The coronavirus pandemic has brought about a wave of change in people’s lives. Couples who had planned to get married in 2020, had to either cancel, delay, or downsize their original plans. Large indoor gatherings had the potential to spread the deadly disease. Almost a year on, and even with vaccinations being rolled out, it is still hard to say when our lives will get back to normal.
Fortunately, life still goes on, and that doesn’t stop love. Couples still got engaged and still look forward to planning their weddings even in time of COVID. This would raise many questions and take more than just scrolling through your Pinterest page for wedding planning ideas.
According to Brides, the best thing you can do about planning your wedding is to be prepared. With lockdown policies constantly changing, there’s no telling what to expect. Here’s how to plan your pandemic wedding and continue to stay safe during the process.
1. Keep an Open Communication with your vendors and guests
It is always best to think of the worst scenarios and come up with a game plan. Keep open contacts with your vendors should you decide to postpone the event. For instance, hotel coordinators most likely work on limited hours, and it is always a good idea to ask what response times work best to avoid any frustrations on your part.
It’s also important to be open with your wedding vendors, photographers and wedding venue coordinators included about your anxieties, especially on the topics of sanitation and how they plan to keep the wedding guests and themselves safe.
If you have set up your wedding website, keep your wedding guests updated on any changes that might happen along the way. You may even add a link to the CDC website so that your guests can keep themselves updated with accurate information, as well.
2. Be considerate of your guest’s welfare
While you want to invite special people in your lives to your special day, it is important to account for your guests’ safety and welfare. Remember that the pandemic has brought about changes in everyone’s lives, including their mental health status and finances. Alison Laesser-Keck, creative director of Alison Bryan Destinations stresses that you should be considerate of your guests, especially during this time of crisis.
Allow them ample time to come up with a decision on whether they could come to your wedding. You can assure them that you will follow the proper safety protocols and that you and your team will do what you can to keep everyone safe. But ultimately, the decision will be on them, and you will have to accept that.
3. Expect a Smaller Guest Count
While many couples dream of a big wedding, you will have to understand that you will have to expect a lower guest count with the way things are these days. At this point, be updated with your guest’s travel plans.
4. Keep your vendors locally sourced
While you may be tempted to order everything from overseas, travel restrictions might cause issues and shipping delays. Consider purchasing favors and goods from what is readily available, your local sellers. Not only do you get to see the products firsthand, but you will also get a chance to support local businesses as well, so that is a double plus!
5. Consider having a virtual wedding
You want to keep your guests, especially the elderly and immunocompromised safe. They will most likely be unable to be present during your special day, but you can bring the wedding to them right in the safety of their own homes. You can do a live stream of your wedding, especially with social media nowadays.
6. Have a backup plan
With all things, have a backup plan. Fortune says that there will be events that things will not fall into place, and you have to be ready for that. You may consider the most popular compromise to date: having a small party now, and having a bigger one during your first anniversary. Your small party could comprise immediate family and intimate friends and celebrated in an open venue with simple fare to dine on. This way, you can enjoy the simplicity of your special day without all the “fuss and feathers” and look forward to celebrating your anniversary in style.
Planning a wedding during the pandemic is tricky, and there are so many factors that come into play. Remember that in the end, it is the marriage that is the most important part and that it is you and your partner that will weather things the following years down the line.
