Erin Gabrielle Nepomuceno and Avram Yohanne Baldoria were each other’s crush when both were in college “but never crossed paths”. Thankfully, Erin, an occupational therapist, had to cross-enroll and she ended up being classmates with Avram, who is now a physiotherapist.
“We started talking and everything progressed from there! I really love how we grew from being students, to managing LDR (Laguna and Caloocan), juggling our schedules with work, and now married in Australia!” Erin says.
Erin and Avram only planned their wedding for a month and a half because the couple wanted time to process paperwork for their move to Australia. Unfortunately, their intimate wedding on January 4, 2022 was right in the thick of the omicron surge. But the couple pushed through and adjusted their plans by cancelling the reception and sending their few guests home with boxed meals instead.
Below Erin shares how they managed to pull off their minimalist white with touches of green wedding in less than two months:
Did you have a theme or motif for your wedding?
I just wanted the wedding to be very intimate and minimalist with touches of green and white. This is also the reason why we picked an all-white venue.
Did you have to adjust your wedding in any way due to the nature of planning a pandemic wedding?
Definitely yes. We only had 15 people (including us) in our wedding. It was also at the height of the omicron variant so during the wedding planning, we already decided to just invite our immediate family members so we won’t have to do adjustments with the guest count in case government rules change.
What were the challenges encountered during the wedding preparation? How did you handle the challenges?
- Because of the increasing number of COVID cases, the day before the wedding, we decided to cancel our reception for everyone’s safety. The food was packed and we just did speeches for the reception.
- Swab tests were booked for everyone which was a bit tricky due to schedules. It also added a lot to our wedding expenses.
- We only had one and a half months to prepare for the wedding! I was scheduled to start a job in Australia and we wanted time to fix Avram’s visa for us to be able to migrate together. It was good that I already had suppliers in mind even before getting engaged.
How did you feel during your wedding?
We were so happy we decided to do an intimate wedding! After almost 6 years of being together, we felt so blessed to be able to celebrate with our loved ones.
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What were the most memorable moments from your wedding?
The part where we honored our parents and said our wedding vows was our favorite. We also loved that our wedding ceremony and reception finished early so we had a lot of time for pictures!
Can you share your advice for couples planning their wedding?
- Do not skip the swab testing! Definitely prioritize everyone’s safety.
- Don’t be afraid to cut down on guests.
- Make sure the food is good!
- Invest in a photo or video team that you really trust. Pictures and videos are the only things you can keep from the weddin
