COVID-19 Series – #3: COVID-19 Is Affecting My Wedding. What Do I Do?

So, your wedding plans were affected by COVID-19 – what should you do?

These can definitely be uncertain times, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for the future and set up some backup plans for your special day!

• Stay positive!

  I know it’s easy to fall into despair when you realize all the hard work and planning that you have put in up to this point has practically fallen to the wayside, but the most important thing you can do for your emotional (and physical!) health is to stay positive. Allow yourself time to grieve FOR SURE and allow yourself to feel all those feelings because IT’S OKAY to be mad, sad, disappointed, frustrated or depressed. But don’t stay there – rise above the circumstances and continue to choose JOY. Even when it’s hard.

• Check out my FREE Wedding Resource Guide for COVID-19 weddings HERE.

• Know your options (Postpone, Cancel, Continue)

  • Postpone

    Postponing is pushing your original date further out to a later date so that you can still have the original amount of guests that you wanted. It allows you to basically push all your plans out so that (hopefully) those don’t have to change! Postponing means you most likely won’t lose out on anything financially.

  • Cancel

    Canceling is exactly what it sounds like. You are officially eliminating all the services that you originally booked for your wedding day. The only thing to note here is that you may or may not get your deposits back if you do cancel. Check your contracts!

  • Continue

    There are obvious restrictions put in place by the CDC/government, but you can totally choose to continue with your wedding. Smaller, more intimate weddings are still special and beautiful, and there is nothing wrong with eloping during this time. Outside of the obvious desire to be married and everything that comes with that, my husband and I were better off getting legally married for insurance and financial purposes as well.

• Know the impact of what those options are

  Do your research to know what the impact will be with choosing each of those different options. Talk it through with each other and with people that you look up to and naturally ask for advice from. I’ve already said it, but it can’t be stated enough – do your research 🙂

• Talk to your wedding team

  It’s very important that if you do want to still have a larger celebration later, or even if you want certain vendors to be involved in your smaller ceremony/elopement, that you communicate with them what your plans may be! Also communicate with them about where they stand with operating their business during this time. We heard it all the time growing up, but communication really is key – not just in romantic relationships, but in all relationships!

• Have backup plans for the back up plans

  For something as strange as this, having more than one back up plan will definitely save you a lot of stress and worry! While doing your research, write down all the different options you’re seeing and categorize them into your priority list of what you guys want to do. This will save you a lot of time and uncertainty for if a certain plan doesn’t work out. Flexibility is going to be so key during this time – hold everything with an open hand and be willing to compromise in ways this circumstance might call for!

• DO WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU

  Ultimately, all these tips and tricks that Google gives you (yes, that includes me!) are great and all, but you guys are the ones who will be able to make the best decision for yourselves and NO ONE ELSE. You guys know how you’ve been impacted financially, emotionally and even how this has affected your health. Definitely do research and learn, but also don’t feel ashamed or guilty for whatever decision you guys choose. Be confident – nothing will make your day any less special, even if it looks a little (or a lot!) different than what you thought!