COVID-19 & Weddings- What Are Your Options?
In the midst of the corona virus pandemic, it’s a very stressful time for everyone at the moment, especially if you are coming close to your wedding day. Speaking as one of those people, not only do I understand what you’re going through, but I also understand which steps you need to take next. Planning a wedding is no easy task normally, so having to potentially reschedule all your hard work is extremely difficult, both emotionally and logistically. There are so many variables, it can be difficult to know what step to take next. So if you are sitting at home, stressing and panicking about what decisions you need to make next, hopefully this will go some way to help.
Do I Need To Reschedule?
A difficult decision, but one that will become more difficult as time goes on. There are a few ways of approaching this question and a few things that need to be considered.
When Is Your Wedding Due To Take Place?
BEFORE JUNE
If your wedding is in June or before, then absolutely. With lockdown being extended further for a minimum of three weeks, there is unfortunately very little to no chance that your wedding will be able to go ahead on the planned date.
JULY- SEPTEMBER
If your wedding is between July and September there is a possibility it could still go ahead. However, waiting to find out will be incredibly stressful, and if June arrives and you find out your wedding won’t be able to go ahead, that’s not a lot of time for you to be able to reschedule everything. Also even if lockdown is over, social distancing will likely still be enforced for a long time after, so depending on the number of guests you are expecting this could have a huge impact on your day. Therefore you need to weigh your options. By not postponing, you will be adding extra stress onto yourselves and potentially putting your guests and vendors at risk, which means there will be a lot of guests who probably can’t come. Yes, postponing is awful, but you could be saving yourself a huge amount of stress.
OCTOBER ONWARDS
If your wedding is October onwards, then you should be safe for now. It is possible that this could go on for longer than expected and your wedding may still be affected, but you want to make the decision when you have all the facts to hand. if you don’t want to deal with the stress of waiting, then the best option may be to postpone your wedding, but I certainly wouldn’t start panicking about it now. A lot of couples are postponing their summer weddings to October onwards, so it seems the general opinion is that this should be a safe bet.
Set A Deadline For Your Decision
If you decided to wait and see, then make sure you set yourself a deadline for making the decision to postpone or not. Work out realistically how much time you will need to reschedule everything. You may also have to consider any financial impact this will have, as some of your booked vendors may not be able to make your new date. It is best to make this decision as early on as you can to avoid this. Start talking to your vendors and guests to work out potential availability. Focus on the most vital vendors first, as it will be unlikely that everyone will be able to make the same new date. I would advise talking to your venue, registrar and photographer first. If they are particularly accommodating, they may even reserve a new date for you for a little while.
If You Still Want To Go Ahead
If you have your heart set on your original date and don’t want to postpone for a whole year, there are a couple of options you can consider.
Have An Intimate Celebration
If your wedding is legally allowed to go ahead outside of lockdown, then you can still go ahead, but you may need to make some significant changes. Even if we are no longer in lockdown, there will likely still be limitations on the amount of people that can gather at an event. Therefore you will have to drastically cut down your guest list. It may be that you can only invite both your parents, or a small amount of family and friends. If you decide on this option, then make sure you speak to your guests and vendors as soon as possible. Let your vendors know what your plan is and check if they are still happy to go ahead. If they aren’t, check your contract to see what your options are. Draft a message to send to all the guests you are no longer able to invite. They will all understand under the circumstances. At the end of the day, you are marrying each other and that is all that matters. You can always have a big party later on when this is all over.
Split Your Day Into Two
If you still want to get married on your original date but still want to celebrate with all your family and friends, then check to see if your venue will allow you to split the ceremony from your wedding package. The idea being that you still have the ceremony on the original date, with just a few guests, then later on in the year you can gather everyone and continue with the rest of the day from the drinks reception onwards. You could even hold a second blessing ceremony on the later date so everyone can still experience it. It just won’t be legal as you’ll already be married!
Things To Consider If You Still Want To Go Ahead
If you want your marriage to go ahead on the planned date, but your venue won’t be available, talk to your registrar as soon as possible. Before getting married, every couple has to ‘give notice’ at their local registry office. You will have also paid a fee, and the amount you pay will depend on your ceremony location and date. It is important to know that this ‘notice’ and fee is only valid for your chosen venue. Most councils will allow you to postpone your ceremony for free as long as it remains at the same location on the same day of the week. However if you need to change location, your current notice will no longer be valid and you will have to go through the process again from the start and the original fee may change. A way round this could be to have a non-legal blessing ceremony on your chosen date, then make it legal at a later date.
If You Decide To Postpone
Move The Entire Wedding
The most straight forward choice would be to just postpone the wedding in it’s entirety. First check with your venue, registrar and photographer (as these are arguably the most crucial), and try to choose a date that is convenient for all of you. Then contact all your other vendors and see if there are any that can’t make your new date. If you end up with a few vendors that cannot make the new date, make sure to check your contract and discuss any alternative options with them. They may have contacts that can go in their place for example. Then you need to let your guests know. The simplest way would be to email or call them all so you explain the situation and save yourself money. Or alternatively you can send out ‘re-save the date’ cards if you wish.
This is probably the best option for most, but it can also be the most difficult, especially when your original date comes around. Plan something for you both to do on that day if you can. Spending quality time together will hopefully make the day less sad; you don’t want to be just sitting around contemplating what could’ve been. If you’re postponing but your heart is still set on your original date, then consider the above option and split your wedding day if you can.
What We Have Decided
This was such a difficult decision for us to make, especially with our proposed date being July. We were unsure for a long time about what to do as there was still a possibility our wedding could still go ahead, but the more we waited, the more stressful it became. We weighed up our options and discussed the potential risks if we were to still go ahead. Ultimately we came to the conclusion very easily that getting married to each other was the most important thing to us, and we couldn’t face the idea of not getting married on our date. So after talks with our families, venue and photographer, we decided to split the wedding. We still intend to get married as planned on our original date, with just a few guests, then continue the rest of the celebration with the rest of our guests in October. So in October the day will go as originally planned, just without a ceremony. Instead we will be doing something a bit different.
Currently I am thinking of videoing our ceremony and playing it back on a projector at our drinks reception so everyone can still see it. Our photographer has very kindly offered to do photos for us on that day as well as postponing, so I was also thinking of printing one of these photos and getting everyone to sign it as a guest book. Also instead of all our groomsmen and bridesmaids walking down the aisle, we will have a procession of us all as we walk into the venue. So it won’t be as planned, but it will certainly be very unique and will be something for us to look back on! Everyone has been incredibly understanding and so far our family has been really happy for us. They all agreed that is was the best decision. Also the silver linings of this is that we now have two events to look forward to throughout the year, and of course I get to wear my wedding dress twice!
Helpful Information
Hopefully this has been helpful in aiding you make your own decision, and I hope it goes well, which ever way you choose. Lastly, here are a few links that might be useful if any issues arise during the re-planning of your wedding. Good luck!
Article by Elle which is being continuously updated: https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a31736044/coronavirus-wedding/
Article by Hitched with an overview including honeymoon information: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/will-coronavirus-affect-my-wedding-day/
Article by The Independant with a particular focus on insurance: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/coronavirus-wedding-cancelled-insurance-cancelled-uk-risk-cover-a9394931.html
Various videos by the BBC about how other couples are handling the issue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c6wnzl2433jt/weddings
Consumer Q+A by the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/mar/22/coronavirus-consumer-q-and-a-lost-weddings-acts-of-god
A useful interview with financial journalist Martin Lewis by Express, which includes links to other related articles written by Martin Lewis himself. If you have any financial concerns, he is the guy to talk to: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/1257863/martin-lewis-wedding-coronavirus-insurance-news-money-saving
Article by DAS Law Firm in regards to claims and wedding vendor contract disputes: https://www.daslaw.co.uk/blog/weddings-no-fairy-tale-ending
Finally, my personal thoughts on the situation and my opinion on how it could impact the industry in the future: https://www.abyjoannephotography.co.uk/blog/coronavirusandtheweddingindustry
