Wedding Announcement: Hayden and Jillian Gallagher

PORTSMOUTH, RI — Jillian and Hayden are high school sweethearts with what should have been a fairy-tale wedding to match. Like so many others, their wedding plans were turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dealing with everything from a last-minute change in venue to an unexpected rainstorm the day of the ceremony, the couple managed to pull off a magical day with those they loved, on Aug. 22.

Jillian wrote about the whole experience — from engagement to "I do" — on her blog. We've included a portion of the text below, but be sure to check out the full blog to see all the gorgeous photos from the wedding day and read the whole story.

On December 13, 2019, my high school hunny got down on one knee on the rain-drenched ground of Central Park, NYC and asked me to spend forever with him. It was a dream come true. I had always envisioned my future self as a happily married woman with a couple of kids and maybe a cute poster-dog.

I immediately began planning my dream wedding to get a jump start on this reality that I wanted to create for myself. Within ten days I had my entire bridal party solidified and within one month I had found and purchased my dream dress. I was on a roll with venue searching, creating a guest list, and printing save-the-dates. Then.... COVID-19 happened. I work in healthcare as an EMT for a nearby city and COVID-19 for us healthcare workers has been an actual nightmare. As this virus escalated, and made its way to the United States, I couldn’t help but just watch all of my plans quickly unravel and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I felt helpless but motivated to create a COVID-compliant "Plan B."

...

Two and a half weeks until wedding day and we officially have no venue.
The Rhode Island governor released an update shortly after our cancellation stating that ceremonial gatherings of up to one hundred people were permitted outdoors with guests adhering to the social distancing guidelines. This gave us a glimmer of hope. Hayden’s mom, who is a regular at Thrive Coffee House, gave us the idea to host our ceremony and reception right in the backyard of the coffee house. It has a beautiful large yard overlooking the bay, with views of the Mount Hope Bridge and it’s very own dock. I excitedly reached out to the owner and pleaded my case. She agreed without hesitation and was seemingly excited to host us and save our event. We quickly rented chairs and tables for our guests, booked a caterer, and lined up a team of decorators to set the entire venue up for us the morning of the wedding. We had no restaurant or event coordinator to take care of all the details that a venue normally takes care of, so it was all in the hands of our friends and family who offered to help. The next two weeks were jam packed with meetings and finalizing details with all of our friends and family who were taking responsibility for different aspects of the wedding.

...

I was amazed, thankful, and felt overwhelmingly blessed because in that moment I realized that my heaven-sent team of helpers broke the entire thing down and re-set the whole thing back up before we arrived to make sure our reception wasn’t a loss [due to a sudden rainstorm]. The whole night was a dream come true and went by way too fast. Before we even had time to blink, it was time for our sparkler send off and away we went to our beautiful honeymoon — both glowing in the bliss of newly-wed magic.

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.)