Asia Andrews, left, and Anthony Ticconi II, right, are getting married this November 20 with a traditional-style wedding with 190 guests.
Photo Credit: Lamar Gilbert (Leo Style Creations)
* In this four-part series, the Michigan Chronicle looks at how to revitalize, rethink and refresh your life as Fall begins officially on September 22. Part three — falling in love.
Love is in the air – and we’re more than here for it.
The pandemic has brought about many things through this 18-month long ordeal that includes unthinkable sorrows and trials — but thankfully, it has not canceled the spirit of love.
According to an article in The New York Times, “The Great Pandemic Wedding Boom,” an October Brides’ survey of 4,000 engaged couples showed that 82 percent said that experiencing the pandemic has inspired them to be more excited to move toward wedded bliss with their beau. Also, 55 percent said that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted new ideas for marriage, and they’re putting their relationship at the top of their priorities.
“This year has been the ultimate test of a relationship, so I’ve seen couples who come to me for an engagement ring and say, ‘Well, if we still love and respect each other after being cooped up together during the worst nine months of our lives, then we know he or she was the one,’” said Michelle Demaree who assists couples looking for engagement rings through her site, Miss Diamond Ring. Demaree said she has had a 20 percent increase in engaged couples contacting her about purchasing engagement and wedding rings since the pandemic began.
“I have seen some couples that have met during the pandemic and haven’t known each other that long, but who are getting engaged now,” she is quoted as saying in the article.
In getting married, finding the right time to do so is just as important when looking when to say, “I do.”
According to getordained.org, there are several reasons why people should get married in the Fall.
From the beautiful, bold colors and affordability to having more seasonal food and reception options — bonfire, Thanksgiving, Halloween anyone? — getting married during this season can be thrilling for all the right reasons.
April M. Boyce Cobb, owner and principal designer of Tender Moments, LLC and executive producer and host of the From Yes to I Do Bridal Show tells others that despite the pandemic love is not canceled.
Cobb has a hybrid (virtual and in-person) bridal show October 7-9 at Simply Social event space in Hamtramck (in-person is being held on October 9).
Cobb told the Michigan Chronicle said that her full-service event planning and design company is passionate about helping bring weddings to fruition.
She said that during the pandemic last year she was “scrambling” to help her clients “keep the dream alive.”
“The date may change, the venue may change, you may have to shift the guest count [but] one thing remains the same … love, and this is part of their love story – we made it through the pandemic,” Cobb said, adding that her signature bridal show (which draws guests from as far as Australia) helps couples with wedding planning 2.0.
“And how to help couples navigate,” she said. “To just celebrate love and connect those couples and help them on their journey from ‘yes’ to ‘I do’ and beyond.”
She added that as a “hopeless romantic” she feels any time is a great time to fall in love, and getting married, especially in the Fall, is a great time.
“We see leaves changing — turning over a new leaf and [the] beauty and crispness of fall [is a] shift in the season,” she said. “What I’m finding is most of the brides [use the] colorfulness of the Fall palate and less busyness of Fall.”
For more information on the upcoming bridal show visit https://tendermoments.org/ or find it on Eventbrite.
Detroit resident Asia Andrews, 23, and her fiancé, Anthony Ticconi II, plan to get married on November 20.
Fall is her favorite time of the year and with good reason – her birthday is during this time, along with Halloween, Thanksgiving and even early winter when it is time for Christmas. Her fiancé even proposed to her in the Fall, in November 2019.
“I was so happy when he did,” she said, adding that she loves the last three months of the year so much she has a nickname, “Hallothanksbirthmas,” she said, now throwing in part of the word “anniversary” for when she will soon be wedded.
“Because I love Fall, we knew we were going to be having a Fall — all I ever thought about was a Fall wedding,” she said of what she describes as her happiest time of the year. “[My wedding is] one more thing we get to celebrate [at] that time. And obviously one of the best things now.”
Her wedding will be at a country club in Lake Orion with around 200 guests.
Andrews added that the pandemic has not necessarily caused delays for her, but she is up against other brides who had to halt their weddings last year and are putting them on around the same time as her now.
She also said that she has lived with her fiancé for some time and their being able to survive the pandemic brought them closer together as they overcame challenges.
“You see them in a different light once you start living together but, a pandemic … is an entirely different situation itself,” she said, adding that she knows that some people didn’t make it through their own relationships, which deepened her love even further for her future spouse. “It just solidified you are my person,” she said.
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