The world around us has taken a long pause due to the Covid-19 Virus and has resulted with most of us are sheltering in place and practicing social distancing. While the essential business are still operating, the wedding industry has stopped in it’s tracks. All events have been cancelled or postponed to near… or far future…? The couples who spent months navigating the wedding planning process are now facing a new set of challenges. All small business owners who cater the wedding industry like photographers, florists, caterers, hair and make-up artists are without work for possibly months.
When the shelter in place order gets lifted the returning to normal process will likely start opening in stages and eventually some gatherings will be allowed.
Below are few ways on how to make your wedding safer for you and your guests.
- Keep it small.
Looking back at the last couple months, events over 50 people were the first to be cancelled so it is likely the return to normal will follow a similar path. Keeping the guest list small will likely help to make it happen as it will be safer for everyone and as a side benefit in these uncertain times it will be cheaper too. I know, you tried to keep that guest list small from the beginning but at the current situation I think everyone will be much more understanding.
If you are local to San Francisco Bay Area have you considered getting married at San Francisco City Hall?
- Keep it local and minimize travel.
Even without pandemic, planning a destination wedding offers it’s own set of challenges but risking getting sick on a plane or getting stuck somewhere is not fun at all.
- Keep it outdoors.
The chance of catching a virus at the open space is much smaller then at an indoor space so take advantage of the beauty of our nature and get married outside! Vineyards, parks, backyards, and beaches are all great options.
- Streaming event.
One of the ways to keeping the most venerable guests safe is life streaming your wedding.
It could be just ceremony, or more key events like first dance, cake cutting or speeches.
Hiring videographer to document is a great idea as well.
- Avoid buffet or family style served meals.
Using the same serving spoon by all your guests is probably not the best idea in these times so if you decide to have a buffet make sure that all food is served by catering staff.
- Offer hand sanitizer and reusable face mask with fun designs on them for your guest.
I know that hand sanitizer is gold right now, but there is a lot of skilled people who started to make cute masks for sale and donating them to help the with global face mask shortage and they would be happy to help you.
We are sheltering in place to flatten the curve but after few months sitting at home we will go back to our “normal life” whatever that means. It will take time to recover and it might look different than before but world will start spinning again and people will start getting together and celebrating. No matter how scary things are right now the most important things are that we have our health and the people we love are close, if this continues than we are winning.
Written by Anna Hogan
