Having to postpone your wedding is awful! You have been planning for months, maybe years, and right now it might seem like everything is ruined—but it doesn’t have to be! This comprehensive list will provide you the steps necessary to efficiently postpone your wedding with GRACE & STYLE!
As a soon-to-be-married couple, the decision to postpone your wedding can be overwhelming, particularly in a time of crisis, such as COVID-19. REMEMBER: At the end of the day, all of this extra hard work will be totally worth it when you finally get to come together with your loved ones, marry your partner and celebrate your LOVE!
TALK WITH YOUR WEDDING PLANNER
Now is the time to lean on your resources. This is why you hired a wedding planner! Contact your wedding planner to begin the postponement process. There are a lot of moving parts when planning a wedding, let alone postponing one! You have to change the date, contact family members and guests, draw up new contracts with vendors—the list goes on. Don’t drown in a sea of information, let your wedding planner be your life raft!
READ YOUR CONTRACTS
Before contacting any vendors, re-read all your contracts! Check the fine print for their cancellation and/or rebooking policies, as well as the “act of God” or force majeure clauses. This information will determine how you will proceed with your vendors.
If you invested in wedding insurance, that’s AMAZING! Contact your insurance company and check what your policy will cover. If you don’t have insurance, no big deal—but now that you see the value, be sure to have a policy set up for your postponement date!
SET EXPECTATIONS
It is important to understand that changing the date of your wedding is also going to increase the potential for extra costs. Most vendors are going to try their hardest to meet your new date at the same cost, but it is not always possible. They will have to exert extra time and resources, so the payments may not be able to remain the same.
Some vendors or services may not be available if you are moving your date to another year. Try to be flexible and work with your vendors. You can still have your BIG DAY with the perfect florist or the photographer you always wanted if you are willing to COMPROMISE.
SELECT A NEW DATE
Selecting a new date can be tricky, especially in a time of crisis when we don’t really know what is going to happen yet. At this point, you have to consider your PRIORITIES. Every postponement decision is going to be based around what is absolutely necessary for you to have on your wedding day. Start with what is MOST important to you (i.e. family, venue) and move down the list from there.
What are the best possible new dates for us?
Will our VIP guests be available to attend?
What dates can our venue accommodate?
Are our priority vendors available?
Will the remaining vendors be available?
Be prepared to be FLEXIBLE. Remember, you are rescheduling your wedding into a future season that is already partially planned, so prime days at popular venues may not always be available.
ASSEMBLE YOUR NEW WEDDING TEAM
Now that you have chosen a new date and contacted your priority vendors, take a moment to make sure everyone understands the changes that are being made. Don’t worry: Your wedding planner will gather the addendums to the former contracts to document these changes.
Use all the hard work you and your wedding planner have already done as an outline. Communicate with your vendors and confirm that they will stick as best they can to the original plans. Moving forward with the postponement is so much easier once everyone has a shared understanding of the situation. The goal is to plan you a wedding as similar as possible to the one you were planning all along: YOU CAN STILL HAVE YOUR DREAM WEDDING—just on a different date!
ANNOUNCE YOUR NEW DATE
Once you have chosen a new wedding date, send out a formal announcement to inform your guests. What you do next depends on where you are in the wedding planning process:
If you haven’t sent out invitations yet, you may want to consider sending a digital ‘Change-the-Date’ rather than the traditional paper card due to sanitation concerns related to COVID-19. Then you can follow up with the traditional timeline sending the paper invitations 6 to 10 weeks prior to the event.
If your invitations have already been mailed and you don’t want to spend a fortune re-sending cards, consider digitally sending revised invitations matching the original design. Or if you feel your wedding has moved a far enough date, scrap the original and choose a whole new invitation entirely. This is still your day, and after all the strife you have been through for this wedding you deserve a BEAUTIFUL invitation to match the occasion!
TAKE A MOMENT
Postponing and re-planning a wedding can be one of the most stressful experiences of your life—this is a big deal, it is your WEDDING DAY after all. You wanted everything to go perfectly, but a wrench got thrown in the plans. If you are feeling distressed or overwhelmed, take a moment to RELAX and take a few deep breaths—whatever is currently stressing you out will still be there in a few minutes, it can WAIT.
Remember to take time for yourself. You will be better off if you give your mind a moment to rest. Don’t waste your time getting caught up in the disappointment of having to postpone. Channel your energy into the areas where you will need it most, like planning your awesome NEW wedding! At the end of the day, all this hard work will be totally worth it when you and your loved ones celebrate safely on your BIG DAY!
Honey Bee Weddings 