Couples across the country are concerned about their upcoming weddings and how they will be affected by Covid-19. The wedding industry cares about you and your concerns and wants to help make this process as easy as possible. Although this is an emotional time for everyone, it’s important you make logical decisions regarding your wedding day to protect the time, effort and money you have invested already in your special day. Many people are affected by the decision to postpone a wedding and the best way to be respectful of your family, friends and your vendor partners is to be proactive and highly communicative. Therefore, I want to share some information and guidance for postponing your wedding day.
1. POSTPONE, DON'T CANCEL
The wedding of your dreams is being affected by Covid-19, but it can still happen! You have spent hours planning the details of the wedding and we encourage you to stay optimistic and move the date to one that will not be affected by the current situation.
2. WHO SHOULD POSTPONE THEIR WEDDING?
Weddings that are booked for March, April or May 2020 should seriously consider postponing the date to later in the year or for 2021. If there are government mandates on event size, in your wedding location, then you will have no choice in postponing. Others may choose to postpone out of respect for their guests and the CDC recommendations.
Weddings in June 2020 and after should think about how Covid-19 could potentially affect their event, but we do not recommend postponement, at this time. The wedding industry is currently assisting their clients with the upcoming three months of postponements, so we also recommend that you do not currently contact your vendors unless your wedding is planned for March, April or May 2020.
3. WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO POSTPONING A WEDDING?
- Take a deep breath! It will all be ok.
- Contact your venue representative about future available dates. If your wedding must be cancelled due to government mandates or closure of the venue, the venue should be reaching out to you.
- Due to availability at the venue, your wedding may have to fall on a Friday or Sunday. While you may have originally preferred a Saturday, try to keep in mind that what is most important is that you get to have the amazing wedding day that you have planned to share with your family and friends.
- Contact the most important vendors to confirm their availability for the new dates. You should prioritize your vendors by how much money you have invested in securing them. Talk to those vendors about their availability for the potential dates from the venue.
- Share the available dates with family and friends who are critical to the event happening, likely your immediate family and bridal party. Please keep in mind that you can’t make everyone happy with the new wedding date (just as with the original date!) and some people will not be able to attend. We are confident that people will still try to make an effort to attend – they know this is difficult for you!
- Ask the venue and vendors to create an addendum to your contracts or issue an updated contract for the postponement date, reflecting that all deposits will be forwarded to the new event date. If a vendor is already booked for a date, ask if they can find a substitution. When at all possible, try to still work with your existing vendors. Only events cancelled due to government mandates can be refunded. We are all in this together! Your vendor partners want to support and help you in this time of crisis.
Megan Estrada
Owner & Principal Event Planner
North Shore Weddings & Events