Covid-19 Wedding Rescheduling-A Crash Course | The First 5 Steps You Need to Take 

Let’s just be honest. If 2020 weddings had a spirit animal, it would be change. Couples around the world are faced with altering the vision they had for their wedding day to accommodate unknowns around travel, gathering sizes, and other issues. It’s hard, it’s unexpected, and it might even feel unfair.

However, let’s real: you’ve done hard stuff before. You’ve adapted and met challenges with grace, and this is no different. Let’s rewrite this chapter, and instead of change, let’s kick ‘change’ to the curb and replace it with grace and transformation. 

Harness the Expertise of your Wedding Vendors

If you have a wedding planner check in with them first. Wedding planners are magical beings who are adept at meeting event adversity and creating solutions. Not only do they know lots of great vendors, but they can help you break down any roadblocks and make a plan to convert them into bridges to new paths. If you don’t have a wedding planner, it could be very helpful to get one, and we are happy to make suggestions based on your location. Just contact us!

Check Your Wedding Contracts

Take a look back through your vendor contracts currently in place. Sometimes we cause ourselves more harm by not just reaching out and saying, “where can we go from here?”. Wedding vendors live, eat, and breathe weddings, and everyone we know is already confronting current issues with as much creative strength as they have

Everyone you work is likely already feeling your pain, and they are usually ready to meet any frustrations you’re feeling with empathy and creative solutions. Engage them, brainstorm with them, and realize these are tough times for vendors too. The wedding industry is one of the hardest-hit industries that don’t have a large corporate infrastructure to bail them out. Your grace, your patience, your willingness to transform your day will go very far with them.

We recommend starting with your venue first. Many couples are choosing to move their wedding date, so come with a shortlist of dates that mean something to you and find out if any of those new dates are available.

Be Willing to Adjust Your Guest List

Follow up with your state leadership and inquire about any restrictions on gathering size and remember that the guidance we are getting is fluid and ever-changing. If you’re planning a 2020 wedding, there may be restrictions around the number of guests who can be in attendance, and that number could change depending on the venue.

 Make a list of people in your tribe who are ‘non-negotiable’ and work your way out from there. The good news is that no one is likely to be offended if their invitation is revoked. We were already in this love, this union, and this celebration together and COVID-19 doesn’t change that, it just takes a new form.

So par down that guest list and transform those plated dinners into zoom-squares! The love, the laughter, the joy will all be present for everyone even a hundred miles away. Consider the option of live streaming so everyone can enjoy your wedding. For some guests who have their concerns around their health or travel plans, being given the option for a virtual invitation is exactly what they need.

Consider Safety Measures

Speaking of essential needs, when you are talking with your vendors, ask them what their plans are around meeting any government requirements for events and guest safety. Maybe that takes the form of size restrictions or super cute bottles of hand sanitizer from the super-hip local distillery as a keepsake. If your wedding is at a private residence, check to make sure that you do not need any special insurance riders for holding an event during 2020/2021.

Stay In Communication with Your Guests

Communication is key. Just as you’re facing the unknown around plans, so are your guests. Reach out to them. Be honest about where you’re at, what your potential plans are, how that might impact them. Keep them up to date as plans develop, and everyone will be looking forward to finding out what your final plans are.

Lastly, go with grace. Enter dialogues with vendors, friends, and family the same way you’re entering your marriage: with an open mind, willingness to compromise, and passion. Decide what matters the most to you and do your best to keep those elements as allowed, and be open to adapting. 

Remember that love brought you here, and love will be what you take away from all this. It doesn’t need a big party because at it’s core a wedding is an extravagant event of love and commitment and only requires two people to be there: everything else is just icing on the cake. 

Covid-19 Wedding Rescheduling