Drive In Wedding Ideas for Socially Distanced Weddings

A lot of things can happen to change your plans. Sickness. Rain. Deployment. And, yes, a pandemic. Since everyone is thinking about safety and health, socially-distanced weddings are increasing. And couples are getting creative. Having a drive-in wedding can be both creative and interesting and can spurn some truly interesting wedding ceremony ideas.

A Beautifully Planned Drive-In Wedding

Callie and Tyler had to switch wedding venues last minute due to coronavirus. Luckily, a family lent them their property for a drive-in wedding. It made for unique wedding photos.

You’ll see a lot of cars and thoughtful spacing at this socially-distanced wedding ceremony. Traditions are ok to buck during trying times, and this couple did it beautifully!

Listen to what bride, Callie, had to say about the changes she had to make. The photos of their drive-in wedding make a last-minute change look oh so fun!

What wedding ideas did you change because of COVID-19?

The biggest change was the venue. In order to allow all of our guests to be a part of our special day, we had to do a drive-in wedding—which meant we needed a lot of land.

However, the Byrd Family was gracious in allowing us to use their property. The wedding was absolutely perfect! Sadly, our bridal party was not able to participate, and we were also not able to have our reception.

Wedding Rings | Drive In Wedding Ideas | COVID Wedding Ceremony Ideas | Hill City Bride Virginia Weddings

Engagement leads to lots of wedding ideas, some of which can lead to unique wedding photos.

Why did you proceed with a drive-in wedding instead of postponing?

Tyler and I are high-school sweethearts and had been together for a very long time. We were not going to let the virus take away our excitement and plans to get married and start our life together.

To us, the most important part of getting married was to make our commitment to each other in front of our family and Jesus. Although it was not anything we ever expected. Our wedding day was even better than we ever imagined.

“God knew exactly what He was doing…even though it was nothing I had planned for.”

How did your vendors react to the changes?

Our vendors were amazing through all of the rescheduling and last-minute decisions! Since we were not able to have our reception, [our venue] refunded us all of our money for the catering and venue costs.

Our photographer was gracious to cut costs since we weren’t having both the wedding and reception. And the Byrd family allowed us to use their property at no charge, which was such a blessing!

Getting Ready | Drive In Wedding Ideas | COVID Wedding Ceremony Ideas | Hill City Bride Virginia Weddings

A drive-in wedding was the perfect solution to keep social distance while being with family and friends.

How did you maintain a socially distanced wedding?

We decided to have a drive-in wedding since we were not able to have our guests sit close together. So, they were still all able to attend— they just had to stay in their cars!

What were the pros and cons?

There really were no cons because we were still able to have all our guests attend, which was so special. Not having our reception was the biggest upset, but we hope to have one in the future sometime soon!

Drive In Wedding Ideas | COVID Wedding Ceremony Ideas | Hill City Bride Virginia Weddings

Open-air wedding venues are perfect for drive-in weddings like this one. So fun!

What did you learn by having to change your plans?

I learned that I can plan as much in advance (which you know is a lot of planning for a wedding), but God always has bigger and better plans for us that we never knew were possible. But this is applicable to anything in life.

I am so thankful for my husband and family who were by my side in helping me change the plans so last minute. God knew exactly what He was doing and how perfect the day was, even though it was nothing I had planned for.