Steps to Reschedule Your Wedding During COVID
Compare Dates
If you are considering rescheduling your wedding, the first step would be to find a date that all of your vendors and venue are available. I try to make this as easy as possible by providing a Google doc that I update in real time. It has all of the dates I am booked as well as soft holds. I try to update it as fast as possible, but there is sometimes a lag between a couple sending an email and me reading the email, so while it is not 100% guaranteed to be accurate, it is pretty close. By providing a google doc, my availability is always easily accessible when you are in talks with your venue and other vendors.
Book Your New Date
As soon as you have a date in mind, email me to double check that it’s available. I will add it to the soft holds category on my Google doc. Then, I will send you an addendum to sign to transfer the contract over to the new date. The date is not officially booked until the addendum is signed. Unfortunately, I can’t hold Plan B dates for an extended period of time without a signed addendum. If you choose a date I am not available, I will send over a cancellation contract and unfortunately the retainer will be non-refundable. However, with the Google doc, hopefully we can avoid a cancellation!
Payment
Original payment schedules remain the same, even if the wedding date changes. This helps to ensure that cash flow remains constant during year two of the pandemic and guarantees survival for my small business. Thank you for your understanding and support!
Steps to Replan Your Wedding to Procede and be COVID safe
So you don’t want to postpone and just want to get married! Here are things to consider when moving forward with your wedding:
Check MDHHS health regulations
In order for your wedding to legally take place, it must abide by the laws or you risk it getting shut down or your vendors not being able to attend. If a vendor works an illegal event during COVID, they are subject to a $500-$1000 fine, a misdemeanor, and loss of business license. The consequences are severe. Luckily, there are ways to have a COVID safe wedding, and after the 2020 season, we learned how great and normal feeling they can still be! Currently, as of March 5th, outdoor weddings are allowed 300 people and indoor weddings 25 people. See the FAQ page on Michigan.gov here for further explanation/clarification/direction.
Plan an Outdoor Wedding
Your venue might have an outdoor option, you might be able to switch to an outdoor venue if your current venue cancels your wedding, or you might be able to have a private estate wedding by using the lawn and putting up a tent at a family home. This is the safest option, and what half of my weddings in 2020 did. So, keep your original wedding date/vendors/most plans, just rework the location. In addition, guest limits for outdoor weddings are much higher than indoor weddings during COVID, so you may be able to keep your original guest count or just slightly reduce it depending on the restrictions. For 2020, the limit for outdoor weddings was around 100 people for most of the summer, so for 2021, I would expect 100 people to be the minimum and am hoping for it to be even higher. (AS OF MARCH 5TH, OUTDOOR LIMITS HAVE BEEN RAISED TO 300 PEOPLE)
COVID Safety Measures
If preceding with your wedding during COVID, there are some things that my 2020 couples did that made everyone feel safer!
-They asked guests to have a negative COVID test prior to attending.
-They provided masks for guests (sometimes they were fun wedding favors with their names/dates embroidered on them).
-They had masks made that matched their gowns/dresses/suits.
-They had a wide footprint so that guests were able to spread out. This meant getting a larger tent and spreading out the tables, fewer people to a table and seated with households, setting up lawn games outside the tent for those who didn’t feel comfortable dancing, spreading the seats out at the ceremony, etc.
-They provided hand sanitizer at all seats in case guests didn’t have their own.
-They hired caterers that had bars with plexiglass, and that offered a low contact food buffet (guests never serve themselves). Also, everything was disposable like dinnerware, cups, etc.
-They did not do a receiving line.
-They took their portraits outside so no one was unmasked in a group standing close together indoors. This can be done on the steps of the church, in front of beautiful glass windows, or in gardens.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
My venue is allowing us to procede with our wedding even though it’s not following MDHHS guidelines. Can you still attend?
This would depend on the restrictions not being followed. If they don’t require guests to be masked at all times, that is something normal we’ve seen at all weddings. If they are allowing double the number of guests that are legally allowed indoors, then that’s different. I could be charged a fine, be charged with a misdemeanor, or lose my business license. Not to mention, if you have a second photographer, I am not able to put my employees in an unsafe working environment due to liability. In addition, I owe it to all of my wedding clients that I am operating my business in a safe manor so as not to expose other couples/guests/weddings to COVID. I shoot weddings every weekend, so I absolutely do not want to end up a super spreader and carrying COVID from wedding to wedding! That would be awful. I would also hate to have to call couples and tell them that I contracted COVID at a wedding that was ignoring regulations, so that I wasn’t able to attend their wedding. I can’t imagine how sad and stressed that would make couples who I’ve built a relationship with and who trust me to shoot their wedding. Lastly, shooting weddings is my full time job. If I contract COVID and have to stay home and quarantine for 2+ weeks, then I lose half of my income for the month— and that’s if I don’t have a severe case. If I have a moderate or severe case, I could be home for months. As a self employed worker, I don’t have a bank of sick days or disability pay. For all of these reasons, even though I know it’s hard and you really want to get married, I ask that you think about all of those involved and try to amend plans moving your wedding outdoors or postponing or reducing guest count so that all attending can be safe. Thank you for understanding.
We want to get married on our original wedding date but postpone our large reception. Can we split coverage or book an additional day?
Absolutely! If you’re thinking about doing this, let’s talk on the phone. We can go over how many hours you have booked, how many you’ll need on the original date, and then figure out if you need additional hours for the second date. You’ll be invoiced separately for any additional hours that you need to add on. Your addendum will clearly outline our agreement.
We want to get married on our original date and cancel our big reception outright. Can we use our remaining balance for a wedding album instead?
Absolutely! This is not a problem. We can schedule a time to talk, go over the coverage you’ll need, subtract anything that’s leftover and put it towards the cost of an album.
Are you comfortable shooting my wedding during COVID?
As long as you are following the guest limits by the MDHHS, then yes! I will most likely be double masked and wearing my low key hipster goggles to stay safe :) . I will do my best to stay socially distanced by shooting with long lenses and carry hand sanitizer at all times.