Brooke + Scott | Whirlwind Pandemic Wedding
/When COVID-19 shuttered churches and threatened to delay the sacraments indefinitely, Brooke and Scott made the bold decision to get married almost a month early, with only hours notice, in the presence of only their immediate family members; but later that summer, they finally got their fairytale celebration.
Brooke met Scott on move-in day of her freshman year of college. Scott was a sophomore, and happened to be her RA. The two became fast friends.
A little over a year later—when they were no longer resident and RA—Brooke learned of Scott’s feelings for her after a weekend retreat with a Christian group on campus, and they began dating.
Over the years Brooke and Scott grew in their relationship together and in their individual relationships with Lord.
But when Scott experienced a reversion to the Catholic Church after graduating, Brooke was left feeling confused by a faith they no longer fully shared.
From the Bride:
While greatly troubled and conflicted by Scott’s return to the Catholic faith, I was so inspired by his reverence for the Lord.
After fervent study of the Scriptures (as well as a vast variety of other writings and resources), mentorship from the priest who would later married us (plus a late-night ice cream trip with a professor and a great conversation with a seminarian), and lots of prayer, I made the decision to leave my Protestant background and join the Catholic Church.
Before formally sharing this decision with Scott, but after recognizing it within myself, I felt something click between the two of us one day. It changed our relationship and our dispositions toward one another from that point forward and began to mold us into the model set by Christ and His Church.
Just before Christmas that year, Scott and I became engaged in our favorite spot—a string-lit gazebo in Baker Park in Downtown Frederick, following a horse-drawn carriage ride. Then, I was officially welcomed into the Church shortly before Easter.
We continued to make our home at St. John Westminster, continuing to grow in our love for the Lord and His Church. We had a long engagement due to the processes required for me to complete my Master’s Degree program, acquire my license in occupational therapy, and start a job.
Scott’s patron saint, St. Thomas More, was helpful to him during this time, inspiring Scott to work hard both at his profession as well as in his preparation to become a loving and devoted husband, centering his work, family, and entire life around his faith.
Meanwhile my patron saint, St. Monica, inspired me as a patron saint of wives and mothers. She also inspired me to pray fervently for my loved ones and to never give up hope, clinging to my faith in God amidst life’s trials and tribulations.
Leading up to our wedding day of April 25th, from early March onward, there were new COVID restrictions every week. One day the bishop cancelled public Masses indefinitely, with churches open only for private prayer.
On March 30th, we began texting with our priest to check in about our wedding plans. As I was leaving work, Fr. Andrew informed us that the Diocese of Baltimore had just announced it would be suspending everything beginning at 8:00 p.m.
We began asking if we could have a private wedding that evening; meanwhile, Fr. Andrew was hearing confessions. By God’s providence, Scott had unknowingly gotten our civil license 48 hours before the courts closed indefinitely.
Within a span of 30 minutes, we went from learning that churches would be closed to Fr. Andrew informing us, “We need two witnesses, can you bring two?”
We had to make sure we were at the church by 7:00, as it would have to close by 8:00. I had two hours to drive home where I was living with my parents and get ready.
I got dressed in what was supposed to be my rehearsal attire, put on my wedding shoes and jewelry, clipped up my hair, and painted a clear coat of nail polish over my otherwise-unpolished fingernails.
Scott wore a plain black suit and a tie that one of our readers was supposed to wear in April. I held a bouquet of faux white flowers which were to be a part of the April decor, but cut off one single white rose to be used as Scott’s boutonniere.
We planned to get married in the chapel, but by God’s providence, a staff member unlocked the church, which had already been empty for weeks. Our videographer was able to get there quickly to capture the ceremony.
My brother live-streamed the wedding on Facebook for friends and family, while Scott and I were married by Fr. Andrew in the presence of each of our parents, our brothers, and a seminarian.
Our wedding occurred during Lent, with the church decorated with the humble decor of the season—an outward sign of the inner dispositions of our hearts at the time. Fr. Andrew read our previously selected readings and delivered a short homily.
My father-in-law even held his phone up to the microphone on the ambo to play the processional and recessional songs we had previously chosen.
One reading in particular, a passage from Ephesians 5, was especially important to us. Scott and I had become deeply drawn to this passage during our engagement, and it has served as the crux of our marriage.
Scott is the spiritual leader of our household, and I strive to submit to and honor him daily. However, all the more, Scott is a constant example of Christ’s sacrifice and servitude, laying himself down for me in big and small ways every single day.
Despite over a year of wedding planning, there was something so honest and humbling about walking down the aisle with my dad to an acoustic version of “Be Thou My Vision” without all the glamour, without having even rehearsed it; about wearing simple clothes amidst simple decorations; about being one of 10 people in a great, big, empty church filled with dried reeds and twigs; about leaving the church that evening and not knowing when we would be able to return inside.
There was something so special about driving back to my parents’ house, receiving a small grocery-store bouquet of flowers, sharing chocolate cake from my in-laws, drinking ordinary red wine from champagne glasses my parents had kept from their own wedding, and then celebrating—just the eight of us—over oven pizza, strawberries, and carrot sticks.
There was something so exciting about throwing clothes and essentials into a plastic bin so that I could move into the little townhouse with my now-husband that very night, only to go back into work at 7:00 the next morning, a married woman.
In August we were able to gather with family and friends for a renewal of vows and full reception. Due to continued COVID restrictions, we were unable to have our reception at our original location; however, by God’s providence, we instead celebrated at a golf course with miles of green grass, a big gazebo for our guests to enjoy cocktail hour, and a beautiful room with bright windows and a perfect dance floor.
Scott and I are very traditional, and we incorporated all the classic details of a wedding. We’re also old souls, which was reflected from the entrance and closing hymns during the ceremony to the selection of old music at our reception. (And, of course, Nat King Cole for our first dance.)
I wanted to feel like Cinderella, and I wore a big white dress and my hair in a twirly updo, and we had a big, white, swirly, three-tiered cake. Our reception was filled with white lanterns, emerald green ivy, white tulle, wooden accents, and string-lit trees.
We finally got the celebration we hadn’t gotten in March, from walking down an aisle filled with loved ones on either side, to the special father-daughter and mother-son dances we had always dreamed about, and everything in between.
We are blessed, and we are humbled.
My biggest spiritual take-away from our wedding experience is that God is providential and His timing is not our timing; His plans are not our plans.
As Isaiah writes, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
As Scott likes to say, “God writes straight with crooked lines.”
I spent so long trying to plan every detail of the day, and spent so much time feeling worried and tearful, fearing that Scott and I would not be able to be married for an indefinite period of time, after what was already a long engagement and dating relationship. However, the Lord provides and He takes care of us.
Photography: I'm Mary Katherine, LLC | Nuptial Mass & Vow Renewal Location: St. John Roman Catholic Church, Westminster, MD | Reception Venue: Piney Branch Golf Club, Upperco, MD | Coordination: Stephanie Day | DJ: Digital Sounds Baltimore | Floral Design: Wendy Carol | Videography: Emmaus Films | Cake: Graul’s Market | Bridal Boutique: Cameo Bridal | Bride’s Dress: Stella York | Bridesmaid Dresses: Morilee | Groomsmen Attire: Tuxedo House
