How to Reschedule Your Wedding during Coronavirus

The photo of this bride was taken on March 7th, 2020. It was the last wedding photo I took before things went bonkers. If you find yourself confused about what to do about your upcoming nuptials, keep on reading for my recommended Steps for Postponing Your Wedding During COVID-19.

Feeling down during the pandemic? We understand – especially if you already had your spring wedding planned – and we are here for you! It’s ok to grieve over this unexpected turn of events, but we have some good news for couples who have to postpone their wedding plans: you can have an extended wedding celebration!

What do we mean? If your wedding date is coming up, go ahead and celebrate with just the two of you at home! Check out our post next week to see how you can make your at-home wedding celebration special. 

You’ve been planning for months, so you deserve to make it awesome – go ahead and break out the wine, and set up a dance floor in your living room! You can either make your marriage official at the courthouse, or just celebrate in honor of the special date. Don’t worry, once things settle down, you can still have the big wedding of your dreams.

More good news? Even if you postpone your wedding date, you shouldn’t have much additional planning other than coordinating a date that works with all of your vendors. More than likely, your vendors will do their best to follow through with the original plans and design on your new date.

Stay Calm & Problem Solve: Steps for Postponing Your Wedding

So, how do you go about rescheduling your wedding? Follow along for  7 Steps for Postponing Your Wedding During COVID-19.

First, I highly recommend using a wedding planner because he or she will help you through the rescheduling process and coordinate with vendors for you. With or without a planner, you can follow these steps to reschedule your wedding:

1. Prioritize

First, prioritize what’s most important as you schedule a new date.

For instance, if you absolutely must have the venue you originally reserved, first coordinate with the venue to see when they can reschedule. This might mean switching out a few vendors from your original plans. Or if you have several open dates to chose from at your venue, send out the date options to your whole teams and see which works the best for most of them.

Or, if you’re flexible on the venue and date but must have your original wedding team (like say, your dream wedding photographers!), coordinate a date with your vendors first, and then plan from there. (They can probably help with venue recommendations, too, if you have to change.)

If financials are a concern, determine which route will lead to the least amount of loss possible (see below about reading your contracts for rescheduling and cancellation clauses).

Don’t forget to check with close friends and family to see what new dates will work for them as well. Most guests will feel relieved to not have to travel right now, and will be grateful to reschedule plane tickets and hotel reservations.

2. Check with Your Insurance

If you have wedding insurance, see if they will work with you to cover the difference in costs (most insurances will not cover the whole thing). If you don’t have insurance, consider getting it for the new date, making sure that the new insurance will cover a similar situation if COVID-19 continues. I’ve been hearing rumors that wedding insurance may no longer be available in the future due to Coronavirus, so snag it soon while you can (if you can).

3. Solidify Contract Agreements 

Since the Coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented event, each wedding partner or vendor is doing their best to both help their couples and make wise business decisions, which means it may look a little different for each one.

Contact your wedding partners to establish obligations, solidify agreements, and determine the best path for moving forward. Communication is key!!!

A note of encouragement: Just like you, your wedding team wants your wedding day to be spectacular. In most cases, they will do everything they can to make your wedding vision possible while navigating these uncertain times. Be patient and understanding – let’s do this together!

4. Move Quickly 

Remember, most spring 2020 weddings are being rescheduled for fall or winter 2020 wedding season, which means wedding vendors are maxing out their availability. If you find a date and venue that mostly works with few minor changes to the original plans (be flexible!), go ahead and nail it down – those options may no longer be available tomorrow.

5. Be Flexible when Rescheduling

Even if you keep your original wedding partners and vendors, things may need to change just a bit. Some supplies may not be available anymore, or seasonal items (like flowers) may need to change accordingly. Trust your vendors to help you find the best options given the circumstances. Remember you hired these folks for a reason – because you love and trust their professional vision.

6. Tie Up Loose Ends 

Go through your list to return, reschedule, or cancel things like tux rentals, honeymoon travel and reservations, miscellaneous rentals, etc.

7. Send Out “Change the Dates”

Now for the fun part! After everything is set to go for the new date, design and send out “Change the Dates.” There’s no need to go to the post office – just order stamps online (like these cute love stamps). Perhaps enlist help from  your invitation designer for a new card that matches your previously mailed invitation suite.

Virtual Save The Dates are another alternative. If you don’t want to send out new wedding invitations, add a link on your Change the Date cards asking guests to RSVP online. You can make a full wedding website to keep guests informed on The Knot, or you can simply use an RSVP site like Event Brite or RSVPify.

As you know, the situation is ever-changing. We care about your health and your wedding. We care about you, our clients, more than you’ll ever know. Follow along with our blog for additional wedding resources, and feel free to connect with us [HERE] or email cory@coryryan.com for additional questions or concerns. We are here for you, and hope these Steps for Postponing Your Wedding During COVID-19 are helpful!