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April 19, 2020

A Covid-19 Bride’s Guide to Postponing

I never thought this would be a topic I would need to write about. Yet here we are, smack dab in the middle of a pandemic. This is such a hard time for so many people. My heart breaks for the tough choices that so many couples are needing to make in regards to their weddings. Some couples are postponing their weddings to later this year or next year, others are choosing to go ahead and do living room weddings, others are going the elopement/micro wedding route. I asked our brides what I could do to help them navigate all of this, and they said that some type of guideline to make sure nothing falls through the cracks would be helpful, so here it is!

Keep in mind that this may not be an all-inclusive list of how to go about postponing your wedding! Each wedding has it’s own unique vendors and situations.

A few thoughts before we get started:

  1. Be Flexible. – You’ve had a vision for your day for years. Remember that, in order to make your day happen, your vision might need to be adjusted multiple times over the course of this postponement process.
  2. Be Gracious. – This is an unprecedented time for every single person, and most of us are figuring it out as we go because we’ve all never been through this before. Please keep that in mind while you go about the rescheduling process!
  3. Remember what it’s all about. – At the end of the day, whether you have a huge wedding later this year or you decide to just elope, the priority of this day is your love for one another.
  4. Keep looking for the silver linings. – This whole scenario is so tough, and not at all what any of us pictured our year looking like, but there is still a lot of good to be found in it! Enjoy having a little bit extra engagement season time!
a covid-19 bride's guide to postponing your wedding

Steps to Postponing:

  1. Look at your contracts. – It’s time to pull those contracts out and see what exactly each vendor requires for postponing. Take time to get familiar with cancellation and postponement policies, but keep in mind that many vendors are doing everything they can to be as flexible and helpful as possible to make your day happen!
  2. Talk to your VIP’s. These include your close family members that you can’t imagine getting married without, and your bridal party. Let them know as early as possible that plans might be changing.
  3. Talk to your wedding planner if you have one! – A wedding planner will help you navigate all of the ins and outs of this whole situation!
  4. Talk to your venue. – Get potential back up dates so that when you reach out to the rest of your vendors you have options for them to choose from! If you have two venues, one for ceremony and one for reception, don’t forget to reach out to both! (Get super nerdy with it: put those available dates into a google doc, and send that to your other vendors so they can add their available dates.)
  5. Talk to your vendors. – This is where navigating all of this get’s super tricky! Once you have a list of potential new dates from your venue, you can send those to the rest of your vendors to see what they have available! Some vendors are only able to serve one couple per day, (such as many photographers and videographers), so finding their open days may be a little more tricky, while other vendors, (such as hair and makeup teams, rental companies, etc.) may be easier to
    Vendors you should be getting in touch with include:
    – Photographer
    – Videographer
    – Florist
    – Hair + Makeup Team
    – Officiant
    – DJ/Band
    – Caterer
    – Stationer/Calligrapher
    – Bakery
    – Rental Company
    – Specialty Vendors – food trucks, ice cream trucks, etc.

    Now you can pick your new date! – And let the countdown begin!
a covid-19 bride's guide to postponing your wedding

After your date is officially postponed:

  1. Sign all contract addendum’s. – Most, if not all, vendors have you sign a contract at the initial booking, so make sure you sign all of the new contracts for your new date, and figure out if your payment schedule will remain the same or adjust to the new date. This is different for every vendor.
  2. Inform guests of new date. There are lots of options for digital “Change the Date” cards that can help you let guests know of your change of plans. If you have a wedding website, make sure to update that as well!! (This article has lots of ideas for change the date cards!)
  3. Cancel/change travel plans. – This could include wedding day transportation, honeymoon flights, honeymoon excursions, hotel stays, parking plans (if you prepaid to park your car at an airport), hotel room blocks, car rentals, etc.
  4. Re-book vendors. – Hopefully you were able to bring all of your vendors with you to your new date, but if there were some that you lost along the way, make sure you jump on booking new ones asap!
  5. Reevaluate color/clothing choices. – If you originally planned an early spring wedding planned and now you’re moving to a hot summer date, your dress and suit choices may need to be altered to accommodate your new wedding date weather.
  6. Order/Re-order. – If you had any type of custom for your wedding with your original date, you’ll need to reorder that with your new date. This could be wedding signage, favors, etc.
a covid-19 bride's guide to postponing your wedding

Final thoughts:

  • You’re allowed to be sad about postponing and that this didn’t go the way you had planned it. Give yourself the time and the space to be sad about this big change.
  • Be understanding that some guests may still choose to not come to your late summer/early fall wedding. This has scared a lot of people and many may still choose to self quarantine after stay at home orders have been lifted.

Please know that you’re never ever alone in this! Lean into your support system now, more than ever! We’ll get you married eventually! Know that I’m here cheering for you and thinking about you every step of the way!

PS: You can find more wedding planning tips right here on the blog!

a covid-19 bride's guide to postponing your wedding

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