The coronavirus pandemic is affecting everyone and just about every industry right now. This includes the weddings of many couples across Long Island, including one Commack couple.

Michelle Garul and Paul Carufe, both of Commack, are supposed to be married Saturday, April 4 – but life threw them a curveball in the form of COVID-19. Earlier in the month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down all non-essential businesses, and mandated social distancing, including gatherings larger than 10 people. This includes weddings.

“It’s upsetting and frustrating because we did plan for a very long time,” says Garul.

Garul and Carufe, though, say their wedding may be postponed, but their love is not and that won't change.

“You can’t worry about the things you can’t control; we can sit here and harp about it and whine about it and cry about it, [but] there’s nothing we can do about it,” says Carufe.

MORE: Postponing a wedding during coronavirus pandemic

Other couples are going through the same situation right now. Heather Cunningham, owner of Wedding Warehouse and founder of Brides of Long Island, has some advice for brides going through this. First, she says, take a deep breath and cry if you need to, it’s an upsetting thing, it’s OK to be upset. Next, she says to contact your venue and your vendors as soon as possible – check your contracts. Lastly, inform your guests.

Cunningham adds there are positives to situations like this – such as more time to save money and get organized. She urges brides to remember the big picture – they are marrying their soul mate, the only thing that’s changing is the date.

As for Garul and Carufe, they may, in fact, get married on Saturday with a drive-by reception so they can keep the date that’s important to them.

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