Weddings and Pandemics: COVID-19
Hey friends, couples, and vendors!
I know there are a bunch of resources out there trying to help you figure out what to do about your wedding through this pandemic. And honestly there was no way to prepare for such a thing. So let me break it down for you on how I can help.
Weddings Now-May: you are in the critical time period, you must act now!
Get with your vendors asap, especially your planner. They have somewhat of an idea of how to handle this and what to do. Weather you are going forward or postponing. I cannot stress how important it is to have a planner for any wedding NOW especially. They will help alleviate the stress and work with all your vendors in getting the best options for you.
Follow the CDC and WHO guidelines. Each state has their own guidelines in place, so that varies. The CDC and the WHO are looking at big picture and how the long term process is going to be handled. You can find their info here and here.
Contracts: Carefully look at those vendor contracts, see what the cancellation, postponing and other policies are in place. If there is none, contact them immediately and see what the plan is, otherwise please respect those policies because they are in there for a reason. I am not giving legal advice but in most cases postponing will only have a small fee or any while cancelling you will lose out on payments and retainers.
POSTPONE or CUT DOWN GUEST LIST: I have this in bold because not only for the health safety of you, your guests, but also the vendors lives. They are the ones getting hit hardest by this outside of the medical world. They depend on your event to keep food on their tables, roofs over their heads, healthcare, etc. IF at all possible please do not cancel your wedding, instead postpone. Remember you have worked so hard to save this date, cherish this engagement, and dream of this wedding. This is a great trial and test for your upcoming marriage. Seriously marriage isn’t easy but if you can get through planning a wedding through a pandemic virus, I would bet that you could get through just about anything!
SELF CARE! take a moment and turn off the tv, stop scrolling through social media, quit reading everything on the internet, and breathe! Serious talk, put down your damn phone and just be for a second. Take a walk, read a book, enjoy those girl scout cookies, drink a glass of wine while soaking in the tub, give yourself a facial or mani-pedi. This is no joke, your mental health is way more important than anything right now. You will feel recharged and able to tackle the hurdles that are about to feel like mountains.
Practice social distancing and good hygiene. I am not your mom, but wash your dang hands, properly, You know how they prep for surgery on Grey’s Anatomy, that is how I want you to wash your hands. EVERY SINGLE TIME! best time to wash your hands??-After you use the restroom, blow your nose, before and after you eat/prep food, if you go anywhere as soon as you get home (once in the car at least hand sanitize) If you forget when the last time that you washed your hands, guess what it is time to do it again. THIS is super important for those who are still working outside of the home and are still in contact with the public. If you are or have been self quarintening, good news you don’t have to wash as much but still should. Social distancing: means no public places (parks, fast-food play areas, museums, anything social!) Yes you can still take the dog for a walk, but no don’t stop and chat with your neighbor, just give a wave and keep moving. One last tip: take 15 mins before you go to bed and sanitize knobs, door handles, counter tops, remotes, cell phones, computer mouses, keyboards, toilet handles, sinks, and toys. Doing this quick sanitize before you go to bed will help lessen the spreading of the virus.
Summer-Fall couples: All the above applies to you too! But before you go making decisions wait until May or mid April to see what the trends are pointing towards. I know this can be a difficult time, because you are a sitting duck but trust me your planner has already ran the worse case scenario and is on top of it.
THINGS YOU CAN DO WHILE YOU WAIT:
Start/finish that wedding registry.
Make decisions on florals, food, attire, bar choices.
Start that music list!
Make a worse case scenario guest list, keep it to less than 50 including your bridal party.
Practice your first dance.
Start complying all those addresses and maybe practice calligraphy