What a year it’s been for everyone. Add being a couple with a wedding scheduled for 2020 and there you’ll find another layer and level of stress. Couples who were hoping to get married in 2020 have decided to go several different routes…postponing totally until 2021 (or even 2022!), hosting an intimate ceremony this year and having the large celebration next year, reducing guest counts to meet state guidelines and hosting a scaled-back version of a wedding this year, and everything in between. There’s no right or wrong – it all comes down to the couple, their preferences, what’s most important, and what they hope for this next year. It hasn’t been an easy decision for anyone but what I will say for certain is that once my clients made the decision, you could see the weight being lifted off their shoulders.

So what should you do with all of this down time? You’ve likely planned an entire wedding and were either weeks or a few months away from it happening. Now you might have anywhere from 6 months to over a year to wait until you host the large celebration. It can be hard to figure out what to do while you wait…is there anything to do? Let’s talk about it…

1. Make sure you have new agreements from all of your vendors stating the new date. If you’re working with a planner, they will make sure you have updated contracts or amendments to contracts from all vendors stating the date change. If you don’t have a planner, make sure you request this from everyone! Hopefully there weren’t any financial implications but if there were, you also need this in writing. In addition, make sure to understand if the payment schedule remains the same or if it shifted with your new date. With your venue or caterer – make sure you know what will happen to the price per person…hopefully you were able to keep it at your 2020 pricing. Bottom line – it is critical to have your new date in writing because next year is going to be a crazy year for everyone in the wedding industry and you can’t risk not having your key vendors present.
2. Take a break!! Making the decision to postpone was probably really stressful. Most likely, you were being asked a million questions from family and friends whether or not your wedding was going to happen….then you had to decide if it would. Then you worked with your venue and all of your vendors to find and secure your backup date. It’s a lot of work!! So once you have your new Save the Dates sent out and your website updated: take . a . break . Put down the wedding planning and have some fun with your fiancé. And definitely stay off of Pinterest for a while.
3. Revisit your budget. After you’ve taken some time off (and I mean months, if you have it), it’s a good idea is to revisit your original budget. Perhaps there were some areas where you were able to save or there could be rescheduling fees that you’ve been forced to add. Either way, look at all of your categories, what payments remain, when they are due, and you’ll get a good sense of that to expect in the coming months. It’s also a good time to decide if there are areas you want to increase or add to now that you have more time to prepare. There are benefits to having more time!
4. Wait until the year of your wedding to revisit your menu. Likely you’ve already selected your menu with your venue or catering company. It’s typical that new menus will come out at the start of each year. You can request new menus from the company you are working with and take your time reviewing them to see if there are any areas you would like to update/change with your selections. You’ll also want the caterer to confirm that everything could still be done as you originally planned, if that’s the route you choose to go.
5. Revisit your floral plan at the 6-8 month mark. It’s very possible that your ideas, style, and inspiration has shifted in the time since your original wedding date. If your vision has changed, that’s ok! Regardless, schedule a time with your florist to review what you had originally discussed as a “refresher” for both parties. Review the entire proposal, colors, flowers, counts and quantities and any updates to your vision. If you’re at a totally different venue or a different time of year, you’ll need more revisions than if not.
6. Leave time for gown alterations. Each bridal salon and seamstress is handling this time differently. You may have finished your alterations or you could have been in the middle of them. Regardless of where you left off, make sure you leave enough time to try on your gown and complete the alterations you have left or simply for a try-on and confirmation that all still looks good. Remember that next year will be very busy so call the seamstress earlier than you think you should to get the ball rolling.

If you’re still working through a wedding postponement and would like some support to make sure everything is accounted for, we offer a discounted hourly consultation rate to assist you with this. You can find more information about that call here. It’s a tough time for everyone right now so we would love to assist in any way that we can.

I know this isn’t what you had hoped for your wedding but I promise that it will be worth the wait to do this exactly how you had planned.

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