Real Talk: I Was 36 Weeks Pregnant at Our Postponed Pandemic Reception
The couple originally said “I do” in front of their Queen Village home.
Alicia Mucci and Kevin Montminy’s John James Audubon Center reception took place a little more than a year after their wedding. Photography by Sweetwater Portraits
Last year, we shared with you the intimate Queen Village block-party wedding of Alicia Mucci and Kevin Montminy, who were forced to scrap their original plans (a celebration at John James Audubon Center) due to the pandemic and chose to say “I do” in front of their first home together. They kept the original date (November 13, 2020) but truncated their guest list to 25. It was a cozy alternative and ended up being everything they wanted for their union. But they still hoped for a big bash with all their friends and family — and they got just that on their postponed reception date, December 4, 2021, at JJAC, with 120 attendees. A twist? Alicia was 36 weeks pregnant. Here, Alicia shares their sweet story, photographed by Sweetwater Portraits.
This story is part of Philadelphia Wedding’s ongoing Real Talk series, in which real Philly couples share their unique approaches to wedding planning and marriage. If you have a unique story or experience worth sharing, we’d love to hear about it.
We learned I was pregnant in May 2021. We had hoped to have an extra guest at our rescheduled reception in one capacity or another — we had already decided we didn’t want COVID and a postponement to continue to put our lives on hold. Counting the weeks and realizing I’d be 36 weeks pregnant was rather funny, but we bet on everything going smoothly and kept our fingers crossed that we’d be at the reception ourselves, not in the delivery room.
Finding a dress was the biggest challenge. All of the actual maternity wedding dresses had a matronly look, and I wanted to be able to feel great and also celebrate our exciting new addition. I’m sure there were many more pregnant brides this year with so many delayed weddings, but options for dresses were slim. And, of course, the mystery of what size I would be by 36 weeks was fun. Luckily, the amazing bridal consultant at Anthropologie in Rittenhouse let me order my Tadashi Shoji Maven dress in two sizes since I didn’t know how big I would be. I ended up going up two sizes — stretchy crepe is a miracle fabric!
As we planned for the reception, we decided to focus on one big life event at a time, despite the fact that two were happening at once. While we were so excited that our future child was there for the celebration of our marriage, we mostly focused on our wedding reception, considering it was a whole extra year in the making. Of course, it was very fun to show off my baby bump for all of our family and friends, and to basically have an incredible maternity photo shoot baked into our reception photos.
We did, however, toast to our friends and family, each other and to the impending arrival of our baby girl during the cocktail hour. This was a surprise: We actually didn’t realize that we hadn’t really shared the sex outside the bridal party, so when a cheer broke out at the news of a girl during the toast we had to laugh. Surprise!
The most sentimental moment of the reception was our private time together before everyone arrived. We took photos with Julie Melton and Dutch Huff, who have become our friends over the past two years. The sun came out; it was warm (for December); and everything glowed. It felt like time slowed down for a moment.
I loved our band, Gypsy Wisdom. They absolutely made the night. It was really special to see all of our family and friends out on the dance floor together having a great time after not seeing each other for so long. And Kevin’s favorite part was that everyone was able to share in the celebration of not one, but two, big life events.
We spent our honeymoon snuggled up at home counting down until baby. A couple months after she was born, we realized our last big “date night out” before her birth was our wedding reception!
Right before the new year, we welcomed our daughter. Antoinette Rae Montminy was born on December 29, 2021.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
THE DETAILS
Photographer: Sweetwater Portraits | Venue, Catering & Cake: John James Audubon Center | Florals: Arrange by Eric Schellack | Bride’s Gown: Maven by Tadashi Shoji from Anthropologie | Bridesmaids’ Attire: Jenny Yoo | Hair: Amy Kinkler | Makeup: Elyse Boniscavage | Groom’s Attire: Indochino | Entertainment: Gypsy Wisdom | Invitations: Chick Invitations | Rings: Bario Neal
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