Planning your wedding during COVID is much more difficult to plan than ever. Many of our couples have to reschedule their weddings multiple times or to downscale to meet the local restrictions. If you are thinking about planning your wedding soon, you must be experiencing the uncertainty and might wonder how you could even pull this off.
Size of the wedding during COVID
The main reason why most weddings were rescheduled is the size (number of guests). It’s why we’ve seen many couples choose to downsize their wedding so that they don’t have to reschedule their weddings. Talk to each other and see if inviting hundreds of people is a must or if both are okay with having a few important people.
Vendors’ reschedule policy austin wedding photographer
Prior to the pandemic, we rarely discussed reschedule policy during our first meetings. Now, that topic comes up almost in every meeting. That’s a good sign because it tells us our couples are prepared. I would recommend you do the same even though you hope that you won’t have to reschedule yours, asking what their reschedule policy for wedding during COVID, mostly what happens to your booking retainer if you have to reschedule.
Most of the time, the retainer is non-refundable (I’ll talk about why the retainer is non-refundable in a separate post). However, during the pandemic when rescheduling is expectable, your vendors should have some sort of rescheduling flexibility. Although I can’t speak for all wedding photographers’ rescheduling policies, I can let you know mine so that you get an idea of how I proactively change to help my couples during this tough time.
- Prior to the pandemic: If my clients decide to reschedule, the retainer will be applied to the new date if both of these conditions are met: 1) I am available on the new date AND 2) Another client books the original date. If only the 2nd condition is met, the retainer will be refunded.
- During the pandemic: If my clients decide to reschedule, the retainer will be applied to the new date if I am available on the new date. That’s easy. Similarly, the retainer will be refunded if the 2nd condition above is met.
As you can guess, the most difficult condition is “another client books the original date”. By eliminating that condition, I hope the new policy is more flexible for the couple to change their date. So, talk to your vendors and see what types of policy they offer regarding rescheduling. wedding during covid
Consider an elopement or a mini official ceremony
This gets increasingly popular. Many couples opt for an elopement or a small ceremony where only they, their parent, sibling, and best friends are present (usually under 10 people). With this option, they can pick almost any location (or even an exotic one) which, otherwise, would be impossible for many people. After the small ceremony, when the situation gets better, they can plan their official wedding celebration as they want.
Some of you might ask what about the cost. Well, the cost of an elopement is quite affordable. Since it is short, you only need a short photography coverage. In addition, you don’t need to book many vendors. Some vendors you will need are: photographers, videographers, maybe a makeup artist and a florist. No need to hire an officiant. Ask your friend to be one. It would be the best.
We hope this gives you an idea and encourage you to plan your wedding during COVID. We won’t let the pandemic stop us from capturing amazing moments for our couples and you shouldn’t let it stop you from planning one of the most memorable time of your life. texas austin wedding photographer
