrendered to the year’s twists and turns and how her wedding insurance made all the difference in the end. Tune in now to listen to these COVID brides’ experiences and reflect on your own 2021 plans. Most importantly, discover a strong, loving community that, just like you, has learned to bob and weave, and stay strong in the middle of chaos and uncertainty.  

Jump straight into:

(01:15) - How Zoe met Julian and how he proposed - “From the beginning he was always so happy and positive and supportive of me. I just was very open from the beginning with him and he always responded positively and it just made me feel more confident in being myself.”

(13:07)  - Zoe’s dream wedding vision - “So many of our friends have gotten married, so each wedding I've been taking notes and I have a whole list of things that I really want and kind of turn it into our own.”

(17:04) - Why you should never skip on the wedding insurance - “It just kept going and getting worse. That's when I started to get really nervous about it, because I didn't want to put anyone at risk.” 

(22:19) - Surrendering to the idea that your wedding is just not going to happen - “We didn't want to get married without our parents there.”

(26:55) - Celebrating on their original wedding day - “It was really nice to realize that something small and intimate was still really special and it didn't need to be this big, huge event to make it feel like a wedding.”

(30:19) - On attending large  weddings - “Some of our really close friends got married a couple of weeks ago. And we were invited and it crushes me that we weren't there and that we said no, but it was still a hundred person wedding.”

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories. Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod. Edits were made at Nodalab and music was produced by GaryOAKland. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with all of your fellow brides.

In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry. Let’s keep inspiring each other and celebrate the thing we treasure the most: love.

What could be more stressful than being a bride or groom and having to restructure your entire wedding in the middle of a pandemic? Being a wedding planner. In today’s episode, Emily is joined by Haley Brantley, lead planner and designer at Hitched by Haley, to chat about how COVID hit her business, how she pivoted from the crisis, and the future of the industry in the new normal — it all comes down to empathy, adaptability, and being capable of spotting the silver linings! Listen to this episode to learn more of the magic behind the scenes of the industry, and to have a glimpse of what the future holds for brides across the globe.

Jump straight into:

(01:26) - On Hitched by Haley before COVID and the future for the wedding industry - “I definitely see smaller celebrations in terms of guest count, but you can still offer a really unique and personal experience for your guests.”

(08:02) - Difficult decisions and tough conversations - “There's definitely a level of therapist role that you play as a wedding planner. COVID, like a global pandemic, just really sharpens those skills for you.”

(14:57) - Pivot and adapt: The transformation of Haley’s business model - “ We've definitely had to get creative with how we're going to keep our little baby alive.”

(21:07) - The value of great teams and the secrets of wedding operations - “It's so nice to have an extra pair of hands on the day. Whatever it is, you have to keep yourself on track during the chaos.”

(24:18) - Stress overload, pandemic planning and the need for flexibility - “I thought it was going to be easy, and both 2020 and COVID taught me differently. It required a lot more planning.” 

(29:12) - Spot the silver lining! - “And if anything good can come out from COVID, definitely taking care of yourself has to be a good one, right?”

(32:15) - How will COVID transform the bridal industry? - “I just feel like freedom is given to people now to really design the wedding of their dreams and not feel so much pressure from their friends and family or society.”

Resources

• Follow Haley on Instagram and Facebook
• Hitched by Haley
• Shelter in Place Wedding: 10 Ideas to Honor Your ‘OG’ Wedding Date!

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories. Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod....

In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry. Let’s keep inspiring each other and celebrate the thing we treasure the most: love.

If 2020 was supposed to be the best year of your life… well… we won’t ask for any details. This year has definitely been challenging, emotional and heartbreaking for couples all over the world, so, to all the April, June, September, and even 2021 brides and grooms, there is something you should know: you are not alone. In the first episode of the Bride To Have Been Podcast, you’ll meet your host, Emily Lewis, as she opens up and shares details about her own love story, and about the difficulties she faced trying to plan her dream wedding in the middle of a global pandemic . Whether you downsized your own guest list, postponed your celebration or cancelled your  wedding altogether, you’ll find Emily’s story relatable. Listen now to the first episode and join your fellow COVID brides as they try to focus on what matters most during this crazy year.. 

Jump straight into:

(01:23) - How Emily and Julian fell in love  - “For me, it was love at first sight.”

(05:57) - Onesies, drones and popping the question - “It actually took me a little bit to say yes, because I'm in shock and happy. I think I was laughing, crying altogether in one, it was honestly a really special moment.”

(12:22) - Reality check: How COVID first hit the bride - “So here I am, it's March and I'm like, ‘There's no way our wedding is going to be impacted. We're in September!’ I was more concerned about my girlfriend who was supposed to get married in April.”

(19:03) - On Emily and Julian’s dream COVID wedding - “This was going to be my true wedding experience. So we made the decision to execute it, just like a wedding.”

(30:35) - A bright spot among uncertainty - “Although our wedding wasn't my original vision, it was absolutely perfect. And it surpassed any and all expectations.”

Resources

Over Half of Americans Are Postponing Weddings—Till When, Few Know

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, don’t forget to use the #COVIDBrideTribe, and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories. Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod. Edits were made at Nodalab and music was produced by GaryOAKland. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with all of your fellow brides.

Host Emily Lewis was supposed to get married on September 12, 2020, to her best friend, in front of her tribe of 150 loved ones. Needless to say, the vision she had crafted on Pinterest was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter in place. In March, she was optimistic that she and her husband were safe, but as time progressed, the realization set in that she had to bob and weave. From 150 to 7, she had an unexpected dream wedding; not everyone has had that same experience.

On the Bride to Have Been podcast, Emily will interview fellow COVID Brides about their experiences planning a wedding during a pandemic; the highs, the lows and the pro tips. Additionally, she will connect with wedding planners, wedding photographers, wedding venues and other individuals who have also been impacted. Her goal is to build a community, a #COVIDBrideTribe, to let people know they are not alone and shine a light on this new normal in the wedding industry.

Follow and connect with her on social media @bridetohavebeen, to share your stories, suggest topics to touch on or just to show support to the other brides on this journey.

Bride to Have Been is brought to you by GiftPod and produced by StudioPod. Edits were made by Nodalab. Special thanks to GaryOAKland for the original track "late night ride". Subscribe, rate and share with your #COVIDBrideTribe.