how to plan a wedding during a pandemic?

PLANNING A WEDDING IN THE AGE OF COVID

This year has been completely unpredictable and stressful when it comes to wedding planning. Through cancellations, downsizing guest lists, and moving dates and venues, it can be incredibly difficult to know how to proceed. As we approach nearly a year of this pandemic with uncertainty still brewing on the horizon, it may become necessary to change some of your plans. Even if you do have to pivot, you can still have a beautiful and meaningful wedding of your dreams. Here are some tips to make those dreams a reality.

THINKING OF CANCELLING? POSTPONE INSTEAD!

Surely, by this time you’ve already paid quite a few non refundable deposits to secure your wedding date. Those vendors and locations are doing a ton of work behind the scenes to prepare for your wedding and make sure that everything runs smoothly. Be sure to communicate thoroughly with everyone on your team. Most are certainly willing to work with you, especially during these new and uncertain circumstances. We are all going through this together! Don’t delay, be brave and communicate your needs if you are contemplating postponing your wedding. They will likely be more accommodating than you think.

WEDDING SPACES

Think creatively when it comes to the venue you choose. Rent out an Airbnb perhaps an outdoor space that you really connect with or your local park or garden. Even your own backyard! If you do end up considering an indoor space for your wedding, you should be prepared that you may need to downsize your guest list due to restrictions. You may not want to blast your budget on a venue if you’re only getting to use a quarter of the space.

CONSIDER A MORE INTIMATE WEDDING

Pear corsages by yours truly on at a farm wedding in Michigan

Out of all the curveballs that 2020 weddings have had to offer us, downsizing guest lists is probably the biggest one. However, my personal favorite weddings are intimate, small, and personal. You are sharing an incredibly intimate and life affirming moment with the people that you choose to invite and you are allowed so many things with a small wedding that you couldn’t always get away with for a larger wedding. Here are some pros to downsizing your wedding:

Connection: You will be able to really be present with your guests, instead of feeling overwhelmed and like you can only spend a few minutes here or there with them. You can really connect with the closest people to you who are there to support you and your partner.

Saving Money: feeding less people, less party favors, you can allocate those funds to another part of the wedding, or even put it all towards your Honeymoon or future purchases instead of starting married life off missing a big chunk of change!

Dealer’s Choice: You get to decide what your priorities are now that things have been shifted on their head. Do you want to stick with the typical format, or shake everything up to fit your priorities? You get to decide what it is that inspires you and really makes YOU happy, rather than what you think should make you happy

DATES

Dates are something you will most likely need to be the most flexible with. If you are rescheduling your wedding, Saturdays are obviously the most popular days during the wedding season. If you’re looking to reschedule on the same date a year or two out, you will likely run into many scheduling dilemmas with many people trying to do the exact same thing. If you can't be flexible with your date, it may be possible that you will miss out on retainers, have your vendors already booked for other weddings, or even your venue already being booked entirely. I would recommend being flexible and considering an off season wedding, or perhaps a weekday or Sunday wedding. Not only will there be less people getting married during that time, you will likely find much more flexibility.

DO WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU

At the end of the day, this is your special day with the love of your life and the people that mean the most to you. Perhaps this scaled down version will allow you to really focus on what’s truly important, and make it the most memorable day of your life. It will all come together as it is meant to be.