Hey y’all, Alisha here, and I wanted to address the ever-changing coronavirus situation that is changing the landscape of wedding season for 2020. Wedding planning during Covid19 is a huge challenge for everyone right now, especially weddings that are coming up within the next few weeks. Due to the highly contagious nature of Coronavirus/Covid19, extra precautions need to be taken, and social distancing is critical.

If your wedding is happening within the next 30-90 days, I bet you’re feeling the stress, and believe me, your vendors are, too! First things first, take a deeeeeep breath. This too shall pass, and there are loads of professionals that want to help you, because we’re all in this together!

Here are a few steps to take to understand what your options are:

1. Review your contracts

Not just during a pandemic, but any time you are considering making a change to a service or product you’ve purchased for your wedding, review your contract to see what your options are. Many vendors already outline a clear cancellation policy or a postponement policy. Review your contracts to see what yours says, and if it isn’t clear, be sure to reach out to your vendors for clarification. Do note that the majority of vendors will gladly transfer your deposit to a new date, but an outright cancellation typically still follows the standard cancellation clause.

2. Contact your venue about contingency planning.

Many venues are operating business as usual until instructed by their local health authority and government to cease operations. In Toronto, all non-essential businesses are closed and all public gatherings over 50 are banned until March 31st 2020. However, this excludes banquet halls for wedding celebrations and funeral gatherings. Therefore, whether or not your event needs to be postponed will be at the discretion of the venue. Most venues that are offering postponements are doing so within 2020 dates with no penalty. Some venues are also allowing clients to lower their minimum guest count in case they have many guests that can no longer attend. That said, popular venues will run out of dates very quickly, so it is important to make the decision quickly and reach out as soon as you can.

3. Cancellation Insurance

If you purchased cancellation insurance, reach out to your provider immediately to understand what your options are and what is covered. However, if you are interested in purchasing it now, be clear about your questions regarding Covid 19 because many insurers are no longer issuing policies with coverage regarding coronavirus.

4. Destination Weddings

Due to the high number of travel restrictions in place around the world, it is very likely that you will need to cancel your destination wedding or postpone for a later date. Reach out to your planner or your destination contact and explore your options, and inform your guests ASAP so they can adjust their travel plans/cancel their reservations.

5. If your wedding is happening in a few months..

Take a step back and breathe. Don’t panic! You still have time, and continue to monitor official sources for information on how the pandemic is affecting your community. You can also follow the steps above in reaching out to your venues and vendors just to get an assessment of how they are planning to proceed in the coming months and how this may potentially affect your wedding date. That being said, you may want to continue locking down your favourite vendors sooner than later because everyone those who are rescheduling will now be looking at the same pool of vendors. Wedding planning during Covid19 and the immediate aftermath will be tricky, but there are lots of resources out there (like wedding planners) that can offer some strong guidance!

Some final thoughts

Stay safe and stay healthy. Practice social distancing and please, please stay calm. Like I said earlier, this too shall pass, and what a story for your grandkids! Please note that we will be updating this article as new information becomes available.  Contact us today if you have any wedding planning questions or are ready to get started on your dream day!