Should I Postpone My Wedding?

Firstly, I’m so sorry you’re considering postponing your wedding. “Should I postpone my wedding?!” is a question we’re getting a lot lately, and in some cases for the second time (for some couples) and we’re so heartbroken for you.

All we want to do is celebrate with you. But we all know we have to do that safely, and we’re not totally sure when that will be.

As I write this we are in Code Red which means no social gatherings, nothing outside our household and weddings can only be 5 people (so you, your partner, commissioner, and two others). That’s tricky. And we totally understand why right now you’re wondering “Should I postpone my wedding?!”

Victoria Anne Photography / blog post

We want to walk you through some things to consider, some variables, and give you a little advice.

Make a list of your must-haves at your wedding.

For you this might mean 200 guests, you must have dancing, you must have an open bar, I’m sure you get the idea. This list will be different for everyone. Start with that. Truly, take some paper and write it out.

Create a 100 person, 50 person, 25 person and 10 person guest list.

Do you think you could go down to 50 people? 25 people? Would the wedding still have the feel and atmosphere you want? In this exercise, you’ll really see who will be in and who will be out.

You might be surprised that 50 guest still gives you a lot of the people you truly want at the wedding. You might also see that there’s no way you can make this work. That’s the point; to get you in one direction or another

ARIANA TENNYSON PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

Think about the current health of your guests

Do you have any guests that are autoimmune compromised? If you’re going to go forward with your wedding this year would they attend? Would you want them to attend? Or are they “not that close” and would get cut from your smaller guest list?

If they are a close family member we ask that you don’t take this step lightly. Above all we want you and your guests to be safe.

CASEY NOLIN PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

What can your venue do about physical distancing?

We don’t yet know the rules that will be in place but we feel it’s safe to assume there will be physical distancing rules around seating (including ceremony and reception).

Talk to your venue about what options they have to facility this and what max guest count you can have with physical distancing practices.

How soon is your wedding from today’s date?

Depending on when you’re reading this we (fingers crossed) could already be at 10 – 15 person gatherings allowed. But your wedding could be in two months and you want 100 guests.

Looking at how things are rolled out we feel it’s unlikely that in that timeframe we would jump up to 100 guests being allowed safely.

If that’s the case and you still want to have your wedding this year you’ll have to consider a lower guest list.

IZABELA RACHWAL PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

Side chat: What to do about invites??!

We suggest you send out an e-save the date style card to your whole guest list (the original one). Let them know you so badly want to celebrate with them but are waiting on any formal invites until it’s clear what will be allowed. It’s meant as a feel-good email for them to get to let them know you’re thinking of them, you want them there, but you’re just not sure what’s going to happen right now.

We suggest you send out your invites three months before the wedding but we’re not in “normal times” right now. We feel up to a month before the wedding is as close to the wedding we would push it in this current situation (Truly, what are they doing anyway? Hangout out at home, watching Netflix right? It’s not like normal seasons where people have many social gatherings to pick from)

SUGAR & SOUL PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

Consider how this year will be different for events

It’s hard to know what will all be different this year and we know that makes this all that much harder. We have some opinions we feel we’re pretty right on but know that these are educated guesses from last years event regulations, conversations with health inspectors, and watching what is happening currently in Manitoba:

There will be no dance floors (with a maybe on the first dance, family dances)
No buffets
No line ups (think bar line)
No congregated areas (lounges, cocktail tables, etc)
A high chance of masks being mandatory for inside events
Small guest counts only (likely 50 people max)

We SO hope you’re wrong but there’s a high chance all of this is true. If that’s the case would you still go forward with your wedding this year?

REANNE BERARD PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

Make a Pro & Con list of having your wedding vs. postponing

You might be thinking that you know all the pros and cons, it’s all you think about. There is a difference between having it in your head and keeping you up at night and sitting down with a pen and paper and committing it to ink. This is another exercise to help you see this all clearly.

I know, 100% not sexy, or fun, or anything you ever wanted to do when planning your wedding but we want you to get to a place where you feel truly ready one way or another.

SUGAR & SOUL PHOTOGRAPHY / BLOG POST

We know this blog post didn’t make you comfortable and it maybe made you feel really sad. And we’re sorry for that. But we hope that it helped bring clarity and direction moving forward with your wedding plans.