Wedding Planning in the Coronavirus Crisis

The CDC is recommending no more than 10 to a meeting, cities across the U.S. are cutting off large gatherings, — leading to disappointment for a lot of brides and grooms. In the past week I’ve been getting calls and emails just about every day from a distraught bride and groom calling to postpone their wedding. “It is with a heavy heart to let you know the wedding has been pushed back to 2021. This was not an easy decision to come to but, we feel it will be best for everyone in the long run. Please let me know if you are available for that date as I would love to continue to work with you. Have a great day! “ This is an example of a client contacting me , and I couldn’t feel for her more. The good news is that her wedding is rescheduled and is available for my service. Which isn’t the case with all vendors. If you specifically hired a vendor such as a DJ or photographer based on their personality, there’s no guarantee they are available for that rescheduled date. So that question remains, “Where are these dates going to go?” as for me, most of my clients have reschedule for August , September and October, which is my most busy time of year. Perhaps we will start having these weddings on weekdays instead. It’s not a terrible idea in my opinion. So long that guests have advance notice they could always take off of work. Celebrities have been doing it for years. I think the biggest problem we’re facing besides the virus itself and the economical impact here, is the uncertainty itself. Brides and any other consumer alike are hesitant to book, change their date, or put any kind of deposit down because its simply unclear where this is all going. It’s different from a natural disaster that’s already happened such as a hurricane, earthquake where we all know the disaster area will be cleaned up in a finite and indefinite amount of time. Like Anthony Fauci has said recently “You don’t decide when to re-open America, the virus decides when to re-open America.” There is simply no telling when this is going to end, but the way things are going, in my opinion we’re not looking at places like restaurants and catering halls re-opening until at least May. There is of course no promising this from literally anyone, but saying May - June seems to be the trajectory. This obviously brings allot of cancellations and postponements to weddings in April for sure. But I think when I say this I speak for everyone in the industry. All of us vendors are here to work with you no matter what. We all want to keep a good rapport with brides and grooms, keep having great reviews, and in the end deliver the product we promised. And of course most companies will keep your down payment good forever if not at least going into the following year. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact me! Stay healthy! - Jack