COVID-era Wedding Planning Tips
| 3 Minute Read |
I truly LOVE what I do. I’m good at it and at the end of a long wedding day, I feel great (minus the soreness from being on my feet for 10+ hours) knowing that I was able to play a part in bringing such an important day together for two individuals. Lately, however, I have been feeling increasingly frustrated and upset while navigating COVID-era weddings in Southern California.
I miss doing lots of weddings and celebrating my couples each weekend. It’s frustrating having so few answers and not being able to relieve the amount of stress that I would normally throughout the planning process. I can tell my couples are overwhelmed with the current level of uncertainty involved in planning their wedding, and rightly so! There is so much still up in the air and a lot of potential risk surrounding their wedding day when it should be surrounded by joy and excitement.
Through all of this, is it still possible to have a memorable and joy-filled celebration of your marriage? I believe so!
So how do you move forward with a COVID-era Southern California wedding?
Step One: Connect with your Wedding Venue
First, connect with your venue. Each venue has always had its own way of doing weddings but generally executed events the same. Now, it seems like each venue has its own set of COVID regulations and policies aside from the regulations and guidelines being set (or not being set) by local and state governments. Some venues are moving forward with guest count limitations, moving things outdoors, and abiding by restaurant regulations. Others are moving forward with business as “mostly” normal. Still, others are shut down completely. Check in with your venue and gather their current event policies as well as any postponement policy that might be available to you should you need it.
It is important to note that while your venue may share their current policies in place, that does not mean those will be the same policies in place on your wedding day in the coming months ahead. However, we can only plan with the information we have available to us right now and plan for as many curveballs as possible. This is one of the many reasons consulting with and hiring a professional wedding planner is essential to not only a successful event but your personal sanity as well!
Step Two: Connect with your wedding guests
If you do feel comfortable with the current regulations in place, then my next suggestion would be to reach out to your family and closest friends. Reach out to the people that you feel are most essential to have present on your wedding day. Get an idea of how they would feel attending a wedding with the options provided by your venue. Most importantly, do they still plan to attend? Will they be comfortable being seated with other guests? Are there guests that they feel more comfortable being seated with?
Step Three: Check in with yourself
Once you connect with your close friends and family you will have an idea of who might attend and who might not given the circumstances. After step two, take some time to just think about these things for a few days. Consider what is most important for you and your fiance on your wedding day and how you want your day to be remembered. After some thoughtful meditation on those details, you’ll be in a much better place to take the next steps towards the celebration of your marriage!
I will be writing more about having a COVID-era wedding in Southern California but if there is a specific topic you would like me to cover, feel free to leave a comment or message me!
Planning your own COVID-era wedding?
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