What We Know
That things are changing by the day. By the hour, even.
But to be safe, the CDC has recommended that for the next 8 weeks, we cancel or postpone events with more than 50 people.
(I hope by now we all know how to protect ourselves and what to do in case we believe we may be sick. But if you need a bit more information, please visit the CDC website. You can also find more information on their guidelines regarding mass gatherings there.)
What This Means
This means that if your guest list is over 50 people and you’re getting married before May 11th, you may be receiving a phone call or an email from your wedding venue.
Chances are, they are informing you that your wedding needs to be postponed.
What You Can Do
Many venues are postponing weddings and supplying their couples with alternative dates. (If they haven’t provided alternative dates yet, please be patient. They may be dealing with events that are scheduled to take place sooner than yours.)
Hopefully, your venue is providing you with next step options. If not, it may be a good time to reach out to a local wedding planner. We are constantly in communication with our local industry -so chances are, we already know who is doing what for their clients.
If you have a wedding planner, rely on them to collect all of the information you need to move forward. Don’t contact all of your vendors directly as we will have already started doing that for you. Chances are, your vendors are being contacted by every client they have right now, regardless of when their wedding is.
If you don’t have a wedding planner, I highly suggest contacting a couple of them. See what kind of services they are offering in these challenging and uncertain times. Rescheduling a wedding can be more difficult than planning one if dealing with vendors who do not have the same rescheduling availability.
(We would be honored to assist you with making the right decisions for your wedding.)
If you’re unable to find a planner to help, begin by setting a new date. Start with your venue and work your way out from there by order of what you consider to be the most important. I say this because everyone has different priorities. If your photography and cinematography services are most important to you, you’re going to want to reach out to them first and find out what dates they have available.
If rescheduling is not an option, again, I would recommend a wedding planner. There will be contracts to review and vendors to contact. It can be very overwhelming. Especially if you are also dealing with having your family working and learning from home.