Wedding Postponements and Coronavirus

I never, ever thought I would be publishing a blog post regarding wedding postponements due to a pandemic but here we are.  I’m incredibly sad for the many brides this is affecting – both my brides and brides that aren’t ours – all over the United States.  This is an unprecedented situation for sure.  But my true heart’s desire is that each and every bride who is affected by this are able to continue with the wedding celebration you’ve been dreaming of and planning for.  If you are a bride needing advice on how to navigate this uncharted territory and postpone your wedding, this information is for you.  Brides who have a wedding planner:

1. If you have a full service wedding planner, you are lucky!  Reach out to them and let them handle this for you.  I promise they will be full of incredible advice and they will handle a lot of the “heavy lifting” and stress for you.
2. If you are currently booked with a wedding planner in a less than full service capacity, consider upgrading your package.  This will alleviate SO MUCH STRESS and unnecessary work for you.  While we are ALL in uncharted territory here, their relationships with vendors and knowledge about how the industry works will be invaluable to you.

 

Brides who do not have a wedding planner:

1. Speak with your venue first and foremost.  See what your options are as far as dates to reschedule for.  Try to get several potential wedding dates that they have available so you can compare them with your other vendors’s schedules.
2. Consider rescheduling to a Friday or Sunday date if your schedule allows.  Many vendors will have much more availability for those days compared to a Saturday, and you might be able to keep your entire vendor team in tact (therefore likely guaranteeing that you will lose the least amount of money).
3. Decide which vendors are a “non-negotiable” for you.  If a Friday or Sunday is not an option, you might not be able to keep your entire vendor team in tact.   Decide which vendors you HAVE to have, and book your date around their schedules.
4. Expect that you might lose your deposits with vendors who cannot accommodate your new date.  I promise they are not trying to be rude or mean – many of them have to follow the terms of their contract to survive these uncertain times.  Remember, this is how they feed their families.
5. Update your wedding website with your new date!
6. Contact your stationery vendor to see if they can work with you on creating correspondence for you to distribute to your guests regarding the postponement.  Many of them can create a beautiful downloadable option for you to e-mail out (saving money on postage!).
7. Make a decision on how you will handle RSVPS for your new date.  A few options are sending out invitations again or asking your guests to respond electronically via e-mail via the correspondence you send out about the postponement.
8. Be patient with your vendors!  If you are postponing your wedding, every one of their brides for the next 8 weeks are also postponing.

 

At the end of the day, you are “married” to your best friend, not your date.  And while I KNOW this isn’t what you are hoping for, I promise when your wedding day comes it will be the BEST day of your life and everything you’ve endured to get there will be so worth it!  If we can help you in anyway, please feel free to reach out to us!

**EDIT: Interested in setting up a virtual wedding planning consultation to have us help you walk through this?  Fine more details here!

On Tuesday, March 17th at 11:30 CST I will be going live on Instagram with Empress Stationery to discuss more about the ever changing situation and answering any questions you might have on how this affects your big day and any questions you might have!  If you have specific questions, feel free to email them to me or DM us on Instagram and we will address them then!