Latest COVID restrictions spelled the end of couple’s Providence wedding dream – The Providence Journal

By Jim Hummel| The Hummel Report

Andrew Bai and Krista Little picked the date for their wedding more than a year ago: Dec. 12, 2020 in Providence.

They chose the date because it is Littles grandmothers birthday. The couple, who live in Foxboro, chose Providence because its where they had their first date nearly six years ago. They planned to send out 150 invitations, figuring 125 people would probably wind up going.

Then the pandemic arrived in March, and throughout the spring and summer they watched as Gov. Gina Raimondo repeatedly reduced the number of people allowed at events.

We kept pushing forward, said Bai, who works in downtown Providence. We really want to get married so we kept the date and adjusted accordingly.

But in early November, the maximum they could have for an indoor wedding decreased from 50 to 25, and they had some tough decisions to make. We had set our own point-of-no-return date, which was late September/early October.

Bai had heard Raimondo say at one of her weekly briefings that if someone had an event planned already, to apply for a waiver.

They applied on Nov. 9, but didnt hear anything for weeks. The lack of communication with the government and everyone that is trying to do these events is incredible, Bai said. People have booked hotel rooms, we did final payments for our vendors and we still dont know if we can have a wedding. Its extremely frustrating.

Then came the pause which meant no events of any size indoors fromNov. 30 to Dec. 13, at least. Although their wedding would fall within the time of the restrictions,Bai and Little still had hope they might get a waiver as they had submitted detailed plans.

Finally, onFriday they were rejected.

That was a punch to the gut, Bai said, adding that the mixed messages from state and local officials was baffling. If you were going to deny us anyway, why give us this ray of hope?

Bai and Little have decided to go ahead and get married. They submitted the wedding license at FoxboroTown Hall on Monday and will get married at nearby Patriot Place Saturday in a small ceremony, followed by dinner with family. But they didnt want to cancel on the vendors who have ridden the roller coaster with them the past six months.

So theyll still have the reception in Providence when it is clear to hold events again. Im not doing this again;Im not going to bump it out two more months and things arent where theyre supposed to be and we have to do it again and again, Bai said.

On Saturday, Little is not wearing her wedding dress and Bai is not wearing the new, tailor-made suit for him and his groomsman. Theyre going to save that for the reception.

Were going to have a hell of a party when this finally does happen and well make light of it then, but right now in the current moment this has been a nightmare.

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Latest COVID restrictions spelled the end of couple's Providence wedding dream - The Providence Journal