COVID Wedding Q&A with Amanda
We’re with you, it’s a hard time right now to think about a COVID wedding. It’s hard to know what to plan, how to plan, all while thinking there might be a chance of postponement in the end.
It’s hard to put all these thoughts and feelings down in words so we made this month’s Q&A all about COVID weddings and how you CAN still plan, how you can still celebrate, and all our ideas around that.
There are a lot of things to consider, a lot of conversations to be had, guest lists to update, and vendors to talk to. We know, and we can’t stress it enough; your vendors are right there with you.
We suggest you watch the whole COVID wedding video – so many good thoughts – but here’s an overview for you.
Talk to all your vendors – they’re in it with you.
Your vendors are in it with you. They’re also experiencing this difficult time. And you won’t be shocking them if you send them an email to chat it out. The worst thing you can do right now is to leave your vendors in the dark if you’re considering reducing the size of your wedding, postponing your wedding, or making any large changes.
The best thing to do is to contact the people that you’ve hired to be on your team. They’re professionals and have dealt with many bad situations. I can safely say that none of us have dealt with a pandemic before, but there are many other things that might surprise you that we have walked through with our couples. So make sure that you include them. Talk things out with them. They might have ideas and thoughts that you wouldn’t have considered.
Make sure you lean on this team that you’ve hired. You are paying them after all, so use their expertise. This will also really be a benefit for you if it does come to talking about postponement.
Izabela Rachwal Photography
Let’s all take December off – no wedding planning.
Here in Manitoba, the regulations keep changing. The guidelines change as well. And various areas have moved in and out of yellow, and orange. I know this could be quite stressful. And you might’ve already had to consider what it looks like to reduce your guest count. Our biggest suggestion right now – if you’re having a 2021 or 2022 wedding – is that you simply just take December off.
We’re getting close to it anyways and Christmas is a time to celebrate, have some good wine, bake cookies, wrap gifts, and just veg out and stay inside and away from the cold. So do just that. Give yourself a break, don’t plan anything, and give yourself the mental space to just take some time off.
Whether you are reducing your guest count or postponing taking December off is a great time to just breathe, take a beat, and decide exactly what you’d like to do.
You can’t stay in a heightened state about your wedding for too long without feeling that immense mental fatigue and the negative effects it will have on you. Give yourself the room, the grace, to take December off. And frankly, a lot of vendors work very limited hours in December anyway, so there’s really not that much that’s gonna be going on with them anyway so just know that is a great consideration as well.
Izabela Rachwal Photography
Make a 50 person and a 100 person guest list – Here’s why.
You may be wondering what you can be doing right now with your wedding planning. Things are so up in the air so it’s hard to really know exactly what numbers will look like next spring, summer, and fall.
We highly suggest, and have given this homework to all of our existing clients, to make a 50 person, and 100 person guestlists. There’s maybe not anything you’re gonna do with it in the end, it might just be an exercise, but it frees up that mental space to know that you did it.
If you do need to walk down that road you’ve already done a smaller guest list when you’re not in panic mode of truly having to. You’ll be surprised as well, at how cathartic it is; to just get that little bit of postponing or intimate wedding work done. And then touch it away. That’s it.
Sometimes we work things up in our head so much, that they’ll be so hard, but then when we’ve done them we’re like “Why did I worry so much about that!?”. We promise you can do it. And that your guests will get it (if it comes down to needing the list).
Many of our couples have already come back to us telling us they were surprised at the amount of pressure it took off – see I told you!
Another thought; if you’re considering having that larger guest list, and you really want to stay as close to your original guest list as possible consider moving your wedding to an outdoor location.
If you don’t know already, we are tent and unique venue experts. Those sorts of weddings – built out of nothing, in a field, warehouse, or restaurant – are our bread and butter. We absolutely love them, we thrive in that sort of situation and planning those types of weddings.
So really, at the end of the day, if you have to move locations know that you can talk to your vendors, hire a Wedding Planner or Wedding Coordinator that’s amazing at it, and make something happen and have as close to your original guest list as possible.
There are many creative things you can do with outdoor or COVID safe wedding location (that is within the COVID regulations) so don’t write it off if you are thinking of keeping a higher guest count. It just might be what you’ll have to do so have an open mind.
Sugar & Soul Photography
Cancelling is not the answer you think it is.
You might think that it’s not worth all the stress and you’re just gonna cancel everything. That might not be the solution you think it is.
I’ve seen many Facebook posts, comments, and heard a lot of chatter with vendors on clients thinking that they will get their money back. That the deposit doesn’t really hold a lot of weight. You need to remember that you’ve signed legally binding contracts. Your contract support you, protect you, but also protect the vendors.
If you’re cancelling altogether there’s a chance you might not be entitled to any refund at all. Before you really walk down that path have a glass of wine, pull out all your contracts, and have a good read.
I know, this is the last thing you wanna hear, but I want to make sure that you understand that cancelling might not be the solution you think it is.
Yes, if it’s truly right for you, and your circumstances are very peculiar that support a cancellation we get it. Everyone’s life circumstances, family dynamics, are very different. However, we simply highly suggest you really look through all of your options before the thought of cancellation.
At the end of the day, you planned this wedding in the first place and truly did want it. So take a look at your options. We’re in this for a while, I think we’ve all started to realize that, so getting creative and doing something a little outside of the box, or different from what you envision, could be the solution. And, to be honest, every couple we’ve had that HAVE had a Covid wedding have been thrilled to celebrate with an intimate group of people. No one has regretted still having their wedding.
Khammy Phanthavong Photography
Do you have more questions about your Covid wedding? Or how you might bring it all together as things progress? Leave a comment below; we’d be happy to answer anything you’re wondering about.
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