If you are planning a wedding or just got engaged and started your process of planning your wedding, your lives have been thrown into extra chaos. Thanks to coronavirus and specifically the COVID19 outbreak there is (as of March 31st the white house has advised no gatherings above 10 people and many states have already enacted those guidelines. And every day new information is out there so I highly encourage you to check out the latest information. But beyond that, what is a wedding couple to do about the uncertainty of what’s ahead?
First. Breathe.
There is an awful lot going on, there is an awful lot happening and at the same time things are at a near standstill. If you make choices now in a panic you are likely to make poor choices. So take a breath, relax as much as humanly possible. You still can have the wedding you have always dreamed of.
So I have a Spring 2020 Wedding
If you have a spring wedding you might have already experienced this disruption or could be on the cusp of your date will be no longer available. And yep I am not going to mince words, it sucks. It sucks not only for the couples but for the vendors and venues as well. Many are experiencing thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars, or even more hardship from the inability to work with their clients and create an amazing experience. The majority of these vendors are one-person or small operations and they are significantly impacted.
I encourage you to talk to your vendors now and check out what options are available for you. Not only that, lean on them like they are your friends. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Personally I have already contacted my next few months of clients to start those conversations early on. We are all in this together, and you already assembled a great team. Let’s try to keep that team together.
Save The Show
First and foremost I highly encourage you to just reschedule your event and not cancel. Yes, times are incredibly stressful, but you are planning an exciting time for you, your family, and your friends. This can absolutely still happen. And your desire to this helps fund those small businesses I mentioned earlier. You may have seen this image floating around social media and I completely agree with it.
Same Players. Different Day.
So if you found yourself with a date that can no longer happen, start to work with your venue and vendors to find a date that can work for everyone. Yes, it will likely require a little more work, but it’s best to minimize the amount of chaos with everything else going on.
The Summer & Fall 2020 Wedding
The reality is we just have no idea how this is going to affect the coming week let along the coming months. As of writing this article in March, my summer and fall couples are just keeping on with things until more detail can be fleshed out as time passes. I think this is a wise decision because taking action now on something completely unknown could result in choices that might not be warranted. Again this is a complete unknown, and I totally understand if one wants to reschedule even if your wedding is not in that initially affected window. I just advise take caution and use the best information possible.
The 2021 Wedding
Now is the time when many couples normally plan for their 2021 weddings and I can clearly observe that many people are putting this on the side burner until things start to become clearer. While it’s great to stay informed and to be patient, 2021 could be an abnormally busy season. Some 2020 couples may postpone a full year and that could make trying to find your perfect location and your team of vendors that much harder. Many venues are doing virtual tours of their locations and many couples (including most of mine) do Zoom meetings already. This is still a great opportunity to put together your 2021 wedding. If you wait, availability could be limited.
Be Informed And Stay In Touch
The last thing I can impart it to keep abreast of all the information as it comes out got to step #1 of breathing, and then make a sound decision. Keep in touch with everyone throughout the process, and we will all get through this together.
