The world is a very interesting place right now. There is this weird sense of panic but at the same time it doesn’t feel like anything is really wrong at all. That is unless you were planning a spring wedding.
If you are engaged or married you know & understand how much time, money & effort go into planning your perfect wedding day. You picked your colors, your flowers, your vendors, everything was hand picked and now? It’s all up in the air. Here are my tips on how to handle the news of of having to postpone or replan your wedding.
First Things First
Cry, yell, throw something… Get it out, it’s okay to be upset, no one blames you, but you need to get it all out and then move forward because you have to understand it’s completely out of your hands and NO ONE saw this coming.
Contact Your Vendors
Now that you got your emotions out and over with with whatever method you chose… It’s time to get to work. If your vendors haven’t already reached out to you or your planner reach out to them! I spent the last 4 days on the phone or texting back and forth with all 7 of my spring couples trying to help them find a new date. The hardest part about finding a new date is finding a date that works for all of your already booked vendors. Here are some tips for working with your vendors to lock in that new date!
Be open to Friday or Sunday dates
- You may find that many of your vendors, especially your photographers & Venue may not have many Saturday dates available for 2020. Moving your wedding to a Friday or Sunday really won’t be that bad, I promise!
Stick to the original plan
- One thing I can’t stress enough is to stick to your original contracted agreement. Small businesses in the wedding industry are taking a incredibly hard hit right now and while we totally understand how hard this is for you, it’s also affecting us. While you may be thinking that with replanning you may not need as much time for photography or maybe you don’t want that extra lighting package your venue added on. You have to understand, while we would love to accommodate you, giving refunds could really hurt our business in a time that we are already down. Obviously every situation is different, but I’d just like to suggest thinking about both sides before making any major decisions on changes.
You might not get what you had
- So what I mean here is if your vendor is already booked on the day you choose, they may give you the option to have a different team member cover your event. For example as a photographer I have other associate photographers who work on my team. They often work with me as my second shooters but they are also available to photograph events or weddings when I am already booked. So keep your mind open, we would never offer a different team member if we didn’t think they were just as awesome as we are.
Locked & Loaded
Now that your new date is locked in it’s time to reignite your interest in your wedding day! Send out postponement announcements! These can be done via text, social media or email! It’s a great way to let all your guests know what’s going on in a cute way! Our friend Kayla at Wild Ivory and Co even put one together for brides to use for free! Check it out on her Instagram.
Start looking for things that make you excited for your wedding. Revisit your engagement photos, check out all of your vendors previous amazing weddings on their social pages. Act like a teenage girl and doodle your new date and names in hearts all over a notebook page. Really do whatever it takes to get excited, because you should be! YOU ARE STILL GETTING MARRIED!
Still Want Your Original Date?
A couple of my brides are still planning on having a small ceremony in front of their family on their originally planned date. Who says you can’t get legally married and then celebrate later? No one, that’s who! If you are wanting to do this I still recommend having your photographer there & having your florist still provide your bouquet, boutonnière other florals you may want for your ceremony & portraits. Your vendors should be able to provide you with some additional pricing for this.
We Are Here For You!
No matter what you decide to do, know that we are here for you. I always end up becoming such good friends with my couples so when I say my heart broke when I realized what impact the Coronavirus would have on their weddings, I really meant it. All I want as a wedding photographer is for my couples to remember their day as the most fun & stress free day so when something comes in the way of that, I will do my best to change it.
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