In the midst of Coronavirus mayhem: expert wedding advice

To all couples whose weddings are affected by Coronavirus; we are sending our thoughts and prayers to you as we collectively make our way through one of the most uncertain times of modern history. 

We’re guessing that this is one wedding dilemma which you could never have anticipated regardless of how planned and well-thought-out you were – let alone ever thinking you would be planning two weddings. In fact, we bet you’re mighty ‘pissed off’, and rightly so! But please know that you are not alone. 

Like you, the industry is in shock with the latest developments and gatherings being banned – indeed, there is no rule book for this for couples or vendors. But, together we can get through this. It’s an uncertain time, indeed, but the whole wedding industry is rallying to ensure that couples can have their dream wedding still. 

We wish to keep the focus on the fact that it will be less of a financial burden to postpone your wedding than cancel. 

With that in mind, we’ve turned to industry experts and all-round beautiful girls, Nicole and Justine, from Beautiful Weddings Australia for their advice and suggestions on how you can best manage changes to your upcoming wedding:

Firstly, we share our love and thoughts with all the couples who have a wedding planned in the next four weeks and beyond. We can’t imagine what is swirling around your head after planning your wedding for so long. We want to give you a big virtual hug.

You will have lots of questions, so get a pen and paper, or open notes on your phone and write down everything that is in your head. If you are getting married in the next 4-6 weeks, you will likely already be rescheduling your new date with your venue. Touch base with your other wedding vendors if they haven’t already reached out. We emailed all of our couples for April/May/June on Monday morning to reassure them that there were no penalties for changing dates for our services. All pricing will remain the same, and all deposits honoured. 

For those with weddings in June and beyond, perhaps sit tight and see what the next seven days bring. Things are changing rapidly, and in another seven days, we may know a whole lot more. Don’t get us wrong, go through the scenario with your venue & vendors but keep an open mind about dates. 

If you have guests travelling from overseas, you may like to extend your date to be later in the year or even early 2021 to compensate for travel plans. We urge everyone to look at alternate dates – on Thursdays, Fridays and even Mondays! Your boss is unlikely to say no to letting you have an alternate day off to get married. Your guests will also understand. This one single change may help to ensure that you lock in all of your vendors who you have already picked and paid deposits to. 

If you discover one of your vendors is not available for your postponed date, ask them about who they would suggest as a replacement. It’s a small industry, and we are all here to help out.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the wedding industry and many dream days, and asking you to have patience and to accept that things can happen in a different order than the one you had planned is a big call, we know. Given the circumstances, however, and by choosing to accept this reality, it will give you the level-headedness that you will indeed need to replan your beautiful wedding – and that you will!

If you would like to get some more support during this time, jump on over to our brand new closed Facebook group: The Wedding Lounge by Queensland Brides. It’s a safe space to share your thoughts, ask questions and get opinions from peers and experts. 

Remember, even though it may not be on the original date you planned, love will prevail.

feature image: Ash & Josh by Nikki Lancaster