Planning Your Wedding During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Is it possible to plan a Beautiful Wedding amidst the Covid-19 pandemic? Absolutely! Please allow us to set the stage.

You are in love. You are happy. You are ready to say “I DO!” You got down on one knee and asked your person, your best friend to marry you. And the answer is YES! You are of course on cloud 9 as you share with your friends and family that you two are getting married. But it doesn’t feel right or 100% authentic because it is during a time when the world is suffering. The great news is these feelings, your feelings, are not mutually exclusive. The beauty is in your love story not everything else happening in the world and that can still be celebrated. We 100% agree with the phrase, "Love is not canceled!"

We have to be honest. It has been challenging, but rewarding, too. We have been on calls, webinars, partnering with other vendors including other event planners, reading updates from the city, county, state, CDC and WHO all while homeschooling my kids. We have been really saddened alongside our clients who we have been helping for months and the plans were no longer viable. We have picked new dates, rescheduled and in some cases are doing it again. We understand the balancing act of focusing on our clients' needs while also having a little self-care mixed in – which I highly encourage! Coronavirus is here and everyone is trying to figure out how to proceed and with how much caution. You want to begin planning your wedding, one day you have always dreamed would be here, but how? How can you start planning a wedding during a global pandemic? Kristin Neese, officiant and owner of Seaside Ceremonies says, "there is no greater good than love. In fact, it’s exactly what this world needs." I have good news for you. It’s not only possible, it can even be fun!

Hire a wedding planner

You might be thinking, I can navigate this myself. I can hire a great DJ, find a venue and photographer on my own. No problem. But do you know what to look for in their contracts that will protect you and insure you will have a vendor who can deliver on your wedding day? Wedding planners have become so much more essential in the past few months by helping our couples navigate the changes through this uncertain time. You may think I am biased, but we have had couples increase our services from coordination to planning as they are feeling overwhelmed. And when we stepped in to help, we were able to take that burden off their shoulders and fully support them so they could get back to the fun part of wedding planning.

The first two steps we walk our clients through are not much different than planning a wedding in normal situations (read when the world is crazy busy and bustling without the need for social distancing and masks!)

You have to start by determining your budget. You need to know what you are working with in order to truly understand what you can and cannot afford. As much as you may want to add all the bells and whistles it may not be practical. So while you may be thinking my budget is the reason I am skipping a planner and I would say, can you really afford not to hire one at this point? We have a great step by step process and we walk with our clients to determine what’s most important to them. It helps them know where to splurge and where to be more conservative. It’s honestly a lot of fun because we can really start to see their unique personalities!

You also need to determine your guest list. This is extremely important as it determines so much more and actually helps us in the final stages of budget planning. It also can eliminate venues that just won’t work for your group whether they would be too big (is that really possible) or too small. Right now it is also incredibly important to understand their cleaning and sanitation process. A venue we love, Calamigos Ranch, has laid their process out clearly online! It also can help you start to create a short list for locations if you don’t have a specific city or state in mind just yet. Your guest list right now also shows you how many of your guests may be more at risk and will help us work together to find a way to have them safely at your wedding celebration.

You may want to have a small wedding ceremony now and just get married already and then have a larger celebration later. We can help you with that. As of today, wedding celebrations are limited in Southern California to 10 guests. We have put together an amazing team of vendors to create an all-inclusive package that will allow you to have a micro-wedding. Some planners are new at small weddings, but this isn’t our first one we have created. We have planned and produced intimate weddings for couples in the past that have been so much fun. If you chose to go this route, you get to have the most important people by your side without worrying too much about random plus ones, that coworker you really aren’t close with or Aunt Karen! (Yeah, we said it!) Our promise to you is that we will continue to vigilantly watch the updates and adjust our offering as the guidelines allow.

What if we want to host a larger event? The huge party with all our friends and families (even Aunt Karen!) to celebrate together. There are going to be new guidelines and restrictions in place when we do get the green light. Dancing may not be allowed in the first phase of weddings; temperature checks could be a requirement as well. Many caterers have discussed removing buffets as a service option. Shannon Prince, a Ventura based photographer, says she will be following the recommendations from Ventura county when conducting her upcoming engagement sessions, staying 6+ feet away and wearing a mask. We need to ensure our vendors are all up to date and following these rules in order to ensure you and your guest have an amazing time. Spotted Hen Catering based in South Pasadena, CA is helping their clients by delivering meals for tastings and conducting them over zoom calls while walking their clients through their processes.

We are in communication with all of our preferred vendors to ensure they are operating within the safest guidelines. Our team is all getting ServeSafe Certified as an extra precaution. Part of your guests being able to really let loose and enjoy themselves at your wedding will be the comfort of knowing we held your wedding in the safest way possible.

When you are ready to begin planning the BIG big day, we will be ready for you as well. The next steps start getting us into the specifics for your wedding. Venue hunting, finding all the right vendors, decor and styling and so much more. Are you ready to start planning? We’d love to connect and learn more about your needs and how we can help you have a really enjoyable and relaxed wedding planning experience.