Pandemic Wedding Planning

As a former Covid Bride and Groom – who better to give advice to couples! We want to help those planning their special day, as we are sure they will go through similar motions just as we did, over a year ago, when the Covid-19 pandemic started.  Now that we’ve had our Covid wedding, unfortunately we don’t have a magic wand to solve all the extra complications or relieve the stress, but we wanted to offer some Covid wedding ideas and tips for others navigating this experience, specifically  what that worked for us. So brides & grooms take a deep breath and let’s dive into what worked for us while we planned our Covid Wedding. 

Planning a wedding during “normal” circumstances can be overwhelming enough, with all that essentials to get done…  but planning a wedding during Covid takes on a whole new meaning of being courageous and flexible. Just know that you’re not alone. This global pandemic is affecting us all in some way, shape or form, but especially for couples planning their most special day of their lives. 

Safety Measures During Covid-19: Now we’re not deeming ourselves as any experts on wedding planning, nor are we medical or government officials. This first piece of advice seems pretty obvious, but during our time of planning we kept getting phone calls from our family and friends with misinformation about restrictions and the number of people in social gatherings –  as they kept changing daily and weekly. The best thing we can recommend is to check with your local region’s safety measures and restriction updates. Stay updated with the news even though it can be overwhelming at times. It’s also helpful to have an online website, or message forum which guests can check as they deem necessary. This is becoming more and more normal in our technological age, and it allows you both to keep everyone updated in real time.

“Breathe and Stop for Real and Give It What You Got”- Q-Tip reference: Planning a wedding is stressful as is. It’s okay to be upset that your original wedding plans may have been postponed or even cancelled. The amount of hours, emails, decision making, back and forth conversations to bring the dream to life feels like a rollercoaster of emotions which might cause some motion sickness. We felt that we got the short end of the stick to having our dream wedding. The feeling of disappointment or frustration by the lack of control you have in the situation is normal. Try and use this time to lean on your family, wedding party, and especially your partner as you both make some difficult decisions on what to do next. With patience, flexibility you’ll still be able to have the wedding you’ve dreamed of, with some adjustments. This is a great way to prioritize the things that mean the most to you as a couple and to focus on the love you have for each other.

Choosing A New Wedding Date: First, you’ll need to choose a new date. Our wedding date was originally scheduled for September 10 and 11, 2020. The 10th being our religious ceremony and 11th the reception. Both venues couldn’t accommodate our requests of guest count and mask protocols so we had to pick a new date.  This information can also be updated on the website and allow others to be mindful of travel restrictions. 

The first people you and your partner should check in with before setting a new wedding date:

1. Vendors: Get in touch with your vendors ASAP.  If there is a certain month or season you’d like to have your wedding you may need to be flexible about what day of the week you get. Many vendors fill up Saturdays since it is prime time for a wedding. Try to keep in mind that your date change may impact florals or food choices available, depending on the season. You’ll want to discuss your options with your vendors as soon as possible and also make secondary arrangements and back up plans. Besides food and decor, you should also consider how the weather might change. 

Find out whether your deposit-or any other fees paid to date can be transferable to a postponed wedding. This is extremely important when considering the number of people that may be attending, as restrictions may change that amount. You should also consider the notice period the vendors will need – an online calendar can help keep these dates organized. 

We experienced chaos planning our own wedding with vendors either being available for a Saturday and not a Sunday. Our own Imam(officiant) Dr. Hamid Slimi was only available on Sunday September 27. For a religious ceremony, it would not be possible to  have a wedding without our family Imam. Despite shifting everything multiple times, our vendors were amazing to work with and we highly recommend them. They were beyond flexible despite the countless emails that we sent to them and the changes we made. We will list all of our wonderful vendors below, please be sure to mention we referred you.

Fun Fact: We booked The Manor by Peter & Paul’s without ever seeing it and just went based off of Google Images. This is the power of the internet. Other great places to help you are pinterest and instagram!

2. Wedding Party: As soon as you have your available dates from your vendors and you know of your colour scheme or theme, let your wedding party know of your new date. Just in case they have prior commitments. One of our bridesmaids was coming in from London, England and we quickly had to make the decision of having 5 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids instead of our original plan. This shifted the numbers of our carefully choreographed  photos but everything worked out, even though it was last minute.

3. Guest list: The guest list was by far the hardest and most stressful decision we had to make… Which caused a lot, and I mean a lot, of tears. With restrictions be aware of how many people you are allowed to have. Some venues count photographers, videographers, officiants, etc as part of the guest count. Confirm with the venues if this is the case. As you trim down the guest list, bare in mind that some guests may have different levels of comfort during this time. We had many guests cancel at the last minute. We tried not to take it personally but we did have people on stand-by because we knew this was a possibility. 

4. Communicating the date and Venue Changes: As soon as you’ve made the decision to postpone or cancel your original date. We recommend sending your guests Change the Date Cards. We wanted to be environmentally friendly and with such short notice we had to do our changes  digitally. However, people are more and more comfortable with this option as it is immediate and reliable. Several wedding websites will also individually email your guests to notify them of changes. Provide your guests with all the information they need. This may include your new wedding date or a much simple announcement that plans have changed but to keep an eye out for more information to come. Be honest and write from the heart, your guests will be very sympathetic and understanding during this time. 

Make sure to include the URL on your Change the Date cards if you do decide to send a physical copy. 

5. Handling Vendors and Contracts: Understanding your vendors is reading the fine print of the contracts. Each vendor you’ll find will have different stipulations about postponing or cancelling. With Covid-19 being in its second year most vendors would have changed or amended their contracts with a clause of an “act of God/pandemic”. So it’s extremely important to read the fine print. Some vendors may have a rescheduling clause that may help you avoid any additional costs of cancelling but be prepared as there may be additional costs with others. 

Cancelling your wedding altogether can mean losing deposits you’ve made. Some vendors are allowing date changes without an additional fee, but be mindful that dates outside of the financial year you originally booked may come with additional fees or rate increases. 

Another tip: Ask about how long your marriage certificate can be valid for. Due to Covid most marriage certificates in Ontario are being extended. If you do not reside in Ontario, Canada check your local departments for their procedures on marriage licences and certificates.

Wedding Vendors are Small Businesses: Try and be mindful that the entire wedding industry has been severely impacted by Covid-19. Many vendors are offering credits and flexibility for a transferred date or towards other services. We recommend that you talk to your vendors and be honest of your expectations and plans for your weddings. They may have suggestions and ideas to make your day be as dreamlike as possible.

Here are some recommended questions to ask when contacting your vendors:

1. Discuss alternative dates available + guest count limit 
2. Ask about Cut-Off dates: Deadlines and any additional costs 
3. Discuss reducing headcount: Find out if there are any financial penalties for reducing your headcount
4. Ask about the protection clause

This is just a few of the pieces of advice that we can recommend having gone through it ourselves and just being constantly on the edge of our seats with new updates. What we did know for sure is that we didn’t want to prolong the wait and just start the next phase of our life together however our wedding looked.  Below is a list of our vendors who were beyond accommodating and brought our vision to life.

Our Vendors: 

Imam: Dr. Hamid Slimi