Now that more and more people are getting vaccinated and there is finally a clear pathway out of this pandemic, we will periodically check in with different Niagara-on-the-Lake residents to see how COVID-19 has affected their lives – and what their hopes and dreams are for when things return to normal.

Bernard Lansbergen
Niagara Now/The Lake Report

Angelica Fenuta, who recently bought a house in Old Town, has been together with her fiancé Daniel Battaglia for almost 10 years now.

Last New Year's Eve he surprised her by proposing under the Christmas tree. “We were talking about it but I didn’t know it was going to be now,” says Fenuta. “He didn’t tell anybody because he didn’t want anyone to ruin it.”

Getting engaged during a pandemic meant the young couple was quite limited in the ways they could celebrate.

“We couldn’t do an engagement party because we were in lockdown. I just FaceTimed everybody but you can’t really do a big, nice engagement party and celebrate it.”

Fenuta says she’s not looking to have a gigantic wedding but would still like to be able to invite everyone she wants. “I don’t like the attention on me. A hundred (people) is good, but even that is a lot.”

Because of the pandemic she hasn’t begun planning her nuptials yet.

“I don’t know when to start because I don’t know what’s open and (what) if somebody closes by the time I get married and then I lose my deposit.”

So, for now, all she is doing is dreaming of her big day. “I would love to get married in Italy, or a vineyard here. It’s all up in the air.”