Wedding Announcement: Kerry Quirk and Matthew Marcotte

NARRAGANSETT, RI — Matt and Kerry, college sweethearts, planned to get married in late March — right after the pandemic arrived in Rhode Island. Although their wedding wasn't exactly what they had planned, they managed to make their day a special one with a few of their closest loved ones.

Read Kerry's description of their love story and wedding below.

Matt and I met while studying at Bryant University. After graduating and starting out in the "real world", things got even more real for us in October 2018. While hiking up Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH, Matt proposed to me! From there the wedding planning started, followed shortly after by house hunting! We settled on a wedding date of March 28, 2020. We decided to get married at my church, Saint Francis of Assisi in Wakefield, RI, with a reception to follow at Latitude 41 Restaurant in Mystic, CT.

Our wedding was definitely impacted by the pandemic. Twelve days before our wedding, the CDC released new guidelines regarding group gatherings that prevented us from having our wedding as imagined. We were not sure what closures would come, so we took time out of work to run to the Town Hall to get a marriage license. We then made the difficult decision to cancel our big wedding and reception, but were adamant that we get married on our original wedding day, March 28. We were lucky enough to make that happen!

We got married at Saint Francis, with a modified ceremony. Our parents and grandparents were able to attend, along with my sister. The groom's sister was on FaceTime, as she was a front-line nurse. We had a few other close relatives on FaceTime, as well. Our wedding photographer was unable to shoot our day because of COVID-19, so my cousin/bridesmaid stepped up as our day-of photographer! We were able to have a beautiful wedding, with the gown and tuxedo, wedding bouquet, and all. After the ceremony, relatives surprised us by having a "drive by" car parade outside the church.

We then had a "reception" in my parents' living room, complete with a dinner catered by Belmont Market, a wedding cake from Sweet Cakes in Peace Dale, beautiful decorations, wedding toasts, and even our first dance in the living room.

Of all of the things we imagined going wrong with our wedding, global pandemic was never in the cards. Despite having to change our plans, our wedding day was so intimate and special. We could spend time with our immediate family and truly enjoy the day. It worked out just as it was supposed to.

We are looking forward to having our "Wedding 2.0" and honeymoon to Hawaii in 2021 when conditions are safer. This has been a challenging first few months of marriage, but we know that weathering a storm like this early on in our marriage will only serve to strengthen us going forward. 2020 may be a year like no other... but love is not canceled!

Are you a newlywed in Rhode Island? Patch wants to hear from you! Fill out the form to be included on the site, and email a photo to rachel.nunes@patch.com. (Please use a photo taken by you or a member of your wedding party and include a photo credit. If taken by a professional, please include their contact information.)