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Moving Forward With Wedding Planning In The Midst Of COVID-19 / Coronavirus

As we are all facing a lot of uncertainty, it's more important than ever for us to have lots of backup plans in place for upcoming weddings that may need to be postponed or adjusted. In order to give you some guidance, we have put together a list of options we are suggesting to our couples. Keep in mind, that will everything going on at the moment, we recommend that you re-evaluate your plan every month or so.

Option 1: Continue Planning As Normal

For most couples, this is going to be the best option and let me assure you: there is absolutely nothing wrong with continuing planning your wedding as normal! Weddings are exciting and it's okay to move forward with planning while you have time.

If you decide to go this route, there are a few things I want you to keep in mind:

Vendor Communication Is Key. Be open with your vendors and don't shy away from asking any questions you have about all the uncertainty in the world. It's important for everyone to be on the same page and to feel comfortable moving forward.
Pay very close attention to all or your vendor contracts moving forward and be sure you full understand their postponement and cancellation policies. Knowing this will make you feel more comfortable moving forward with contracts.
Pick a 'check-in' date to re-evaluate things at least 60 days prior to your wedding. This way you are still playing things safe and covering your bases during this very unique time.
Make a list of any vendors that are a top priority and book them NOW. Due to all the weddings that have postponed, fall is going to be a LOT busy than normal and many vendors are going to book up very quickly.

Click here to learn more about how to be working with vendors moving forward

Option 2: Decrease your guest count and move forward with an intimate wedding

If you are worried about too many people gathering in one place or are concerned with people traveling, this can be a great option. For this type of situation, I would recommend keeping your wedding to around 50 - 60 people. This is a great number for ensuring your wedding still has an official 'wedding vibe.'

The biggest challenge here will be deciding who to invite. My recommendation here would be to either keep it to immediate family and close friends only or segmenting it by region. (ie. inviting everyone who is local)

Once everyone feels comfortable traveling and gathering, you can host another more relaxed event to celebrate with those who didn't make it. This could be something as simple as inviting everyone over to your house or hosting a beach day to celebrate.

Once again, I want you to keep in mind that with all the uncertainty going on right now, your guests will be more accepting of any decisions you make here.

Click here to learn more about communicating with your guests.

Option 3: Elope (or hold a very small ceremony) on your current wedding day and then postpone the 'Big' event to next year

If you are anxious about moving forward with your currently plans, this can be a great option. This will allow you to still get 'legally' married on your current wedding day and will allow you to feel like life is still moving forward.

My recommendation here would be to invite your immediate family members and a few close friends to the actual ceremony, and then celebrate over an intimate dinner. You can then postpone your 'big' wedding to either later this year or next year.

Another option here would be to 'live stream' your elopement for all of your guests. This is a great option if it's really important to you to have all of your family and friends witness you 'officially' tying the knot.

The biggest benefit of eloping and then celebrating later, is that you get the best of both worlds; You get to celebrate on your original wedding date and still get to look forward to celebrating with all of your family and friends once all of this has blown over.

And that covers it! I hope those options make you feel more comfortable about moving forward with the planning and get you thinking about the best course of action for you and your fiance.