It’s a hardship that many couples are currently facing. Your wedding is already planned, but because of COVID-19, you now have to cancel or postpone your special day. We know that this is an incredibly stressful and confusing time for couples and we’re here to help! We had a chat with Charlotte Ricard-Quesada, international events and wedding planner and founder of La Fête, to give you a step-by-step plan on how to best handle the situation.
Via 10Daily
Do We Cancel Or Postpone…
Your wedding can unfortunately no longer go ahead as planned, so the big question couples have is do we cancel or postpone the wedding? The recommendation is always to postpone rather than cancel. However, this decision should be made between the couple and whoever is funding the wedding. You might not have a date that you feel comfortable postponing to and that’s totally fine! If you speak with your various vendors, you can hopefully negotiate a middle ground, such as keeping your payments as a future credit to use when a date is set. It’s a win-win situation! You can help keep the businesses that you fell in love with afloat and when the time comes, you won’t need to replan the wedding.
When To Inform Your Guests…
Charlotte suggests telling your guests as soon as possible! Once your venue informs you that you’ll have to reschedule your wedding, then is the time to tell your vendors and guests. You might not have a definitive new date in mind, but you could share some tentative date options with your guests so they stay in the loop! Most people are in quarantine, so not only will this give them something to look forward to, but they’ll also have lots of time to re-plan and reschedule for your new wedding date.
Who To Contact First…
If you’re planning your wedding yourself (not with a wedding planner), Charlotte suggests speaking to your partner and close family first. Take this time to vent your frustrations to them before dealing with everything else! Once you’ve done this, you can speak to your venue and caterer about the postponement. These are your key suppliers, so they’ll be able to provide you with guidance along this journey. They will do their best to accommodate you, as they want to keep your business once normal life resumes. Charlotte really stresses the importance of not cancelling anything, as it will force businesses to let go of staff or close down completely.
Contacting Your Suppliers..
When reaching out to suppliers about cancelling/postponing your wedding, the recommendation is to email them! That way, you’ll have a written trace to refer back to and it’ll be a lot easier than trying to remember a phone call conversation. If your wedding is coming up soon and you’d rather call, just be prepared to wait a little longer than usual! Vendors are currently trying to help so many couples and they are doing their best!
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What About Mid-Year And Overseas Weddings…
So we’ve given you guidance on how to handle your wedding surrounding COVID-19, but what if your wedding isn’t until mid-year and is overseas? Charlotte’s first advice is to accept uncertainty, as there is no way of knowing when the wedding industry will return to normal. It is definitely a safer option to postpone your wedding for now, based on current border blocks and travel restrictions. It’s your personal decision and risk to take, but postponing by no less than a year from your original wedding date is probably a safer option!
What About A Plan B Wedding Destination…
We know you’re excited about your special day, so a Plan B might seem like a good idea, but Charlotte thinks otherwise. She says that things are very up in the air right now, so committing to a new destination is still a risk! You’ll also run the risk of feeling like it wasn’t the wedding destination you originally dreamed of, so just remember to be patient! We promise your dream wedding will come around!
Guidance For Wedding Planners…
If you’re a wedding planner that’s currently planning weddings, Charlotte recommends that you pause everything. Her best advice for wedding planners is to create a list of all the things you need to tackle and have open communication with all suppliers.
Dealing With Angry Customers…
If you’re a wedding planner or supplier, it’s important to remember that the parties on both sides need to be understanding! Charlotte suggests that wedding planners and suppliers can prevent anger by having good communication and keeping customers in the loop about the current situation, as most anger is caused by uncertainty!
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Cancelling A Wedding…
We understand that this is a tough time for everyone and if you’ve made the hard decision to cancel your wedding, we suggest contacting your guests via a group email. This will be the least stressful and effective way of communicating (this applies for postponements too). For specific people that you think might not check their emails, maybe try sending them a text or giving them a quick call!
Importance Of Wedding Insurance…
We certainly believe that wedding insurance should be considered in every budget. Due to COVID-19, dependent on the provider, there is no coverage standard set out. Charlotte informed us that: “It seems as though if your venue closes and is unable to host your wedding or if a close relative were forced to self-isolate or passed away (of the virus or something else), then you would be entitled to compensation. Air travel, accommodation and personal choice to cancel do not seem to be covered. This is also why it is vital for your budget and your suppliers that you postpone and keep any payments made as vouchers or credit to be used in the future. Please do check the terms and conditions of your insurance provider though and don’t hesitate to discuss with them further as policies can and do vary from what I have mentioned here.” You can find more information about wedding insurance here.
What About 2021 Weddings…
Things are quite uncertain at the moment, so what is your best option if you want to get married in Spring 2021? Charlotte recommends for couples to wait and play it by ear, but to not commit to anything financially yet. Wait a few months to see how the situation is and be considerate of the backlog of weddings and date changes that will need to be accommodated first. In the meanwhile, there’s nothing stopping you from continuing your research, Pinterest boards and finding potential suppliers.
Some Advice For Impacted Couples…
We understand that many brides around the world will be devastated by having to postpone their weddings, but we have some words of wisdom for you ladies! Charlotte’s best advice for couples to focus their energy on planning a new wedding. Your new wedding can be the exact same as you originally planned, or it can be different! You can use this time to potentially even improve your old wedding plans and get new inspiration! You never know, you might even prefer your new wedding plan. Keep your head up – at the end of the day, this wedding will definitely happen and you will remember that special day for the rest of your life.
If you are uncertain about any of the above information or need some advice, please feel free to contact the Modern Wedding team.
