The Coronavirus is restricting group gatherings, travel, taking our love ones from us and causing the doors of many industries all over the world to be closed. Many couples have waited so long for their special day and the Whole wedding industry has received a hard blow. Destination wedding Venues have been ordered closed for the interest of containing this Pandemic.

Countless amount of Couples are heartbroken, confused and are currently making the tough decision; whether to cancel, postpone, go Smaller or even go virtual. It’s a very stressful time globally. One of our recommendation is to postpone and get planning again; whenever the time is right. Your wedding no matter the date will always be your special day.

Here are ten tips to assist you lovely couples on taking on the Re-Planning of your Wedding.

1. Stay inside. Yes, you got that right. Stay indoors as much as possible and that goes for everyone in your household. If you’re an essential worker then each time you go outside please make staying safe your main priority and hats off to you. If you both of you have the options of staying in; work on strategies that you can take to get groceries and other well-needed items without bringing back the COVID-19 virus in your homes. It should always be a safe zone. So tip number one is also a plea for you and yours to stay safe.
   
2. Contact your Bridal Party and Guest. The most affected Wedding days are those in the Months from January through to August. Bridal Party squad has already been selected and your guest list has already been prepared or close to being completed. This step can be used to inform them of the new projections and encourage them to keep safe. This will also provide you with an insight into the situations that your guest are facing and have a better projection of how to choose a new date, especially if it’s a destination wedding. Some persons are layoff and sadly lose their job altogether. 
   
3.  Contact Your Wedding Planner or Your Vendors. Wedding Planners everywhere are aware of the situations and are already putting in measures to save your deposits and stay in contact with your vendors about the possibilities, especially the venue. When Rescheduling remember that a lot of events are postponed and the closest date available will be grabbed by other couples. So let your wedding Planner know your Projections and do a “tentative” booking for you. Your Wedding Planner will be able to give you direct information from a local knowledge standpoint. If you planned your awesome day yourself, whilst on shut-in start sending emails to booked vendors let them know your condition, request their available dates and provide them with a projected date.  
   
4. Check Your Contracts and request new ones. All your contracts will have the previous dates and provide transparency between you and your vendors. Some Vendors can reschedule without the extra cost to original prices however where Perishable materials were bought because your wedding was days before the lockdown additional may come from the loss of the items previously bought and to have the same vision come to reality those will have to be repurchased.
   
5.  Choose a New Date.  This date would be generated after the bridal party and guest have been contacted and all is discussed; as well as Wedding Planner and/ or Vendors. After your new date has been selected it’s time to send out RSVP’s, you can take advantage of the digital “modern method”. With just the click of a link, your guest will be able to give a response and all the information will be readily available to you, especially the headcount. This is important for you and your Vendors.
   
6. Plan again. Yes Plan again, everything was set already however the amount of guest might change and there might be a change in the bridal party number. You will have to ensure that all of this information is provided to your vendors in a reasonable time. If your wedding has to be pushed to a new season then be prepared to change the type of flowers, the in-season fruit salad, weather it rainy time and some other final touches which adds to your day being seamless. If you’re having a destination wedding ensure to check flight information if your wedding has not passed the original booked flight date if you have insurance do the necessaries to ensure that you will have a ticket on the right date without losing money, also remind your guest about this; it’s important that they do.   

Do you have any tips to share? Please leave a comment below let’s start a discussion, we are all in this together. Keep safe, stay in and stay healthy. For those who are affected our staff here at DWEPP Jamaica prays for the improvement in your health. Remember we may stay away from our older family members, friends with underlying issues however a call or text goes a far way.

With Love,

The Team.