WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — Julie Perna and her fiancée Matt Riggi were all set to celebrate their marriage on April 4th, but the COVID-19 outbreak has changed everything.
"I kind of went through a little bit of sadness here and there," Perna said. "I thought about not being able to walk down the aisle of the church."
But the possibility of saving lives by not having a large gathering was more important. Julie and Matt will still be legally married in a few weeks but they've been scrambling to find a new date to celebrate with their friends and family.
"This was the band and the photographer and the dates that they had," Julie said while showing 7 Eyewitness News her planning index cards. "This is where I took all three of them and tried to match up the dates."
This can be an extremely difficult time for brides as they make many phone calls and try and re-arrange their wedding, but it helps when venues will work with you.
Samuel's Grande Manor in Clarence hosts anywhere from 150-200 weddings a year and they're trying to do their part in taking away some of that stress.
"We're gonna do whatever we have to do to make sure whenever their wedding date takes place," manager Mark Fromholt said. "It's going to take place, it will be a blast, and it will be memorable for them."
The Manor is currently in the process of rescheduling around ten weddings. With multiple ballrooms they have the flexibility, but Fromholt admits it's not going to get easier if the postponements keep coming.
"Anybody in the wedding industry knows this is going to be a record year for everybody," he said. "It's the numbers, it goes in cycles, this is a big year. So now we have to pile everything in a shorter time frame."
Depending on how long the outbreak continues, more and more brides could be putting their plans on hold.
But while this time isn't easy for anybody, Julie says all you can do is focus on the big picture.
"We just keep saying we have each other," she said. "We have each other and that's all that matters."
