The One Where the Earth Stood Still | Advice for Planning a Wedding During Covid-19

We never would have thought that something like this could happen.

How could we? Who could have predicted that the entire world would come to a standstill? It’s a jaw-dropping, unrivaled event that we were pretty blindsided by. It’s unfair, and it’s all so tragic, especially during what is supposed to be some of the happiest months of your life.

There are weddings, elopements, intimate ceremonies, and destination weddings being cancelled all across the world. If you are one of those people who has had to make the extremely difficult decision to postpone or cancel your wedding, I feel for you. Out of everything to be cancelled, this hurts me the most. No, not because we specialize in photographing weddings and elopements, but because it genuinely kills us to see so many disappointed brides and grooms.

2020 was shaping up to be a HUGE year for weddings, presumably because many people like the look of the year for their anniversary. This means that not only are we seeing a huge amount of weddings having to be postponed over the course of several months, but we will also be seeing an exponential increase in weddings for the fall/winter and spring/summer of 2021. For many brides whose weddings are thankfully far enough in advance that you don’t have to postpone due to Covid-19, unfortunately this means you may still see an impact on your wedding day.

So what can you do?

If you are having to postpone your wedding day…

If you aren’t already in contact with your vendors, reach out to them as soon as possible! Communication is key in moments like this, and can be crucial when determining how you will be moving forward.

While it is impossible to predict when this all will end, I would suggest picking a date farther out in advance rather than moving it only by a month or two. We don’t know how long the CDC recommendations will be in effect, so you wouldn’t want to have to postpone again if worse comes to worse.

Make sure you go back through your vendor contracts and that you understand what their policies are in regards to an emergency situation. I would strongly encourage you to try to reschedule them for the later date versus outright cancelling them. Vendors are working their hardest at the moment to try to move things around and be flexible for their clients, however please remember they are struggling too! Not only will it save you stress utilizing the same vendors, but it will probably save you quite a bit of money as you may be out your non-refundable retainer if you cancel outright. If you aren’t able to reschedule all your vendors, I would suggest trying to at least reschedule the biggest vendors and the ones most important to you.

If your wedding day is in Fall/Winter of 2020 or Spring/Summer of 2021…

2020 was already a big year for weddings, and many brides who have had to postpone their weddings due to Covid-19 are going to cause a boom in the wedding industry during this time as well. It may be very difficult to find vendors considering many of them were booked up to begin with before all this started, they will be bending over backwards to try to fit in weddings that would have already occurred during this spring. This means, your wedding planning timeline should be changed drastically. While most guides were pretty helpful in the past, without taking a pandemic into account, it will be hard to follow the same timeline guides.

If there are certain vendors that you feel strongly about, I would make sure to book them as soon as possible. You don’t want to run the risk of them being booked for your wedding day, if they are not already. You don’t want to be in a situation where you are having to book a vendor you don’t care too much about just because they are the only ones that have your date available. On the vendors you are more flexible on, be sure to do some thorough research on several backups in case your preferred vendor is booked and you are unable to book them now.

Think about eloping…

While CDC guidelines may (hopefully) begin to relax in the Spring of 2021, there still may be some concern about Covid-19 spread. If you were previously planning on holding a 250+ guest wedding, you may want to take a beat and rethink if that is what you really want. For some, you might want to think about scheduling your wedding further out, so that you can feel free to invite as many people as you want without fear or worry.

For others who don’t want to wait that long, I would suggest thinking about planning an elopement or intimate wedding instead! This way, you can include all the most important elements that will make your day perfect, and include the most important people in your life. Because there is less to plan than a traditional big wedding, you can also remain pretty flexible in case there are still some restrictions in place. On the other hand, if there are no stay at home orders, you would still be likely to adhere to the CDC guidelines in place with an intimate wedding or elopement.

With an elopement or intimate wedding you can keep your wedding day small and special to the two of you and possibly a few loved ones. Another big perk is being able to get married in an epic and gorgeous location that is meaningful to you, as well as bringing the focus of your special day back to you two. You have the freedom to get as wild and creative as you want with your day, as you don’t have to stick to a traditional wedding timeline.

If this is an option that intrigues you, I highly suggest looking into it! Elopements have become super trendy in the last few years, as many people are looking to get away from the traditional weddings of the past. It may not be something that is for everyone, however during a tumultuous time such as this, it seems like a great solution to your wedding worries.

Thoughts for all those planning a wedding…

We take the normalcy of life for granted sometimes, and it was very eye-opening to see that over the past year. Wedding planning can be very stressful, and there may be things that go awry, but generally nothing of this magnitude. Many people often don’t think too much about a backup or emergency plan if something were to throw off your wedding day. The most people often plan for is a backup tent or location if there happens to be rain.

You never know what is going to happen. Case in point, a few months ago we probably would have never imagined the entire world shutting down and everyone staying indoors for weeks or months at a time. Planning a wedding is absolutely a stressful time, but I hope people will be more intentional in their planning from here on out. Be sure to really read into your contracts before signing. Ask about what measures businesses have in place in case there is an emergency. Ask about how your vendors would handle a situation like a pandemic and what their process is with regards to keeping things sanitary. Decide on what is truly important to you for your wedding day and leave out the things that aren’t. Also remember if there are still CDC guidelines or some state restrictions, be sure your wedding is in accordance with those restrictions or guidelines.

The safety of your guests is the most important thing at the moment. However, fingers crossed that all this blows over in a little while and you will be able to celebrate getting through this crazy time with all your friends and family!