To Postpone or Not to Postpone Your Wedding?
It’s the elephant in the room- Covid-19 (Coronavirus). It’s been a tumultuous time for the wedding and events industry. My heart is with our TGT clients, my fellow wedding vendors and anyone having to navigate this uncertain time during what should be a time of celebration.
While I want to get back to celebrating as soon as I can (I mean, what is an event planner without anything to plan!?), the most important thing to do right now is to stay safe and healthy. Having had family infected (and thankfully recovered) from the virus, I know now personally that it is no joke y’all. Weddings are stressful enough, you don’t need your guests’ health risks looming over your head as well.
For that reason, you might be facing some tough decisions regarding your wedding. In the next few blog posts, I’ll outline my thoughts on debating postponement, how to navigate postponement and how to celebrate safely.
If you’d like more hands-on help discussing your options, The Get Together Events Co. is now offering Covid Coordination, for anyone going through these tough times- TGT can help. This wasn’t supposed to be part of the wedding planning process… it’s just not fair. Let us get you through it.
So let’s get started…
(NOTE: the following thoughts were updated on 5.10.20. In this ever-evolving time, please refer to your city’s current safer-at-home orders and CDC directions. TGT does not have a crystal ball or a medical license so the below are solely our suggestions as event professionals with the knowledge we have at this time).
TO POSTPONE OR NOT TO POSTPONE?
While it’s heartbreaking, soul-crushing and infuriating all mixed into one, know with the entire spring event season gone, you are not alone in your feelings. If you are needing to postpone your wedding or are considering postponement, here are some items to consider;
Step 1: Follow the law.
If your wedding date is within your city’s stay-at-home orders and you literally are not allowed to gather, it’s time to postpone or rethink your wedding plans (online weddings are happening!).
If you unsure of where your city will be regarding their stay-at-home orders or re-opening phases, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Look at your guest list.
How large is your wedding guest list? 50? 150? Over 200? The smaller the guest list, the sooner we can safely gather. We will legally be able to hold gatherings of 50 people before gatherings of 200.
If your wedding falls within the dates where small gatherings can be held (50 or less), would you be able to pair down your 50+ guest list? If not, it’s time to think about postponing.
NOTE: All vendors need to be taken into consideration in this list. (Photographer, Waitstaff and your Planner all need to be counted).
Do you have a lot of elderly guests attending? These folks can be more impacted by disease and will be recommend to stay at home longer than younger guests.
Do you have a lot of guests that would be traveling from out of town? Is your wedding an entirely destination wedding? With travel both domestically and internationally being limited and many being fearful of travel, a large out-of-town invite list might be cause for considering postponement.
TGT recommends following the ever-evolving CDC travel guidelines and their zones to avoid traveling in and out of. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.
Step 3. Talk to your vendors + read your contracts.
If you are on the fence about postponement, reach out to your vendors and venue to determine what their postponement policies are and when you might have the ability to rebook if you do indeed need to postpone.
Your venue and vendors have different cancellation policies that could weigh into your decision.
The “Force Majeure” clause in contracts can be vague, so make sure to get your vendors’ definitions.
See if your vendors will put a “Soft Hold” for you on a future back-up wedding date.
With so many vendors to juggle, finding a new date that works for everyone might be like finding a needle in a haystack. So once you find that needle, hold onto it!
By placing a “soft hold” on a date, your vendors would hold that date for you until someone else requests the date- at that point you would need to make your decision to either move forward with or forego the soft hold.
WOOF. This is tough stuff. There is no way around that.
We are all in this together, and know my heart is with you!