If you had a Spring or early Summer wedding planned for 2020, I can only imagine the stress you must be going through right now. First and foremost, I want to start this post off by saying do your absolute best not to panic in the face of COVID-19. Panic and decisions based in emotion will only cause you to stress more and will make this whole thing that much worse. If your wedding is coming up this weekend, I really feel for you. This has to be a very stressful moment for you. If you still have a few weeks before your wedding date, take a deep breath and let’s figure out some solutions!

Remember, at the end of the day your wedding is about celebrating your love, not the big party that comes with it. Don’t let the connotation of what a wedding “should” be get in the way of your love. 

Do your best to think about things rationally. It will be very easy to let fear, frustration, and uncertainty get in the way of your level headedness, but focus on what’s important and how to come up with a solution that will minimize any losses you may incur as well as be the best decision for you and your loved ones. 

So what can you do in this scenario? How can you make the most out of your wedding day without knowing what’s going to happen?

When it comes to canceling and rescheduling, I’m sure you’d agree, it should be a last resort. You’ve spent tons of your time planning, have invited your guests, and have booked your vendors. Canceling or rescheduling could cost you all your deposits and all the time you spent planning. If you’ve spoken with your venues, and they’re open to alternative plans for your wedding day, I highly encourage you to consider these options.

1. Invite family and friends via Facebook or an online invitation before printing invitations.

If you have yet to send out your invites to your guests and are hesitant to place an expensive order on printed invites that you won't be able to be change should you have to change your date, there are plenty of online tools you can use to invite your family and friends for the time being until there is an update regarding how long we should expect the ban on events to last. You can invite your family and friends via something like Facebook, Paperless Post, or Evite. You won’t need to purchase printed materials and pay for postage and you should be easily able to update or change your dates if necessary afterward. Alternatively, a phone call or making a video invite on YouTube that you can send out are other options you have.

2. Limit the number of people attending the wedding to just immediate family and close friends. 

Your friends and family will understand. Given the times and everything going on, it’s likely a number of your guests won’t want to take the risk anyway. If you’re able to limit the number of people who attend, your venues may be willing to work with you a little bit (maybe not, but worth a shot!). While you may still lose money on catering and some of your expenses, it beats losing everything due to a cancelation.

3. Live stream your wedding for your family and friends.

If you do go the route of a small number of guests, you can always set up your phone and live stream the wedding ceremony on Facebook for your friends and relatives to watch. If you decide you think it’s best not to include anyone else at your wedding except for you and your fiance, going live will allow you to include your family and friends as a part of it. You can always host a more affordable celebration once this all passes over. 

4. Consider switching to an elopement.

After all, the day is about celebrating your love! While it’s definitely much more ideal to be surrounded by your family and friends, the day is about the two of you coming together as one. A very small intimate elopement will allow for you to keep your wedding date, go venue-less, keep your photographer/videographers/officiant/flowers, and you can still live stream the ceremony if you’d like.

Remember, if you can afford to, don’t panic too early. We don’t know where things will be in the next 30 days and we really don’t know where things will be in the next 5-6 months. Wedding planning is stressful enough as it is. Take things day by day and try not to make a major decision too early. We’ll all get through this, and your wedding day will still be one of the most memorable days of your life no matter what happens.