Tara + Sean | Elegant Extended-Celebration Wedding

While wedding planning during a pandemic brought countless challenges, Tara and Sean were determined to be married on the date they originally set, May 16.

These college sweethearts chose to celebrate their marriage on two distinct days, allowing them to fully focus on the different aspects of the celebration. After five years of dating and an 18-month engagement, God provided for them to be joined as husband and wife in the presence of their closest family members and bridal party.

On a sunny day later that summer, they gathered with the rest of their wedding guests to celebrate their union. With months between their nuptial Mass and reception, Tara and Sean learned firsthand that love is patient, and God is faithful.

From the Bride:

Our story is one of faithfulness. A story that stood the test of time and of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. The rainbow at the end of the storm.

Seven years ago, Sean began to pursue me in a way that no other man had ever sought to know me. We met our freshman year of college and were drawn to each other because of our similar beliefs.

He’ll claim that it was my smile and my faith in God that he was first attracted to. I’d say it was his selflessness and sense of humor.

I knew we were on the right path when he asked my dad for permission to date me. After five years of growing closer to each other and closer to God, Sean proposed during a surprise photo shoot with my family.

The next day, we felt God’s blessing over our engagement when the readings from the Mass reminded us that, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

In 2020, not even the 18 months of wedding and marriage planning could prepare us for all of the uncertainty that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.

We were forced to make unimaginable changes, but God prevailed in the end. He sent us the most compassionate priest and allowed us to celebrate our marriage on two days.

After many tears and lots of prayers, we were able to be joined in the sacrament of holy matrimony in the presence of our closest family members and wedding party.

God protected us that day and allowed us to experience pure joy. A few months later, we finally got to celebrate our marriage at a reception with the rest of our wedding guests.

Our faith was strengthened through the trials, and the final results were a testament to God’s faithfulness.

The blessing of having two days to celebrate our marriage was that I was able to focus on the two major parts of the wedding. For part one, the emphasis was on the nuptial Mass, and for part two, the emphasis was on the celebration.

Thankfully, we had quality time with our wedding party to get ready together on both days. This time together meant the world to us after months of being apart.

We shared gifts with our closest people, and they wrote letters to us. It was the perfect way to start the day with a walk down memory lane of some beautiful friendships and a reminder of our support system.

Sean and I both come from large, Irish-Catholic families. Being the oldest girl cousin in my family, I knew I wanted some of my cousins to be involved in the wedding. We were so thankful that they were able to be there as our flower girls and ring bearers.

Our parents received special gifts as well, since these days would not have been possible without them. I will forever treasure the moments of my mom helping me get into my dress and my dad seeing me as a bride for the first time.

While Sean and I decided to go the traditional way of waiting to see each other until I walked down the aisle, we had a special moment together back-to-back as we read letters to each other. Sean also read a letter that I had written in 2013 to my future husband—just a few days before we officially started dating.

Just moments before walking down the aisle, one of my bridesmaids offered to pray over me.

Her words of faith and encouragement were exactly what I needed in that moment. After a crazy morning of rushing to get ready, those moments to pause and take it all in were incredibly special.

My dad and I joked about the first time he walked me down the aisle, which was actually about 20 years earlier when I was a flower girl in my aunt’s wedding. I wouldn’t walk alone because I had just busted my lip moments prior to the ceremony.

I promised him this time I would be more careful, but he could still hold my hand as he walked with me.

As the church doors opened, Sean turned around and started bawling. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked towards my soon-to-be husband—a moment that I honestly wasn’t sure would happen during the uncertainty of changed wedding plans.

The beauty of the Catholic Mass put me at ease. It felt like a ceremony I had attended many times before, but this time God was uniting us in the most holy way possible.

Our family members read some of the same readings that we heard at Mass the day after our engagement. We were reminded of “a still more excellent way” and that He will “allow us to live together to a happy old age.”

During the homily, our priest talked about how our love is so resilient. As a part of our marriage preparation, he had us write letters about our hopes for our marriage in 10 years.

We didn’t know until that moment that we would read those hopes aloud to our family and friends. We both talked about our commitment to each other, desiring a God-centered family, and growing together as we lead each other to heaven.

Perhaps one of the best moments of our May ceremony was the opportunity to be extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. Because most churches were still closed due to the pandemic, this was the first time in months that many of our guests had physically received the Eucharist.

We could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as we offered the body of Christ to each of our loved ones.

We left that Mass as husband and wife with celebratory “Mr. & Mrs.” balloons to show for it.

In August, the rest of our guests came together to witness our final wedding moments. We finally got our first dance together, special dances with our parents, speeches from our loved ones, amazing food from our caterer, ice cream and cake for dessert, and a sparkler send-off as a grand finale.

Although we had to wait a few more months, it was worth it to have most of our friends and family there to celebrate with us.

During the planning, I remember focusing so much on the songs, timeline, decorations, and other little details of the day. But when the pandemic occurred, I was reminded that I am not in control.

It was a lesson of giving over control to the One who is in control. Because in the end, both days came together beautifully.

While it wasn’t the original plan we had imagined, the love and support that we received surpassed all of our expectations. It was a testimony to God’s plan for us and the ways that He has instilled our trust in Him as He continues to bless our marriage.