It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Anna and Zach’s wedding was planned for March 21, 2020, a few days before North Carolina’s governor announced the first Stay At Home order, essentially shutting down the entire state and limiting gatherings to fewer than 10 people.

When I spoke with Anna a few days before her wedding she told me, “I won’t let the Coronavirus take my wedding day away from me!”

Anna and Zach were married in the company of their dog and their officiant. Their photographer, Head Over Heels Photography, was able to capture photos of their first dance in a flowering peach orchard.

If this isn’t a “make lemonade out of lemons” story, I don’t know what is...

I received this email from Anna a few days after their social distanced pandemic elopement:

“We did it! Zach and I got married this weekend!

I wanted to share these pictures with you that our photographer captured of us doing our first dance in the middle of the peach trees!

You would’ve been so proud — we only messed up one part but we picked it right back up! We also navigated through dancing around all the sticks on the ground lol.”

If Anna and Zach can navigate sticks on the ground during their choreographed first dance in the middle of a peach orchard during a global pandemic, and keep smiling through it all, they can probably get through anything.

If you’d like to learn how to dance for your wedding, check out my online wedding dance lessons for absolute beginners.

You can learn a simple, romantic first dance to your song, or choose custom choreography courses to pre-selected first dance songs, like Blessed by Thomas Rhett. (Which also happens to be the song that Anna and Zach danced to for their elopement.)

There is always beauty to be found, even during the worst of times.