A letter to 2020 brides,

I hope this post finds you and yours healthy and finding sources of calm, activity, creativity and stress-reducing fun during this unprecedented time.

I first want to say that I am so sorry this is happening to you and your loved ones – navigating both a pandemic and it’s impact on your life alongside planning or possibly rescheduling your envisioned wedding and family gathering.

I originally wrote this letter over three weeks ago when the pandemic hit with a mountain of uncertainties starting to build. Unfortunately, as I update this response on April 15, there’s still a mountain of uncertainties, but at least a lot of bell-curved pandemic graphs are starting to plateau with what seems like good news to follow soon. Like many of you, I’m watching the news and following experts in hopes of getting updates to have something more solid to stand on and communicate to clients, but unfortunately as we all know, there’s not really any concrete information or tangible updates at this time. The loose forecasts for summer events happening (as close to normal as possible) are still not saying too much, taking a conservative approach without substantial research to provide any predictable outcome or outlook into the near future.

It is hard to know and predict the level of impact at this time on summer weddings, however, Colorado Governor Polis’s order to extend the Stay-at-Home order until April 26, could possibly be a positive sign that things may start to normalize hopefully by the end of the month with Governors trying to figure out how communities may start to emerge and slowly return to some version of “normal.” Everyone is being super vigilant and not wanting to jump to any conclusions, myself included, but I’m wanting to believe that this is a good sign along with Governor Polis, and all other States, starting to discuss what the strategies look like to have businesses slowly re-open and think about how communities will begin to re-integrate back into normal life.

Thoughts on Rescheduling and Other Options for Brides-To-Be

“While your wedding is first-and-foremost your wedding, a wedding postponement or cancellation means a change of many, many plans—for many, many people including family, guests, and vendors. For this reason, it's important to approach postponing or canceling your wedding with that mindset, especially in a time of crisis, such as now with COVID-19.” - BRIDES

On March 15, 2020, the CDC officially recommended the cancellation of weddings in the United States for eight weeks or until mid-May. Read more here. Currently, the State of Colorado has extended the Stay-at-Home order to April 26.

I’m hoping if you are a July or August bride that this possibly provides some food for thought to have on hand as we continue to wait and see how this all develops over the next month. Hoping however, that you and all my September and October brides are not affected and we stay our course! We will be watching all updates, research and forecasts as the CDC develops guidelines for the summer and fall months ahead.

No matter your situation, it's important to remember to keep calm—and carry on. Consider this a message to take care of your body—stress isn’t going to help. No doubt, this is a crazy time for all but your family, friends, and wedding vendors are here to help you navigate everything—and, hopefully, celebrate when it's safe for all to celebrate!

My thoughts are with you and your family and I am here to support you!

If Your Wedding Is Planned In the Next 8-12 Weeks (May-early June)

Steps to Rescheduling

Here’s what I’m looking at right now with my May and June clients and talking to vendors and venues right now about.

Top questions for brides to consider when rescheduling:

• When are you next available?

• When are your families available?

• When is your venue available?

• When is your photographer available?

• When are other important hires (catering, music, etc) available?

Top questions for us vendors and venues:

• What are our options if we decide to postpone our wedding? You have a lot of options, but rescheduling mostly depends on the availability of your venue and then shifting all vendors to that opening as well.

• Will you coordinate with our other vendors on our decision? Yes, if I am your wedding planner, most definitely. I will help you coordinate and navigate all this even if I am just your month-of and day-of coordinator as well.

• What is your availability in the coming months if we need to reschedule? I will need to assess my shifting calendar, but can very easily accommodate a double-booked Saturday with my team of associates. We typically have 2-3 double-bookings per season where we build 2 teams.

• What are the monetary implications of postponing or canceling our event? You shouldn’t experience any extra costs, or lost payments by postponing and rescheduling unless you have to pick any new vendors. You may encounter monetary implications with a canceled event, however, as you will most likely lose deposits that are legally binding with contracts that include “by acts of God” disclaimers that protect vendors from such catastrophic events as COVID-19 and cancelations. Most vendor contracts include a cancelation policy, so we can start there with the thought of canceling over postponing. The cancellation policy was born out of the idea there may be one weekend affected due to a hurricane or an other natural disaster.

• My wedding is more than eight weeks away. Should we still make a contingency plan? Yes. I would advocate to have a back up plan so once we know more in 2-4 weeks (hopefully we know more in 2-4 weeks!) on how we, as a county, State and country is getting on top of this pandemic.

Questions for photographers and other vendors (if applicable):

• What is your reschedule/cancellation policy?

• What are there the fees associated with rescheduling?

• What is your availability if we do reschedule our wedding?

• Can we apply our deposit to a new wedding date?

• We planned a destination wedding. Will you still feel comfortable traveling?

Due to the sheer number of postponements and rebookings right now in our area, it is important and advantageous to think outside of the box and be flexible when choosing a new date. Be open to a Thursday or Friday wedding if you want a specific month, or look ahead to perhaps a wedding during an “off-season” month like November and December so that you can keep your same vendors and deposits in-tact, while also having more options. We, of course, are committed to our clients and will try and support whatever path you decide moving forward.

Our Next Steps in Rescheduling (that I will help you navigate):

1. Check in your venue on next possible dates

2. Compare a few different date scenarios – first internally with fiancé, parents and family

3. Check in with top hires (photographer, caterer, musicians)

4. Start shifting everything – rentals, transportation, assessing changing details, contracts and product options. A lot of things may stay the same and just all shift to a different date!

5. Work with your room-block lodging venue(s) and see where guests have booked and help them shift their accommodations.

6. Notify guests of date change. Check out BRIDE’S 12 Best Change the Date Cards to send if you Postpone your Wedding

7. Update timeline, Pinterest Board and Style Board, floor plan, etc

8. Reassess wedding guest count. Some guests who originally RSVP’d as a yes or no could change their minds now after Covid-19 and the date change.

9. Look into event insurance for your new date!

OTHER IDEAS:

Get legally married now, party later! If your reschedule date becomes drastically different, maybe consider “still getting married” with a legal ceremony and then celebrate later! Check out BRIDE’S: Can we have a civil ceremony now and a traditional wedding later?

Throw a Virtual Wedding

Consider doing an Adventure Elopement instead of a Wedding Switch your celebration to an intimate elopement, rather than a large wedding? Elopements involve a smaller, more intimate gathering of people, and can often be more adventurous if you are not relying on venues to fit and seat 100-150. Elopement weddings give you more flexibility on when and where you want to host your ceremony and celebration. We would reach out to all booked vendors and discuss this as an option. Caterers and rental companies would be most impacted by a reduced number of guests (food count and rentals), but I am optimistic that all booked vendors would work with you to shift in this direction.

Other ideas to celebrate your original wedding now: 10 Ways to Celebrate Your Original Wedding Date if You Have to Postpone

Remember to find a state of calm, check in with yourself, your partner, friends and family. You job is to get good sleep, exercise and eat well during stressful times… so you may be able to rise above the stress and enjoy this time being engaged!

COVID UPDATES:

BRIDES Magazine: