Navigating Wedding Planning During COVID-19 as a Bride-to-be
At the beginning of 2020 I was set to have a year full of monumental moments. New deals, new collaborations, and most importantly a wedding I’ve been planning for more than a year. I was counting down the days until I officially could say, “I do,” to my best friend. However, less than 90 days from our big day, the world stopped due to COVID-19.
Now, after almost two months of quarantine and social distancing, we’ve realized that the world is going to forever change after we come out of this pandemic. And what we envisioned for our big day originally, might not be what we see when that day finally arrives.
Here’s a super compact look at what has helped us restructure our wedding plans in the midst of a global pandemic.
To postpone or not to postpone
Since the start of the pandemic I’ve seen couples come up with so many creative ways to say, “I do.” Virtual weddings via Zoom, Instagram Live, and more. However, for us, that was not an option we wanted to consider. Instead we decided to postpone until 2021 with the hopes that semi-large gatherings can be achieved in the near future. Not only have we put a lot of effort into planning our big day, but venues and vendors are not cheap! Ain’t no cancelling over here! Plus, we want to share and celebrate that day with our friends and family. Another alternative I’ve seen couples decide to do is to just elope instead of cancelling or postponing their big day. I say if you’re both game for it, go for it!
Communicate
Communication is absolutely paramount between you and your guests during this time. Initially I was optimistic about our summer wedding continuing on as planned, however, as stay-at-home orders were extended across the country I quickly realized that we needed to communicate with our friends and family as soon as possible. We got the idea from a friend who is in the same situation to just send a simple email to guests on what our plans are. Also, utilize your wedding website! That’s another easy way to keep guests updated when things are changing so rapidly with COVID-19.
Reset and Replan
After stressing and shedding a few tears, I finally got together with our wedding planner to decide what’s next, and that was picking a new date. For my fiancé and I, picking a wedding date literally revolves around the sports calendar due to the nature of our careers. That means no wedding plans during NFL training camp, during the college football season, NFL season, or free agency. So you can imagine how small our window is to make it to the altar! However, nailing a date down wasn’t as painful as we thought it would be. Once we did that, it was just a matter of making sure all of our vendors are available on the new date, which is a whole other beast to deal with.
Be Flexible
Being flexible is easier said than done when we’re talking about a major life event, but it’s the reality we are all facing right now. At this point in our wedding process we’ve accepted that our big day could be smaller than we expected or have a slightly different set up. Keeping our minds open from this point on helps us to roll with the punches a bit more smoothly.
There was nothing that could’ve prepared us for this hurdle, but my bridesmaids, wedding team, friends, and family are what has kept me grounded in this process. I’ve learned to just let go and let God handle everything. So don’t stress brides-to-be your big day is coming and set to unfold the way it’s supposed to!
Planning a wedding during COVID? Share your story below and check out our feature story on the TODAY show!
