Hey friends! Last week I wrote a blog about the coronavirus and a couple who had their venue cancel their wedding due to it being on a university campus. Since we last left our heroes, we knew that they were looking for a new venue. Here’s the rest of the story and 6 easy steps you can do to postpone your wedding.
I interviewed my couple today and asked them, after their venue at Purdue University was closed due to sanctions implemented by the university to reduce the potential of spreading the coronavirus. Reyna and Neil had researched other venues prior to booking Purdue and circled back around to those that they were considering which are just a little farther away. Before cancelling their date and postponing, they reached out to the venue to see if their date was available (April 4th). They spoke with their vendors to see if travel was OK since their new venue is in Indianapolis (about a 40-50 mile drive from Lafayette, Indiana). Their date was available but as the pandemic grew and the coronavirus continued to spread, the requirements to keep gatherings at a minimum of 50 and now 10, would make it impossible for their nearly 200 person guest list to come.
Since April wasn’t an option, they spoke with their vendors to find a date that everyone was available for and took those dates back to their new venue, Black Iris Estates. They settled on a Friday wedding in September. They then rescheduled with their vendors and booked the venue. The venue was even kind enough to hear their story and kindly waived a few of the extra fees they sometimes impose due to the circumstances.
Reyna and Neil have officially announced their new postponed date and will be resending updated invitations out. In order to keep costs lower, they are choosing to print their updated invitations from home and Zazzle. Here’s a link directly to Zazzle! They’re also running amazing deals and sales so you’re guaranteed to get the best bet. I literally order all my paper goods through them. I even get my business cards through them and they’re soooooo sharp!
With the sanctions that they’re currently imposing, if you’re considering postponing your wedding, first let me say–it’s going to be OK! Your love is the most important part of your wedding and marriage. That is something that cannot be affected by any pandemic. So remember that when it feels stressful and overwhelming, your wedding is just one day in the long journey of marriage you and your partner are taking and it will all be okay!
Okay, okay, okay! Here are the 6 easy steps to postpone your wedding!
1. Identify a new venue you’d like to have your wedding at and call them. Find out pricing, what they’re offering, and what you’ll need to do to book.
2. Contact your vendors, especially your photographer and videographer and get dates that are available from them. Consider choosing alternative dates if you’re planning on keeping the year the same. Many vendors are already booked in the fall. Consider Friday nights if you want a rager that goes late or Sunday if you don’t mind ending your reception a little earlier for the Monday morning work day.
3. Take those available dates back to the venue and book the date!
4. Send a confirmation email to all vendors that the date and time has changed. Most vendors won’t charge you a rebooking fee due to the inconvenience of this pandemic. Review your contract and talk to your vendors. We are people too and want to be able to serve you at our best!
5. Make your new date known. Use social media or my link for Zazzle to print new invites. If you’re using a digital save the date/invite, update that website and relax. It’s going to be okay!
6. Rebook your honeymoon! Travel lines are a little busy right now so don’t fret. They KNOW what is happening because their industry is suffering too. Take a week or two and schedule a date to cancel and rebook flights and accommodations. If you can’t change your dates due to availability, cancel your stay and apply the deposit to a different option such as CheapCarribean (I highly recommend it) or VacationExpress.
Postponing your wedding isn’t the end of the world. It allows you two more time to grow your love for one another. If you’re having to wait to get married a little longer, I recommend checking out this blog I wrote about just being engaged and some fun things you can do instead of planning your wedding.5 Things To Do INSTEAD of planning your wedding
It has a few suggestions such as take a trip together. Instead of taking a trip, you could learn a foreign language together! I’ve heard good things about DuoLingo. You could practice your Greek for your upcoming honeymoon or Spanish which will make you the most coveted customer when restaurants open and you ask for chips and salsa in fluent Spanish!
Stay well, keep your heads up, my friends! We will overcome this and be better for it! I hope that these 6 easy steps to postpone your wedding make all the difference!
Such great advice in here! I think everyone in the wedding industry is being so understanding about the situation and they are grateful that couples are rescheduling (instead of cancelling). Thanks for sharing your tips!
Thank you so much! It’s such a bummer of a time but if we all band together, we’ll come out stronger and happier than before! <3
Postponing their wedding is definitely the last thing a couple wants to do, but you’ve laid things out with a super helpful approach that can guide couples to do the right thing for them given these unfortunate circumstances!
Love the idea of interviewing your couple to get their perspective! And Duolingo is awesome!! Definitely a great time to give it a try! Gorgeous images!!!
This is such a great article. So timely and so useful, and love all these suggestions. So awesome of you to help couples make the best out of a tricky situation.
Super helpful tips! It’s such a great way to support couples during this time!