How Illness Affects Wedding Plans

Candid admissions from real brides, from an upcoming story on couples and illness in Modern Bride:

We originally talked about getting married really quickly. But we felt like we wanted to be married in a church, wanted to have all the people we loved there.

-Shauna, whose fiancé was undergoing treatment for leukemia during their planning

We were torn: Did we learn that we don’t want a big wedding, because life is short, why should we spend the money? At the same time, life is short, why not do a big party. It affected our planning in a much more grand way than either of us thought. It always hung over our heads-who knows what next October will look like? Am I going to be in chemo again? God forbid, what if I’m not even here?

-Fran, who had colon cancer and got engaged shortly after being told she was disease-free

Our life felt very at risk. Nothing felt out of the woods. Buying a dress felt crazy: hopeful, and at the same time, foolhardy.

-Shauna

Initially I was reluctant to start planning the wedding because I was scared of getting ill again and I didn’t want to have to cancel plans again. That’s partly why we arranged it quickly, before I could relapse. Once I started planning it was actually therapeutic to focus on something positive instead of worrying about my health.

-Sally, who was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to postpone her wedding