So You’re Having a Quarantine Wedding…
At first glance, you’re thinking, it’s over! All these months AND MONTHS of planning, coordinating, choosing, booking - FOR NOTHING?!
Don’t fret, darling! We can help!
Of course for many brides, it is a lifelong dream to have a huge, glamorous wedding with the flowers, the linens, and the jaw-dropping decor. HEY, it’s my dream too (nope, Zechariah and I aren’t married yet!) but plans change. Why postpone when you could have what you want, now? I guess the question you have to ask yourself is:
Who and what am I having this wedding for? Is it really for my spouse and I or is it for the guests? Is it to honor our union before God and one another or is it to be celebrated by others?
Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE WEDDINGS. That’s solely why I took a leap of faith into the business. However, I do know that the wedding reception and overall celebration is much more centered around the accommodation of your guests rather than YOU. Obviously hosting 100+ people takes a ton of work, hands, and money which often brings un-wanted and un-needed stress to the bride and groom. Sometimes, especially during this pandemic - it’s just. not. worth. it. You’ve planned for all these months or maybe even YEARS and now you can’t even experience the event you’ve been dreaming of? That’s JUNK, guys. Or maybe you’ve waited this long, so you’re thinking why sell yourselves short of the huge celebration now? Asking yourself those two questions above might get you on the right track to deciding whether you should postpone, elope, or continue the celebration with a few guests that you treasure dearly! Yes, some guests might be offended, but for the most part, people will understand that the choice was ultimately caused by elements out of your control. And if they truly love and wish the best for you - they’ll ultimately support you and yours ♡
We want to postpone:
Fantastic choice, loves! You’re obviously social beings and want to be all-out supported by the ones you love and cherish! Having a big pack of family and friends to welcome you into the newly-wed life is AMAZING, no doubt! However, there are some things to address.
Notify your venue and be in contact with the vendors
Your venue coordinator along with some of your vendors have probably already reached out to you folks by now in regards to COVID-19 regulations. Some questions you may want to ask while posing the idea of postponing the celebration are:
Will we be compensated for changing the date?
Will venue/vendors ensure their services for prospective new date?
What happens if we want to change locations? Change vendors? Change themes (you might want to approach your wedding coordinator about this one)?
Notify family and friends ASAP
You don’t necessarily have to order an entire new set of printed invitations (that’s crazy money and a bit of wasted time waiting for it to get processed and mailed) rather, you may want to opt into digital “Change the Date” invitations and spread those thangs like wildfire!
If you have some older folk or some guests that aren’t into texting/social media, get out your phone books, because mama and aunt Fern are going to want to talk about this over the phone ☎
Enjoy the almost-married life now! Prepare for marriage with your spouse during quarantine by reading up on some good stuff! I’ve compiled a good list of some of my pre-marital favs below:
For those wanting a type of “self-help” book, but for marriage try Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts
If you’re into follow-up questions and don’t want to get divorced (lol) read Things I Wish I’d Known Before We Got Married
Need to work on your communication skills? Get Communication in Marriage: How to Communicate with Your Spouse without Fighting
And if you love Jesus, or want a biblical perspective for your marriage this is a MUST: From Me to We: A Premarital Guide for the Bride- and Groom-to-be
We’re going to elope ✨
Well well well…. CONGRATS BABES! I totally get it - you’ve been waiting waaayy too long and you’re not that into a 10-hour celebration anyway (it can be draining). Here are some things to do since you’re reeeaalllyyyy scaling back on your big day - it will now be super intimate!
Make sure your venue and vendors know you’ve changed the type of wedding you’re having.
Some venues are all-out closed, some are only open for types of events like elopements. Be sure to remain in close contact with your venue so that they know you want to keep your union date, but change the style of celebration!
A bunch of vendors will no longer be needed - notify them! Food, decor, and much of set-up/break-down won’t be needed either at all or much less.
You may want to change photographers/videographers…
Why? Well.. some photographers/videographers actually specialize in elopement celebrations and are AMAZING at it. Since they’re passionate about this specific type of union celebration, they will capture your day differently than if a general wedding photographer was on the job. I’d recommend Emily Choy because she truly is the kindest soul and has such a passion for capturing love! I met her once while shooting at a wedding for a friend and she is SO GOOD at what she does. She used to do large-scale weddings, but has recently scaled back and only does intimate ceremonies for the moment.
Your photographer/videographer may not be shooting right now. Since some people have chosen to “lockdown” the company you booked may not be willing to shoot because of recent regulations. Just make sure!
NO REGRETSSSS!
Know that 20+ years from now, you’re going to look back and remember how COVID-19 make a crazy impact on your wedding day and almost ruined it… ALMOST. but you persevered and went along to get hitched anyway ;)
A small celebration is more our speed:
Yay! In my opinion, this is a sweet middle spot, where you get an intimate ceremony, but you also get to celebrate with the people who are closest to you. It’s overall a more laid-back, genuine celebration of your union!!
Narrow down that guest list. And do it ASAP!
If you’re having the celebration at a venue, let them know! Quickly!
You’ll need to forward announcements to those who are invited and those who aren’t. A good example is:
Due to uncertainty of gathering restrictions, we’ve decided on having a small wedding celebration with close family and friends rather than postponing the wedding all together. We still DO! We love and cherish YOU! xoxo, the lovely couple
Keep vendors in-the-know
Your vendors need to know the updated numbers, timelines, and overall changes for your special day. Let them know as soon as you’ve confirmed your new guestlist.
IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE 🥂
You’ll have much less stress this time around when it comes to planning - ENJOY IT!
Take lots of pictures, make memories, and have fun!!!
I hope you’ve found this blogpost most helpful when it comes to planning and re-planning your special day. It takes a LOT of work, but babes, it is ALL worth it! Your day, whether it’s postponed, transformed into an elopement, or scaled back to an intimate party, will be nothing short of magical! We can’t wait to see what you and yours come up with for your quarantine celebration! If you found this article helpful, let me know!
