Covid-19 & Your Wedding

 

Love in the time of coronavirus is a challenging theme of 2020, but if you are open to getting a bit creative you can absolutely still have a dreamy and perfect wedding day. 

 

Wow what wild times we are all living through, holy smokes. I’m sending extra love to the couples dealing with navigating wedding planning during these unprecedented times on top of the already too much stress of the day to day. There is a lot of info about the right choices for 2020 engaged couples and their weddings. It’s hard to find all of the good info in one place so I wanted to share this to hopefully help guide you toward a choice you can be happy with and get back to being excited about your wedding! Please do your own research to settle on a final decision that feels safe and right for you both. At the end of the day you have each other so be sure to give your fiance a squeeze and remember you’ll get through this and have a hell of a story to tell years from now.

 

Should we Postpone?

If the wedding is early- to mid-summer, it’s time to start considering a plan of action for rescheduling or modifying. Fall and winter dates should hold tight and wait on ever-changing developments but have a plan B in place. Check in with your planner for guidance, or reach out to the venue and see their recommendations for rescheduling. Always stay up to date on Montana State regulations at DPHHS and recommendations of the CDC.

 

Remove the term Cancelation from your vocabulary and instead focus on modifying your wedding plans or postponement

 

Most venues and vendors are allowing for reschedules without penalty. With a full cancellation, couples would lose out on their retainers and depending on each of the individual vendor contracts, possibly more. In addition, wedding vendors like many others are facing difficult times in their careers, losing out on months or more of booked weddings and it goes a long way to keep their clients.

 

 

Consider hiring a planner

It’s always a great idea to have a trusted professional helping you with your wedding. If you already have the majority of it planned, you can obtain partial planning or a month of services from reputable planners. They can assist you with navigating the reschedule or modification for a special more intimate day. More importantly,  you will be able to relax and enjoy your time together as a couple while an experienced wedding specialist manages your timeline and vendors while tending to you two.

 

You can find a planner via the directories of My Montana Wedding Association or The Knot

 

 

Modify your wedding plans and keep your date

The good news is, You can absolutely still get married! Have a small elopement and plan to celebrate with friends and family at a later date. If you do intend on having some guests in attendance, have a clear seating plan to allow for social distancing between families and individuals that do not currently live within the same household. Double check with your officiant and other vendors that you would need for a small ceremony and confirm they are comfortable with a scenario practicing social distancing.

 

 

How to have an amazing intimate ceremony

Micro weddings are quickly becoming a trend in 2020. What is a micro wedding you ask? Learn more here.

• Live stream your wedding. Heres how  If that feels like too much, plan to record your ceremony and put it online to show your guests later (Your videographer, tech savvy friend or I can help with this)
• Plan your reception for a later date. You’ll have more time than you ever imagined to make it perfect and your guests will be SO ready to celebrate!
• You can still go all out with flowers and attire and get the epic gorgeous photos you envisioned on your wedding day – I am 100% on board!
• Involve your absent guests in some way – have your officiant read some special notes from them, or have seats reserved anyway with framed photos of those missing. Honor those not in attendance with a special candle lighting moment or other honorary tradition.

 

 

 

Factors to consider when weighing postponement

• When is your date
• The size of wedding you can be happy with
• Any travel bans that may make attendance difficult for friends and family to attend
• Any legal restrictions on gatherings
• Special circumstances of VIP guests (medical workers, vulnerable population, etc)

 

We are all in this together and have extra empathy and grace for those who are planning weddings at this time. Your guests will understand if you choose to reduce the guest list or postpone to a later date. These are unprecedented times and there is no right choice. Be sure to find a compromise that you can be happy with and feels right. We are all hopeful that things will be more normalized by later summer and fall but we don’t have any definitive facts just yet.

 

The earlier you make a plan B, the more likely you will be able to make a plan that works for everyone. It’s a delicate balance and unfortunately there are no definitive guidelines. 

 

How to postpone our wedding

Once you settle on postponement you should move quickly for the best chance of keeping your vendors and getting choice dates. With all of the rescheduling, availability is changing rapidly. I recommend choosing 2-3 dates that the venue has available and float those dates to your vendors. Choose the new date based on the best availability. Alternatively, you could reach out to your priority vendors and get the entirety of their availability and choose a date based on that. Be open to the possibility of weekday weddings. Empathize with your vendors – they are going through a difficult time as well. As long as everyone is kind and works together, rescheduling can actually be a fairly smooth process!

 

You are totally allowed to be sad, angry, and everything in between. Don’t feel guilty for mourning the loss of your original plan, but also stay hopeful about what’s to come. It will be the sweetest celebration.

 

What if we want to have a big wedding?

This is difficult to answer because there is still conflicting information in reference to large gatherings. The larger the wedding, the further out the reschedule is recommended. While we are all hopeful groups of 50 or more will be allowed to gather this fall and winter, I am concerned that the ban on larger events of say, 100+, may be extended well beyond that. Some have been recommending at least a year for larger weddings.

 

Relax. Breathe. Be flexible.

 

Please know that I am here as you plan to bounce ideas of off or need a listening ear. Sending big air hugs to you and your families! I will continue to update you all as any new development may affect my ability to shoot your wedding but at this time the order to cease non-essential businesses has lifted and it is game on.

 

 

XOXO