Corona Virus and its impact on Spring Weddings

No one could have ever guessed that a pandemic and social distancing would put our lives at a screeching halt in 2020. While the corona virus has been a scary and unknown adventure to navigate, we are still so blessed! Mitchel and I are healthy and really have so much to be thankful for.

We have noticed that counting our blessings has been so helpful during this scary time instead of focusing on the negatives!

Of course, in our world as wedding photographers, there is a lot change happening. With the recommendations from the CDC that no groups of 50 people or more should meet, and the suggestion that no more than 10 people should meet together, we knew wedding plans would be altered. So many of our sweet clients who are scheduled to get married within the next 3-30 days are feeling so overwhelmed with many emotions. We feel so deeply for them right now and wish we could wave a magic wand to make everything better.

Here are our tips for couples whose wedding might be affected by the corona virus:

1. Don’t panic!

You are absolutely allowed to be angry, sad, upset, etc. For sure! But try not to stay that way! Concentrate on getting married to the one you love, no matter what. Remember that THAT is the end goal!

2. Contact your wedding planner for help!

Your wedding coordinator is your go-to-gal for getting through this! We have so many planner friends that have been absolute rock stars in helping our clients with rescheduling! Don’t have a wedding planner? I can get you hooked up with one!

3. Consider RESCHEDULING, not canceling all together, if possible.

This is a big one. While it may be tempting to abandon the wedding altogether and head to the courthouse today just so that you’re married, you do have other options!
When you cancel your date, you are likely going to lose thousands of dollars from vendors who aren’t able to refund payments you have already made, due to the contract you may have signed that stated “non-refundable payments”.
When you reschedule, vendors will likely be able to apply already paid invoices to another date. It is so so important though to reach out to your vendors EARLY with potential dates you are looking at for rescheduling your big day.

4. Obviously ALL vendors won’t be available on your new date.

In this case, what I recommend is choosing your top vendors, or most expensive vendors (so that you don’t lose all that money you’ve already invested in them) and checking with them first to see if they are available on your new date. For example, if your venue, caterer, and photographer can both do the same date, that’s ideal, because they are all higher ticket items.
In the early stages of considering a new date, communicate often with vendors before setting a new date in stone! I promise it will end up saving you tons of money and heartache.

5. Ultimately, only you & your fiance can decide what is best for you and your guests and loved ones!

Do you want to have an intimate gathering on family land, and keep your March/April wedding date? Do you want to postpone til late Summer? Do you want to go ahead and have a courthouse wedding this week, and then postpone your big celebration to another date? YOU HAVE OPTIONS! Please know that!

6. If you need someone to talk to, please let me know!

Even if you just want to vent or cry, I am happy to be a listening ear! Let me know how I can help you!