What will weddings look like in the age of social distancing?

They say rain on your wedding day is good luck, but what about a pandemic?

Stress, drama and sweet surprises are all part of wedding planning during a pandemic.

Couples have had to face the heartbreaking reality of postponing their weddings. As the novel coronavirus outbreak unfolds, the modern wedding industry faces an unprecedented challenge and couples are downscaling their celebrations.  Proms, conventions, festivals, graduations, baby showers, birthday parties, and mitzvahs have been cancelled or postponed. We are collectively feeling the heaviness, loss, and disappointment of not being able to celebrate, in-person.

COVID-19 pandemic is still super up in the air, and everyone's wedding is going to be affected in a different way. We're not gonna try to pretend we have all the answers to all the unique and difficult scenarios, but we do recommend starting with these 3 things:

1. Postpone instead of canceling

You may feel defeated and simply don't have the energy to reschedule all of the wedding things, but this is YOUR wedding—and you're not gonna let this pandemic get you down. You call the shots! Sure, it's going to look different: It may be much smaller, it may be during an off-season, or it may be in a totally different location, but the result will be the same: You will marry the love of your life and it will be meaningful and heartfelt and magical. Regardless of where or when. Don't let this situation break your spirit—just take a deep breath, and begin putting together a Plan B.

Another benefit to rescheduling: It supports the small business owners involved with your wedding. Many of your vendors are mom-and-pop shops, and postponing your wedding instead of canceling it helps keep them in business.

2. Communicate with your vendors 

The main thing you'll want to do is to have serious discussions with your venue and vendors (virtually or over the phone, of course!) about the potential impact of COVID-19 on your wedding. If you have a wedding planner, this is something they can facilitate. Otherwise, you'll need to reach out to your venue and vendor team individually. There will undoubtedly be a varying response from them—most will be more than willing to help you reschedule, while others may lock you within your contract. Know where you stand with your venue/vendor team before doing anything else, and refer back to your contracts for the cancellation and postponement policies as well as information on any fees or non-refundable deposits.

3. Everything is figureoutable

It's one of our core values that gets us through the challenging times. Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed we want you to take a deep breath and repeat this mantra: Everything is figureoutable.

This moment in time won't last forever. We will get through it. We will come out stronger. And we will all tell our grandkids about that crazy, character-building time we were all quarantined.