Unfortunately, COVID-19 has forced so many couples to postpone their wedding. Our hearts are breaking if you’re one of them or in the tough spot to make the decision. After you make this difficult decision, you’re probably wondering how to postpone your wedding.
How to Postpone Your Wedding
Postponing a wedding is something that you never thought you’d have to do. You likely have never put any thought into it. This can make it incredibly overwhelming to figure out how to do it! Here are our seven tips for postponing your wedding.
Talk to everyone involved in the wedding
Be sure to keep friends and family who are involved in the wedding in the loop. This includes your parents, close family members, and members of the wedding party. Since you’re trying to figure out how to postpone your wedding, now is probably the perfect time to start talking to them about it!
These people will be able to serve as your “tribe” to figure out a new date for your big day. You will most likely want to keep everyone’s schedules in mind. This is especially true if you’re postponing to a date that is still in the near future.
If your parents or other family members are financially helping you with the wedding, you will need to talk numbers with them. It will seem like a daunting task, but it’s crucial to figure out how postponing may affect the budget. Be prepared for the fact that they may not have any wiggle room in their budget to accommodate for changes. Everyone is going through a lot right now!
Speak to your vendors
Have you made the decision to postpone and have a general idea of when you want to postpone to? Now you’ll need to discuss this with all of your vendors.
Working with a wedding planner gives you a huge advantage here. We will be able to help you with calls or emails to vendors to find a date that works for most, if not all of them. We will also be able to help you look through all of your vendor contracts to navigate through them. We’ll help you figure out what everyone’s policy is for rescheduling!
Besides your planner, you should contact your venue for new dates available. Once you have a few dates that would work for you and your partner (and those close to you both!), reach out to the vendors who are most important for you to keep. You want to make sure that these vendors are going to be available for your new wedding date.
As you are doing this, please remember that all of your vendors are business owners. Many are small business owners, at that. Everyone is struggling right now, and postponing your wedding will affect them, too.
Keep in mind that you may not receive your deposit back if a vendor is not available for your new date. Some vendors may be understanding and more accommodating right now. However, contracts are in place for a reason, and vendors will stick by theirs. Know that most of them are sticking by their contracts are doing so, not because they want to, but because it is a really hard time for them to take money out of the business at this time.
If possible, set a time to talk with them on the phone or a video chat to get everything figured out. This will give both you and the vendor a chance to discuss everything much easier than through e-mail!
Find the best way to inform guests
There are a few different options for informing guests of your new date. Sending out a postponement card seems to be the most effective. Many online companies are offering up unique designs and sayings to make it a little easier for you. Just simply design it online, order them (you can even have the guest addresses printed for easy mailing!), stick a stamp on them when they arrive and out they go!
Another option is an individual phone call or message to each guest. It may not be too practical, depending on your guest count. However, sending a mass email or text to everyone is an easy way to reach out to everyone.
You can also let everyone know via your wedding planning app/website. However, keep in mind that guests probably aren’t checking your website 24/7. You’ll still need to give them a heads up to take a look. This is where the postponement card comes in handy! Some couples create a Facebook group with all of their wedding guests to inform them of the change.
If all else fails, you can individually contact everyone as we mentioned above. You could also do this with the help of your wedding party and/or immediate family members!
Don’t forget to help your guests make new travel arrangements. Offer support whenever possible! Can’t negotiate existing hotel room blocks? Give your guests the hotel’s contact information so that they can figure out how to get their money back.
Remember that some guests may not be able to attend your new date — and that’s okay! It is best not to stress about it and remember that people will be there to celebrate the love between you and your fiancé.
Take a look into your wedding insurance policy
If you took out a wedding insurance policy when you first started planning your wedding, now is definitely the time to review it. Does it cover any postponement or cancellation fees? What circumstances does it cover? If your honeymoon needs to be postponed, does it cover that?
After looking through it with the help of your wedding planner, contact your agent at the insurance company. Explain what’s going on and find out what will (or will not) specifically be covered.
Stay flexible
Remember to keep an open mind as you’re going through the process of postponing. For example, your original date may have been on a Saturday. New Saturday dates may not be available at your venue for the rest of the year, though.
You’ll want to choose a different day of the week in this case. Besides, vendors are more likely to be able to commit to your new date this way. Guests who want to celebrate your wedding with you will still be there!
Remember — it’s okay to be upset
It is 100 percent okay to feel upset and grieve the fact that you won’t be getting married on your originally planned date. While there may be bigger issues going on in the world, that doesn’t make your feelings invalid. Make sure to talk to your partner and close friends and family about how you’re feeling — they will be able to help you cope with it!
Celebrate your original wedding date
Even though it won’t be the day that you originally planned for, you should still take some time to celebrate your original wedding date with your partner! Plan a date night at home, order cupcakes from your wedding cake vendor… whatever you choose to do, spend the day together.
You will figure out how to postpone your wedding, and you will end up getting married. Whenever and wherever your wedding ends up being, it will be beautiful and well worth the wait!
Featured Image by Ashley Gerrity Photography