Was your wedding planned for this year?
Have you been affected by the pandemic and now have to postpone your wedding?
You are not alone.
If your wedding is going to be affected by the pandemic and you are now looking into postponing your wedding, here is our Ultimate Guide to Postponing your Wedding during COVID-19.
With COVID-19 and the strict restrictions that come with it, some of our couples are finding themselves having to postpone their wedding, and you may be thinking of it too. We can only imagine how difficult it must feel right now, but please know that your wedding will STILL happen and it will be just as (if not more) magical! We are here to help make sure of it.
Feel free to share this with your friends who may also need to postpone their wedding.
What to Discuss with your Partner
Postponing a wedding comes with some new territory. Some questions to ask yourselves and to determine where you both stand in regards to postponing your wedding are:
- Do we want to postpone, elope or have a smaller wedding?
- If your wedding is in April or May, you may have to postpone completely, but if it’s later in the year, it may be possible to reduce your guest list and still have the wedding on the day you planned!
- If you plan to keep your date and just have a smaller guest list, skip ahead to “Talking to Your Guests” in the Table of Contents above ↑
- What are the most important things for us right now?
- Discuss what are the most important things (aside from actually getting married), and write a priorities list so you can both refer to it when making decisions
- What are the government mandates in our area? How can we ensure we don’t break any rules? (Be sure to stay up to date as things appear to be changing frequently)
How To Determine Your New Wedding Date
Talk to your Venue First:
It’s a little different choosing a date to postpone your wedding to, versus planning your wedding from the start, mainly because you have likely locked down some or all of your vendors already.
We know you chose your vendors for a reason, so the first thing we recommend is to try to retain all your vendors for your new date.
When determining a new date, talk to your venue first! We recommend to talking to your venue first because, odds are, you’re not the first to reschedule and you’ll want to make sure your venue is available for your new date.
Ask your Venue to Provide Multiple New Date Options:
Ask your Venue to provide multiple new date options, and then send those over to your other wedding vendors immediately. We recommend creating a spreadsheet to keep track of who is available on which dates.
Once you’ve selected a new date, the next step is to talk to your guests, starting with your family.
Sample Email For Vendors:
Dear [VENDOR],
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19, our circumstances have changed and we are now exploring new dates with our vendor team. We would love to keep you on board as a part of our dream team, so we are hoping to find new dates that work for everyone. Here are the dates that our venue still has available. Please let us know all of the dates below that you are available, and we hope to narrow it down soon!
[INSERT DATES]
We look forward to hearing back from you soon, and hope you are safe and healthy.
Kind regards,
[YOUR NAMES]
If your venue is not available, or you’re not able to work out a new date together, start looking at some other options right away.
Invitations
If you’ve already created beautiful invitations but haven’t sent them out yet, reach out to your stationary provider to see if they can add an insert with the new date. Alternatively, you can send out a themed email template with the update.
If you’ve already sent out your invitations, we recommend going with the email notification route.
Talking to your Guests
What to say if you’re postponing your wedding:
As soon as you’ve decided to postpone your wedding, the first thing you should do is to inform your guests with a postponement notification.
Your wedding website and email list is a great tool to make sure your guests are up to date with your changes as well, so don’t hesitate to use it!
If you have some guests that are flying from overseas, be sure to put them on priority and to advise them to speak with their travel agency or airlines immediately to make appropriate changes.
Sample Email for Postponing Wedding:
Dear [GUEST NAME],
We hope you are doing well amidst this crisis and staying safe and healthy.
This was not an email we wanted to write, but with these new restrictions and given the circumstances of the COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the wedding to the later date in the best interest of our beloved guests and families.
The good news is that we are still going to get married, though the date has now changed to [INSERT DATE].
We really hope that you are available to attend our wedding as we would love to see you there, but understand that you may need some time to think and plan.
Here is the new link to RSVP: [INSERT NEW LINK].
Thank you for understanding and we are so sorry for any inconvenience.
Much love,
[YOUR NAMES]
TIP: If you are planning on postponing, don’t forget to re-invite guests who originally couldn’t make it to the first date, they may be able to attend the new date!
What to say if you’re keeping your wedding date but need to reduce your guest list:
This is a difficult talk, but most guests will be understanding, especially since they are likely affected by the pandemic as well.
If you need to un-invite some guests because of the new restrictions, let them know right away. You can still involve them in the wedding by offering a live streaming of the event. If this sounds like a great idea for your wedding, read the section below on How to Live Stream Your Wedding.
Sample Email for Reducing Guest List:
Dear [GUEST NAME],
We hope you are doing well amidst this crisis and staying safe and healthy.
This was not an email we wanted to write, but with these new restrictions and given the circumstances of the COVID-19, we have decided to keep our wedding date and comply with the restrictions.
Unfortunately, this means that we can only have our immediate family attend our wedding.
With that said, we really want to involve all our guests that we originally invited, so in lieu of a physical attendance, we are inviting our guests to attend our live-stream of the ceremony.
We really hope you will be able to (virtually) attend, but understand if you don’t!
Here is the new link to RSVP to our Live Streaming: [INSERT NEW LINK].
Regardless, we thank you for understanding and we are so sorry for any inconvenience in this change.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Much love,
[YOUR NAMES]
How to Privately Live Stream Your Wedding
There are many ways to livestream your wedding, though one way we recommend is through Periscope. Make sure to list the stream as private, before sending the link out to your guests who have RSVP’d to attend the livestream.
- Choose the person to help livestream and set up the tripod
- Create an event live stream page and share them with attendees, set privacy accordingly
- Check your WiFi at the venue to make sure it connects properly
- If the WiFi is spotty, make sure the phone has sufficient data
- Lastly, make sure the phone is charged or can be plugged into a source
LIVE STREAMING DO’s:
- Explain to physical guests what the camera is for so they have the spatial awareness not to block the view
- Put the phone on a tripod to avoid shaky hands
- Try to acquire a microphone to eliminate any potential wind noises, so your guests can hear your vows.
- Amazon offers a low-cost microphone about $52.
- Consult with your photography team as to where to place your tripod so that it is close to the action, but not in their way
- Inform your vendors that you plan to live-stream the event as some vendors (like DJ’s or Musicians) may not be okay with having their performance online
LIVE STREAMING DON’Ts:
- Don’t post your link publicly for your privacy, and to restrict access to only those who were on the guest list.
- Don’t use live-streaming as a way to invite guests who were on your “B-List”.
Rescheduling your Honeymoon
This is probably the least of your worries, but one that we definitely understand, given that our honeymoon had also been abruptly interrupted.
It’s a good idea to start looking into rebooking your honeymoon as well, and to speak with all your travel providers about this change. Consider it as a time to save more money to splurge on each other at a later date! That’s what we plan to do as well!
In the mean time, we are planning LOTS of private picnics on our balcony.
Check your Wedding Insurance
If you have previously purchased wedding insurance, now is a good time to get in contact with them to see what they can do.
If you haven’t bought wedding insurance, take a look at Front Row Insurance to see if you can purchase Wedding Insurance now.
Stay Healthy and Use this time to Build your Relationship
Above all else, we hope that you and your partner stay safe, healthy and happy during this time. We suggest taking this time to build your relationship! Not sure what to do? Read our post on How to Spice up your Relationship during Quarantine!
Additional COVID-19 Resources
Symptoms and treatment of COVID-19
Travel advice regarding COVID-19
