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When planning a wedding, you can always expect a few problems—maybe a seam tears on your gown, or it rains on your outdoor ceremony, or Great-Uncle Ted has a little too much wine. These are all problems you can anticipate—and likely laugh about later—but no one prepares for a global pandemic.
Over the past few months, there have been several moving parts surrounding the COVID-19 crisis. The CDC began with recommending against groups of 100, then 50, then 10. And now with Minnesota’s stay-at-home order, even the smallest spring wedding seems out of the question.
Meghan Ryks was planning on getting married at the end of April. But when massive events like the NCAA tournament started getting canceled and the CDC started to make group guidelines, she and her fiancé, Michael Rossiter, decided to pull the trigger and postpone their reception.
“It just didn’t seem worth it that someone could get sick and potentially die from our wedding,” she says.
One of the very few bright spots of this situation is that Meghan and Michael aren’t the only ones going through this unprecedented disruption to the wedding industry (as the existence of many Facebook groups called “Corona Brides” and “COVID-19 Wedding Disaster” would tell you). An inconceivable amount of postponements and cancellations are happening across the globe, and the wedding industry has had to find new ways to cope.
Whether you’ve been researching Force Majeure policies since you first heard the word ‘coronavirus,’ or you’re starting to feel uneasy about your summer wedding, postponing a wedding can be a monumental task to tackle. According to wedding planners and venues around the Twin Cities, here are some of the things you need to consider if you’re thinking of postponing or cancelling.
The Importance of Starting Early
We’re not saying that you would do this, but don’t wait until the night before to tell your venue and vendors that you’d like to postpone. The earlier you start contacting venues, the more likely they are to work with you. Sarah Johnson, executive director of the Machine Shop, recommends contacting venues at least six to eight weeks in advance.
May brides who still want to postpone aren’t completely out of luck, however. Rachelle Mazumdar, the owner of Style-Architects Weddings & Events, recommends reaching out to venues a minimum of five weeks in advance.
“[The] key part of this is the timeliness of it because if you wait too long to postpone, you know, the vendors may have already purchased items for your wedding,” she says. “Bar items might’ve been purchased, food might have been ordered, flowers on order.”
While Meghan and Michael’s reception is postponed until October, they’re still planning on having an at-home wedding with Meghan’s immediate family on their original date. Michael’s family will Zoom in.
As a former wedding florist, Meghan felt anxious before she called her vendors, knowing firsthand how a possible loss of business could affect them. But she found everyone was amenable during this difficult time. “They understand what’s going on,” she says. “Everyone knows that we’re in the same boat.” Their photographer even offered to split her time between their original wedding and their future reception.
Many wedding venues, including Aria, the Machine Shop, and Hutton House, are currently allowing couples to postpone their wedding to a later date without issuing a rescheduling fee, which can sometimes run up to $1,000. Some venues are allowing couples to reschedule within the 2020 calendar year, while others are allowing couples to reschedule within a year of their original date. There is no catchall for what a wedding venue will allow, so communicating with your venue is of the utmost importance.
Save the Date (For Later!)
Many wedding venues are sending out emails to their clients about what they’re doing to address concerns about COVID-19. The sentiments usually include a reminder to not lose sight of your wedding being a celebration of the love between you and your partner, no matter what the date. If you love your partner in May, you’ll still love them in November.
To get that new date, reach out to your venue first to get a list of available options. Bring those dates to your vendors and see what works for them.
“Try to find a date that works for all, because if you find a revised date that you like, and works for most, and if it doesn’t work for another vendor then you lose the deposits that you’ve made,” Mazumdar says. “Reach out to all the key vendors before committing to any particular rescheduled date.”
Like many wedding venues, vendors aren’t charging a postponement fee. However, one thing that many venues and vendors aren’t returning is deposits.
“Generally speaking, for our venue, deposits are payments made for services performed and costs incurred in preparation of the wedding,” says Nicki Gavin, marketing and sales manager of Hutton House. “We want to be as fair as possible to our clients, but also to the employees and vendors involved as well.”
Since a whole season's worth of couples are looking to reschedule, it might not be possible to get a Saturday or Friday wedding. But that shouldn’t put a damper on your festivities.
Johnson suggests turning your weekday nuptials into a weekend-long event. “You could make this new date something that works in a different capacity for you,” she says. Some of the couples at the Machine Shop who changed their wedding dates to Sundays are coming up with activities for their families on Saturdays and extending the party.
What About Cancellations?
If you and your betrothed have decided to cancel the entire affair and just get married over Zoom, or want to wait to reschedule until it looks like everything is in the clear, you may be wondering if there is any way to get any money back. Unfortunately, the answer depends. To figure out what your case is, there are two things you’ll want to do: contact a wedding insurance company and check the Force Majeure clauses in your contracts.
A Force Majeure clause covers acts of God—for example, hurricanes, war, landslides, and global pandemics. Things that can cancel a wedding that aren’t the fault of the couple or the venue. Check the language of your contract and see to what extent it covers. Although many Force Majeure clauses usually won’t allow you to get your deposit back, it can help ease any hiccups that can occur during cancellations caused by COVID-19.
And you hope you never have to use it, but cancellation insurance can ease many-a-headache during times like these. Insurance companies, like WedSafe, are working with clients on a case-by-case basis to determine coverage. Some of the determining factors of coverage include when the policy was purchased, and if coronavirus was a known threat at the time.
Mazumdar compares it to medical insurance when you have pre-existing conditions. “They’re going to be like, well you already know that you have diabetes, so we’re going to charge you higher, or whatever, or we’re not going to cover you because of diabetes.” she says. “[Wedding insurance companies] are saying the same thing. You know of this now, so you can’t get insurance now that covers you against this because you already know it’s coming.”
Unfortunately, many insurance companies are no longer offering new cancellation insurance during the crisis. And, because coronavirus is no longer an unknown occurrence, it’s not guaranteed that cancellations caused by it will be covered by insurance in the future.
Still on the Fence
Many weddings take at least 18 months, and thousands of dollars, to plan. It can be devastating to make the call to postpone, or even cancel your wedding due to something that no one could have predicted. Meghan and Michael spent 22 months planning their wedding, and even though it was difficult emotionally to postpone, Meghan said it was a huge relief not to have the decision sitting on their shoulders anymore.
“I feel like we’ve been kind of like going through a grieving process, and we’re kind of at the acceptance point,” she says. “It was hard to come to terms with, for sure.”
For couples with weddings in late summer or even fall, it can be hard to make a decision about your upcoming celebration. Do you wait it out and see what happens, or start planning a new wedding now in hopes of getting a good date?
Kelly Preslicka, assistant general manager of Aria, understands the amount of stress that goes into postponing weddings. “For us it’s really important that we take a step back and remember that for each of these couples this is one of the biggest days of their life that they’re planning for,” she says. “Each couple has their own unique story or set of circumstances and so that kind of plays into it.”
Many wedding venues are open to talking to their clients about what their options are, and help them come up with a plan if they don’t want to make a decision right at that moment. They want to help you celebrate you and your partner’s love, even if COVID-19 adds a few road bumps (or a 35W-style detour).
“It is an important date and you should be able to enjoy it,” Preslicka says. Keep your head up and know that everyone wants to support you as you navigate this trying and uncertain time.
If you feel you still need advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Weddings team at bridalbeat@mspmag.com. You can also direct an inquiry to our Instagram account @mspmagweddings or share ideas that have worked for you and may help other couples. Remember, we’re all in this together. Sending love your way!
