How to Plan Your Wedding During COVID 19

Here you are, planning a wedding in the middle of COVID19, and you could use all the tips to make it work. After all, this is not quite what you pictured for your season of engagement, right? Well guess what? I really believe that despite COVID19 affecting your wedding, it can still be a DREAMY & JOYFUL day of celebrating your marriage. And here’s why:

“Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” – John 2:10

If you are engaged and planning a wedding for 2020 or 2021, I believe this is true for you and your wedding!! I think weddings moving forward from Coronavirus can be just as amazing, if not even better than weddings that were not affected by the pandemic!

This verse is from Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John. He’s at a wedding and he changes the water to wine (Did you know that was his first miracle? Pretty cool right!). Typically people would serve the good wine first, so fresh lips would taste the best of what they had at the celebration. And then after people were feeling fuzzy and happy from that first drink, they’d break out the less fancy stuff! But when the master of the feast tasted the wine Jesus had made from water, he remarked that it was even better than the first batch of wine!

I truly believe that this water to wine illustration can be applied to weddings moving forward from Covid19 and it’s impact on our society, economy, and culture. While there is no precedent for planning a wedding after a global pandemic that banned gatherings of any kind, there also was not a precedent for water turning into wine!!! Jesus took a lack and turned it into an abundance! The same can be true for your wedding day!!

If you’re engaged right now and you’re trying to figure out how in the world you plan a wedding in a post-coronavirus new world, I have ideas for you! But before I lay out my ideas for you, I did want to share that verse with you, because I truly think it applies to this circumstance! What we had before in the wedding industry was truly incredible. But what is coming, I really believe, will be even better! Your celebration of marriage will be no less amazing due to Coronavirus and how it has changed–and will continue to change–our world. So if you take anything away from this blog post, please take away the hope that while you’re on the front edge of a new normal in wedding planning, what’s to come of this season will be new, even better wine!

But as I said I don’t just have that hope to share with you. I also have ideas to share with you on how to plan a wedding after COVID 19!! So, let’s jump in!

How to Plan Your Wedding During COVID19

Like I said, there is no precedent for how to plan a modern wedding celebration after a global pandemic, because this has never happened before!! So the general equation of how to plan a wedding may not necessarily be the same after COVID19.

Here are my tips on how to plan a wedding after COVID 19:

1. Stay up to date on how your local authorities are managing the virus. The more you know about what’s permitted and what’s not permitted, the more you’ll be able to inform your vision for your wedding day!
2. Don’t look at the news too much. 🙂 While I do encourage you to stay updated on the latest laws/restrictions, I also encourage you to take breaks from news coverage! Honestly, it’s all mostly negative and click bait! I mean the headlines are constructed by those news writers to suck you in with panic! That is not kind!!! Give your heart a break and go on a walk, plant flowers, or read a book instead!
3. Be willing to be flexible. With things changing so much, having a mindset of flexibility will really bless you along the way! Continue to plan and prep, but allow yourself to flex if things occur and your plans need to change.
4. Consider going intimate! With numbers being such a factor in the spread of the virus, maybe consider having a more intimate wedding day with fewer guests. You can still have the full fledged fun day and a great party, you just will have your most important people there, which is kind of the point right?! This will also allow your budget flexibility to really spend money on things that matter to you!
5. Consider eloping! Again, this is a great way to almost ensure you can still have your wedding day–and have it the way you want it! You can include your closest people, still use beautiful decor, and still have incredible photographs! I offer both full coverage wedding days AND intimate weddings/elopement packages! If you’re curious about going that route book a free consult with me!!
6. Hire a planner. Now more than ever wedding planners are so incredibly valuable to couples planning a wedding! Planners are able to help couples navigate the sudden and unpredictable changes caused by COVID19. I have watched planners bend over backwards for couples navigating COVID19 and it’s amazing to see how much they can do to help and relieve stress!
7. Tell your guests how you’ll manage COVID19 concerns at your event. Adding a “COVID19” page to your wedding website would be a great idea. You can tell your guests how you plan to follow local protocols and keep everyone safe and healthy at your celebration!
8. Talk to your vendors. We are in this with you!! There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure my couples get the day they have dreamt of! If you have questions or want to brainstorm ways to fulfill your vision for your wedding in this new world of COVID19, talk to your vendors (specifically your planner & your photographer!) about your timeline and creative ways to make your wedding day super special!
9. If you postponed, plan something special on your original wedding date. The last thing you want to do on your original wedding day is sit at home and think about how you could have been dancing in your dress instead of sitting in your sweats watching Netflix! Plan a date with your fiancé, schedule another portrait session with your photographer, plan a Zoom party with your friends, have a home spay day and really treat yourself… anything! Do something to make that day special and fun!
10. Give yourself grace. Wedding planning is stressful WITHOUT a global pandemic to deal with!!! So give yourself some grace! It’s okay to feel stressed and worried. It’s okay to have break downs. But remember that at the end of the day it’s about your marriage. It’s always been about your marriage! And like I said before, just because things are different now, I TRULY believe that they can be EVEN BETTER than before!!

I hope these wedding planning tips helped you as you navigate COVID19! We’re all in this together! If you’re in central Texas and you’re planning your wedding right now, like I said, I’d love to connect with you and help you tread the waters! Let’s schedule a time to chat today to create the wedding day you’ve always dreamt of!

Here are a few other Austin vendors I love who can help you craft the day of your dreams! :: Faire Floral, Blue Sparrow Events, DJ Byrne Rock