COVID-19 wedding. Oh goodie, yet another thing about Corona….. trust me, I feel you.
I come at you with this not from a sense of fear or to scare you into anything, but rather to present some insight in a way that may not have occurred to you yet.
Obviously, this is HEAVILY impacting the weddings and events of couples who have things planned for early 2020. My heart absolutely aches for these April, May, and even June couples (so far) who have put so much energy, thought, and love into the planning of their weddings only to have it all completely turned upside down. They are forced to come up with back up plans for their COVID-19 wedding, alter guests lists, and for lots this means rescheduling things completely.
I’m so sorry you’re all going through this. There are ways to still make things happen and I am here to help you planning your COVID-19 wedding!
Here are some of things my early season couples are doing, maybe one of these options will work for you as well.
All any of us can do is our best and accept that it is beyond our immediate control. What is so hard with all of this is the unknown and the ever changing recommendations. We don’t know when life will get back to normal and we don’t know the long term impact all of this will have. I promise you though, there are options and all of us vendors want to make sure you are able to celebrate and enjoy your day (or days! More fun, woo!) the best you possibly can, whenever that may be.
“Thank all of the lucky stars that we aren’t planning our wedding for this year!” I’m sure that thought has gone through your head. Trust me, it has gone through mine too as someone who is also planning a 2021 COVID-19 wedding (woo!!). But this doesn’t stop there.
MANY of these 2020 couples who are having to postpone things, are doing so for either late 2020, or 2021.
What does this mean for others? 2021 dates are being snagged up quickly as we speak! This goes for coordinators, venues, caterers, florists, obvi photographers, the whole crew! You may have been sitting back letting things ride for a while because your wedding is so far out, but now the availability of vendors is going to start diminishing. And fast. I personally went from a nearly wide open June 2021, to only one more June 2021 opening strictly due to reschedules.
There are two other things that are proving their value right now.
1. Coordinators/Planners. 2. Event Insurance.
If you haven’t considered one or both of these things for your future wedding, DO IT! Those with coordinators right now, have someone else doing the research and dirty work for them essentially re-planning their wedding. And while I don’t think event insurance will cover a “pandemic” (some might? this is not my area of expertise), it certainly helps in a bind.
I know you’re all spending a lot of time on your phones right now. Go ahead and reach out to those amaze-balls vendors you’ve been watching and stalking for the last few months. Not only are they going to be so excited to hear from you right now, but a lot of us are offering special incentives, rates, payment plans and lower retainer amounts right now to get us all through this time of uncertainty! I personally am offering 15% off all wedding and elopement packages booked by June 30th, 2020 and have lowered my retainer to only $500.
And please by no means panic. Again, this is not coming from a place of “scare tactic” or pressure. It comes from a place of knowledge and information from someone who is witnessing it behind the scenes! If I was strictly planning my wedding right now and not a wedding vendor dealing with the impacts head-on, these thoughts wouldn’t even cross my mind!
Here are some of my fave Coordinators who are also there to lend a hand: