When you dreamed of your fiance getting down on one knee and becoming engaged I bet you did not dream of planning your wedding day in the middle of a pandemic! Don’t you just wish someone came up to you after your fiance proposed and handed you a book that said, “Planning a wedding during the Coronavirus.” In our dreams am I right?!
My Letter to you…
Take it easy on yourself and on your fiance. Planning your wedding with a worldwide virus happening is not something any of us planned on nor have dealt with previously. All of the COVID weddings I have recently photographed have been absolutely stunning masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, and all! With a few simple adjustments to your wedding day we can make your dream wedding day still comes to life.
Masks, Gloves, and Hand Sanitizer
Having great communication with your venue, wedding planner, and vendors are very important during this time. You should ensure they still plan to provide services to your day as well as if they have any requests for adjustments on safety for your day. Some basic things to be sure will be at your wedding for your guests are face coverings (masks), gloves if you’d like, and hand sanitizer stations or bottles distributed!
Cutting the Guest List
Contact your wedding venue to confirm what number of guests are allowed so you can figure out a new guest count. Decide how many guests you will need to cut from your original list! You can do this by one of the two ways: Option A: You can do a first come first serve RSVP or Option B: You can individually contact guests to tell them you have had to cut the guest list. (You could send out a letter saying this or just do not send an official invite if you already sent a save the date.) If you have a wedding website update the new changes you have made to your wedding day.
Catering Adjustments for Covid-19
Serving and having dinner with your guests is still possible, don’t fret! Most couples will shift to a plated meal rather than the normal buffet style wedding dinner. This will require you to ensure you know how many guests will be attending your wedding. When choosing your dishes to be served be sure that there are gluten, vegetarian, and maybe even vegan options. You can ask in your RSVP to include dietary restrictions. Households will be seated six feet apart from other households. If you have a planner or coordinator they can help with the layout and logistics of this all!
How will Weddings Change in the Future?
Weddings and large events will forever be changed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Catering companies, venues, planners, and event coordinators will find new ways to incorporate proper COVID compliance with new safety measures that will last for years to come.
Once your wedding cake is cut it will be plated and served. Your dance floor can still happen but may be smaller and may have less of a crowd. Future weddings will be personalized more. Couples are working at home and have more time on their hands which leads them to craft some pretty freaking awesome wedding days.
Some of your guests will expect to tune in live from the comfort of their homes to watch your wedding via Live stream on Facebook or Instagram. (Make sure you have a hashtag for your wedding day so you can see who is posting about watching your wedding day!)
Wedding Planning is Changing. Here’s what to expect.
Instead of handshakes we now wave, instead of hugging we now smile with our eyes, instead of meeting our wedding vendors and planners in person we now have virtual calls or meetings! But that doesn’t mean you cannot do a video chat instead of a phone call! Vendors will most likely have new clauses in their contracts and new rules and regulations as well as venues. Ask your vendors what changes they have implemented since the spread of the Coronavirus.
Interested in reading more about the Covid-19 virus and how wedding planning fits into that? Read here for a step by step how to plan. Here is a link for a complete guide on how to navigate wedding planning during a pandemic.
Planning your wedding in the midst of a pandemic doesn’t have to be as hard as it sounds. There are plenty of resources and vendors who are happy to support you and assist you in any way you need.
