Postponing or changing your wedding due to COVID-19
Hey guys! A LOT has changed over the last 2 weeks with the spread of the Corona virus and the precautions being implemented. I know things are especially chaotic for those of you who had weddings planned for March, April & May. I just wanted to share some thoughts. These are ideas that have been cultivated from wedding industry leaders in Colorado. As well as ideas that came from brainstorming with my clients who are having to change their plans.
First off, we’re all in this boat together. As vendors, we want to be able to serve our clients and we understand how difficult this is, for everyone. I think its important to find a way to meet in the middle, being creative if need be, to help each other through this.
Postponing your wedding date
The industry leaders I met with are really trying to guide clients into postponing instead of canceling. We want our clients to be able to have their celebration. And as vendors we want to be able to have that work and income as well. If we can all postpone the events later on into the year or even into 2021 it would benefit the wedding industry as a whole.
November & December in Colorado are typically slower months for weddings. If you’re thinking about postponing, these two months will probably give you the most options in terms of dates. Some of the venues I’ve heard from have asked couples to stick to the day that they initially chose. For example if you had a Friday wedding planned in April, they are suggesting picking a Friday in November. That way when there are lots of couples rescheduling, not everyone is fighting for a Saturday.
Eloping Instead
Yesterday the Colorado Department of Public Health issued a public health order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people to help slow the spread of the disease. This may have you thinking about eloping. Colorado is a great place to do this, because as a couple you can do a “self solemnization”. What does that mean? It means you can basically marry yourselves without an officiant. There’s a few ways to go about this. You could elope with a very small group of family and/or friends. Or just elope with the two of you. Then you just fill out your marriage license with you and your fiance’s information.
You might be thinking, but the Clerk and Recorder Offices are closed right now. With that being true, you can start your marriage application online ahead of time. For instance this is where you can start the Boulder County online marriage application. You can enter a future anticipated date. Then they require you to come in person to the Clerk and Recorder Office within 35 days of when you got married to finalize things. See their instructions page here.
No one really knows when county offices are going to reopen, so its a tough decision. One idea is to watch and wait how things go while preparing to do an elopement in the near-ish future. If you do choose to elope and still want to include those family and friends in a larger celebration, you could always do a separate reception later on. Wait for things to calm down and then get together with everyone to celebrate the good news at a to be determined later date.
Being creative with service offerings
I have one couple who decided to postpone their wedding to late summer and also move the location to the East Coast. It just made more sense for them that way. Instead of canceling my services, we sorted out a different agreement that worked for both of us. I would travel to the East Coast with them and shoot their wedding. And because they were now paying to cover travel fees, I offered them a complimentary future portrait session and a print credit to help even things out.
That way they are still able to capture photos of their wedding without having to find a new photographer. And I was able to retain their business by donating some of my time and resources to be able to meet somewhere in the middle. And now I’ll be able to take an adventure to photograph a wedding in a fun new location. If you’re a bride, talk with your vendors and see what you can come up with together that would be helpful for the both of you.
Much love to you all!
I just want to send out some love to you all as I wrap this up. ❤️ 💕 💕 ❤️ I hope that all your family members stay safe. And that you’re able to hang in there till we get passed this. Good luck with all the changes to your wedding plans. ❤️
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