So, COVID-19 Ruined Your Wedding Plans?

What a horrible time for engaged couples and wedding vendors/venues. 2020 was suppose to be the biggest year for weddings. When COVID-19 graced us with its unwanted presence, couples getting married this spring had a big choice to make- do we postpone now, wait it out, or go on with our original plans? Still having the wedding in the next couple months could be a life or death decision for some of your guests, and that is a decision I never fathomed my couples would have to make.

If you’re considering changing your date: reach out to all your vendors first and foremost and find out their policy on canceling/rescheduling, and find out their availability for the rest of the year and next year. You do not want to pick a new date with your venue to later find out your photographer isn’t available. That’s a lost retainer for you, and a lost wedding and income for your beloved photographer. You picked your vendors for a reason, so it would be a huge disappointment to find that a rash decision lost you some of your vendors.

I encourage you to postpone your wedding, not cancel. You picked your wedding vendors because you love them, thus supporting their business. To keep supporting them, you can figure out a day that works with most (or hopefully all) of your vendors. Keep them in the loop, even if it means reaching out to them multiple times with updates. I promise you, we’d all prefer you keep us up to date, than picking a day we’re not available for.

If nothing seems like its working out, and you just can’t imagine not getting married to the love of your life this year, you can have a small elopement! You can still use your photographer, videographer, officiant, planner, even florist and get married on a weekday with just a few close family and friends.

If you’re postponing your spring wedding, but still want to get married in 2020, be open to Fridays and especially Sundays, as well as other venues you might not have thought of when you were originally planning your wedding. Picking a Sunday will give you so many more options for venues, and a better chance that your vendors will be open. It’s not ideal, but you might need to consider pushing it to next year if you want to have a Saturday wedding, with the same vendors, and at the same venue.

Even if your invites are already out, that’s okay! You can simply send everyone a cute “change the date” card in the mail with your new date. If you’re getting married in the summer or fall, I urge you to think things through a bit longer to see how these next couple weeks play out.

We all truly want you to have the wedding you have always dreamed of. Think of all your options and talk it over with your significant other, the important people in your life, and your vendors. This is uncharted territory for all of us, and we’ll figure this out together.

Stay strong and healthy!!