There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a huge shockwave in the wedding industry for couples and industry professionals alike. Couples across the world who were planning to get married in the spring and early summer are finding themselves rescheduling to later in the year or 2021. I want to give some tips to those of you who are in that same boat and are wondering what you can do.
You will get married
First off, I want to say that you WILL get married. I know it doesn't feel that way right now but it will happen. It may be delayed, it may not look like you originally planned, but you will have a husband or wife when this is all said and done!
As of right now, we are seeing couples who were planning on getting married in April, May and early June officially rescheduling. We're encouraging our late June, July and August couples to start considering plan B, but we haven’t pulled the plug on all of those just yet. This is all such a day-by-day thing that each week we will have a better idea as to what this whole year is going to look like.
Action items you can do now
1 Check with your vendors about their rescheduling policy. It's good to know financially and scheduling-wise what you'd run into should you be forced to reschedule. Every vendor I've spoken with is being very flexible and has been wonderful working with every client! 2 Reach out to your venue to see if they are able to provide a temporary hold on a backup date for you. Hopefully we won't need to use it, but it'll give you a little peace of mind to have a plan B. My recommendation is to consider dates in the LATE fall/winter and into 2021 just to ensure you don't need to reschedule again. 3 Be open and flexible for Fridays and Sundays. Many venues are already booked up for Saturdays, especially in the fall, so you may need to readjust your day of the week. 4 Once you have a few plan B dates from your venue, be sure to check with your full vendor team about their availability. 5 Get a pulse on your guests - will they be impacted by travel restrictions? Will you not have as many people able to attend for health, safety or travel reasons? Even once our stay-at-home mandates are lifted, I anticipate that social distancing will still continue for at least a few months. This will heavily impact events and I think we will continue to see bans at the state government level.
While this is one of the most unexpected things to happen for all of us, remember that all of these restrictions are intended to do what is best for public health. Staying at home and following guidelines is important to ensure the safety of not only yourself, but also your family, friends and vendors. As you move forward with any plans, please follow the CDC guidelines as well as any governmental, state and city mandates. And in the end, whether we are your coordinators or not, we are thrilled to cheers and celebrate with you when the time comes!