Your wedding plans + Covid-19
Your Wedding Plans and covid-19
The world is a somewhat scary place these days. With the crisis of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), there is no doubt that the uncertainty has begun to sink already, and if you are getting married in 2020 I’m sure the rollercoaster of emotions has already begun.
For weddings beyond June, there is still a lot uncertainty surrounding whether or not you should or can proceed, if your venue or vendors will cancel, and if your out of town guests will be able to travel. Weddings in Ontario have officially been banned (at time of writing this) until further notice, and it is now legally impossible for many vendors to operate their businesses, and for you to have the wedding that I’m sure you’ve been dreaming of for months.
Let me begin by saying, our hearts go out to you during all these difficult decisions and loss. And honestly, that is what this is: it’s a loss, and it’s ok for you to be angry, sad, and need time to grieve. You have been waiting for this day for so long and no one could have predicted this situation. It is devastating and you need the time to process and feel all the feels that come with it. Please know that your vendors are also grieving this loss for you – we were just as excited as you were to see your dreams come true in the form of a wedding! <3
Rather than flooding your inbox with yet another lengthy email, I have created this web page with all the information I believe is important for my couples to know regarding my approach to Covid-19, and how I’m moving forward with the rest of 2020 and into 2021.
To make things easier, I have split this page up into four sections;
1. My Current Policies
2. Backup Plans
3. Additional
4. Articles, Links, and Resources
1. My Current Policies:
While I cannot currently offer refunds on booking deposits, I am working hard to reschedule postponed weddings with as much ease and flexibilty as possible. This means I will not be charging any fees for changing your date later in the 2020 season, and I’m prepared to work as hard as necessary later in the season when dates open again. Thankfully, I am well set up with an awesome team of hard-working colleagues/friends. This means, I can say with confidence that it will not be a problem for me to cover multiple weddings in a week, do my absolute best all the time, and still honour my turn-around time for your image galleries.
I am currently rescheduling on an ‘as needed’ basis. This means I have already been working with couples whose weddings have already been affected due to venue closures, or immediate family members living internationally and unable to travel. As my priority is rescheduling weddings that have already been required to change, I am not currently offering second ‘backup booking’ dates for weddings later in the season that may not yet be affected. That being said, if you are worried about your wedding being affected, I am more than happy to begin the conversation of contingency plans. Right now, I would suggest that if your wedding is 3+ months away, to sit tight and wait this out a little longer before making any drastic changes.
If you are considering rescheduling your wedding- I strongly recommend you get in touch with all your vendors (your venue & photographer should be first priority) to get details about the rebooking process and availability. Secondly, I would ask you to consider all options in the 2020 season. Consider weekday dates, Sundays or winter wedding options to avoid disappointment over the lack of Saturdays currently available in 2020. And hey, maybe Wednesday weddings are going to be a thing for a while, and there’s nothing wrong with that! I am happy to reschedule into 2021, however please note that weddings rebooking for prime Saturdays between June 1 – October 31 2021 will be required to purchase a new package, and sign a new and updated contract. This rebooking process ONLY applies to Saturdays during prime season. In these instances I will be holding prices at their previously booked value, plus I will be offering an additional 10% off these packages. I request that you read the section titled ‘Additional’ to better understand why I have made this extremely difficult decision. If you are looking at rebooking for a Thursday, Friday or Sunday date in 2021, I am happy to adjust your current contract, honouring our previously agreed upon rates, and change your final payment date to reflect the new wedding date.
2. Backup Plans:
I believe during this time it’s important to keep sight of what matters most about your wedding day. No matter what, you will still be marrying the person you love and continuing to spend your lives together! You will still celebrate this with the love and support of your favourite people! Your day will still be beautiful, joyous, absolutely unique, and special to the two of you! Hold this truth close, hug your love, smile, and remind one another of this.
Should you need to change your wedding plans, there are many solutions that I have seen emerge over the past couple of weeks. I thought I would share a few of them with you. People are being creative and crafting new plans to suit the unique needs of each couple. Couples have opted to change their date, alter venues to entirely outdoor spaces with tents such as backyards, cottages, or parks, and/or reduce the size of their gathering. Others have opted to get married at city hall or elope somewhere beautiful with an officiant and plan to host the party later to celebrate, and some are getting married privately and live-streaming their event. Truly, people are being wonderfully creative about their wedding plans, and I encourage you to remove the word ‘cancel’ from your minds when considering your options.
3. Additional:
I know it seems like an easy decision to move to 2021, but the reality is that you might face additional fees to move to 2021 depending on the date you chose – and this is not because we are trying to take advantage, it is because we, as small business owners have to do this in order to stay in business. Every single business on this planet is facing hardship right now and the future is uncertain for many – especially those in the wedding industry.
Most of your vendors, myself included are very small businesses who are being impacted greatly during this time, and many cannot afford to move your wedding to 2021. At the risk of over sharing on behalf of many of the small businesses you’ve hired, it is important to shed light on the fact that this means your vendors will be deferring, most of, if not all of their income for 2020. Not to mention, the loss of a large part of 2021’s income – as Saturday’s in prime wedding season will become transfers from 2020.
I am conscious of each couple’s situation and how truly devastating it is to have to go through this process, and that it’s no one’s fault. So only weddings being postponed to Saturday’s within the prime wedding season in 2021 will requite a new deposit. I’m so sorry that it may feel at your expense. I, along with many other small businesses in this industry, am truly just trying to stay afloat throughout this season so that I can continue my business into the future. Please let me know if you have any concerns about it as I’m happy to chat on the phone or in more detail.
Again, I would like to encourage you to stay open to changing your wedding to weekday date in 2020, a date later in the season such as November or December 2020, or an ‘off season’ date in 2021 such as January 1 – May 30 or November 1 – December 31.
4. Articles, Links, and Resources:
I understand that you may be feeling lost and unsure about where to begin tackling all of this, and making the right decision for yourselves. I want to remind you that your vendors care about you and your wedding! While this is the first wedding you may have planned, many of us know the industry inside and out, and we’re more than happy to be your number one resource to consult during this time. 🙂
I have seen many articles and blog posts published over the last few days, and feel that the one linked below does the best job of summing up key points to consider. While you’re reading, keep in mind that this is an American publication, so read it with an understanding that our situation in Canada remains different from the U.S.
Next, if you’re not currently working with a wedding planner, but are struggling to wrap your mind around any changes to your plans, now may be the time to consider speaking with a planner. I would be more than happy to recommend some fantastic wedding planners to you if you’re considering hiring one. A good place to start might be speaking with my good friend Shannon Bellisle, who is an incredible planner in Southern Ontario. She is an incredible talent, easy to speak with, has great and creative ideas, and really wants to help couples out during this difficult time.
Here is another great article written by local wedding planner, Twelft Night Events, which dives deeper into this crisis and how to manage your wedding plans moving forward. https://www.twelfthnightevents.com/blog/crisis-management-covid-19-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR01d0msuy1dcQZnEkF9bgPLQd9fSNQO0Tfr3ClRBM6zaoQhUmTL7ThpNJU
I know you may be feeling all kinds of ways about your upcoming wedding plans, and every couple’s situation surrounding this is completely different with different circumstances. So please let me know if you would like to have a conversation about this, I’m happy to help!
A great quote from the first article linked above: “We are in the business of joy. We are the last group of people who want couples to be unhappy. Right now people will show up for you like no other.”
We are all taking this day by day, and I will be sure to keep you updated with any further changes or resources I find that can be helpful to you. Remember, I’m in your corner and here to help!
Let’s keep our communication open, and I look forward to connecting with you soon!
xo,
Jenn
Let’s stay connected!
@jennifersee.studios
P.S.
If you have the means and the mental energy right now, consider finding ways to support some of the small business owners you’ve hired. For example, purchasing flower arrangements from your florist, ‘change the dates’ from your calligrapher, albums and prints from your photographer :), or meals to-go from your caterer. Alternatively, you can support them without spending any money, by referring other couples to them who are planning their weddings. Even simply checking in with them can go a long way emotionally. We’re all in the same boat, and we’ll all need to help and support one another. I truly believe in the saying ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ and personally keep this in mind as we make purchases and try to support small and local businesses wherever possible.