So COVID restrictions have gotten in the way of your soon approaching wedding plans?
Now you're feeling stuck with just two options, downsizing to meet the governments recommendations or postponing to a later date. Well fear not, I'm here to provide that optimistic, positive vibe you need in your life right now!
This scenario is far too familiar for many NSW couples right now. Last year was rough on couples and vendors in the wedding industry. Many of my couples were forced to postpone their weddings, some choose to postpone to allow for overseas guests attendance, some went ahead with a reduced number of guests in attendance and some eloped! It became clear this week that COVID wasn't going to go away quickly and having reared its ugly head once more we return to this dilemma
To push on or push pause
It absolutely sucks that you are in this situation and it breaks my heart to see so many couples making concessions for an event that is such a pivotal point in your lives as a couple. I have had brides and grooms come to me with the pain of having to delay starting their family due to postponed weddings. While consoling them, I reminded them of the importance of the day - the marriage, the joining of two hearts and finally being able to call one another husband and wife. From those that have got before you and not postponed their day, we hear of gratitude, joy, love, and no regrets having made such a difficult decision at the time. Why though? Why is it so easy for them to say it was all that they wanted when they didn't have the wedding they had planned or dreamed of? No extended family, no donut wall, no grazing tables, no dancing, no sparkler exit?
Because greater than all of these things is LOVE
What you will have by choosing to push on: an intimate ceremony, ample time to converse with all your guests, opportunities to get more photos with your guests who are present, you may even choose to have time to reflect on your wedding day with your family and close friends over speeches and a meal at a local restaurant following the ceremony and formalities.
At the end of the day if you have the opportunity to marry your fiancé, the general consensus is to do it! The peace you will feel knowing that on the date you have set you will finally get to embrace each other as husband and wife will overweight the anxiousness if having to postpone for a second or third time.
PUSH ON
You are probably thinking "But what about all the guests I have already invited? I need to cut down numbers?. A lot of my couples are opting for a ceremony only on their wedding day with those closest to them and inviting all their guests to celebrate with them at a later date at a 'delayed reception'. It's a win win, you get another party to celebrate your love and you can do so with everyone you want present. Get back into that wedding dress.. or buy a new dress and celebrate a year of marriage or as soon as the restrictions are eased! People are much more understanding of the restrictions placed on brides and grooms because of COVID and all your friends want to do is see you happy, they will understand. If you choose to push on and downsize for your ceremony and reception have fun with your guests! My husband joked at our reception of 40 people that 'they (our guests) were lucky to make the cut!'. *At the bottom of this blog I have written a wee announcement that you are more than welcome to copy and paste and make your own to share the news that you are having to downsize (and feel awful enough about it!).*
Ps. Be sure to contact your reception venue and ask if you can use your deposit to cater for another event in the future, you don't loose out and if your photographer is anything like me they will be buzzing to capture your epic celebration. Who wouldn't want to attend a huge party after all this hoo hah?!?
Live Stream
Live stream your ceremony for absent guests. This is one of the best things you can offer to guests who can't be there to celebrate with you. Whether you have Uncle bob on Facebook live or a professional service, everyone absent will appreciate the thought and you get a bonus recording of your ceremony to keep forever!
Invites?
If you're pushing on don't fret about printing new paper invites, opt for e-invites and keep your old paper invites for your wedding flat lay photos. Some brides are even waiting to send their invites until the latest possible date in the hopes more guest may be allowed to attend.
What really matters
All in all, this marriage is about the two of you, the wedding is a celebration of the marriage that can happen with 1 or 1000 other people. No matter what, you will become a husband or a wife and your wedding day will never be filled with regret because you got to make an eternal promise to be by your fiancé's side through everything..... even a global pandemic.
PUSH PAUSE
If you have read through all of this and shook your head the whole time or audibly sighed more than once, you are on team postpone. Keep an eye out for my next blog post about postponing your wedding day due to COVID and how to best prepare.
Until then,
Nicole
something to share
"As you all may know there have been increasing restrictions on wedding celebrations across NSW, unfortunately this also affects our upcoming wedding on (insert wedding date). Because of these new restrictions put in place by the government we have had to drastically reduce our guest list. It is with a heavy heart that we must limit our guests to a fraction of those who we wish to have by our side as we celebrate. Included in this group of guests will be a majority of family members.
We will be in touch shortly with alternative arrangements as we do wish to go ahead with our wedding day as planned albeit on a smaller scale. We ask that you are understanding of this difficult decision for us and it is not one we have made lightly.
We are offering the option to view our ceremony via live stream or to view the recording from our videographer the day after our wedding. We would love to share this moment with you and hope it can make up for some of the distance between us on the day.
We would still love to celebrate our nuptials with you in the future and have plans to ( have a dinner, BBQ, party, delayed reception) with you all when there are no restrictions in place.
Again, we are thankful for your support during this time and we know that you will be understanding of the decisions we have had to make to ensure we can have a safe celebration of love.
The future,
Mr & Mrs _____"
