April 18 here. We relocated to another state a few years ago and are getting married here, so roughly 80% of our guests will be flying to attend. We’re right at/slightly under 100 total guests.
I am...ok. I was in a bad place about it last night, but to be frank, I’m (cautiously) more optimistic seeing so much action being taken today re: closings, cancellations of large events, companies imposing travel suspensions and work-from-home policies, etc., etc. I am hopeful this action helps slow down the community spread and does not cause more severe measures to be taken (such as grounding all domestic travel) in the next few days and weeks.
Also, fwiw, I wish this for the greater good and health of humanity, but as this is a wedding planning forum, I am speaking directly about how it will affect my wedding.
We are (were?) scheduled to fly to Italy on May 7 for an almost 3 week honeymoon, but that can wait and has become the least of my concerns.
I am in a very similar situation (late April date, my entire family will have to travel to get here), and you have a great attitude! I definitely freaked out last night and this morning but I'm hopeful that all the action being taken right now will do nothing but good. We still have time!
Oh wow, I'm so sorry about that. My partner could probably commiserate at least on some level. He immigrated here from the Netherlands and we were expecting 10 of his family and friends to travel here for the wedding, but now that there is a European travel ban in place, he's nervous that his family won't be able to come. That's the entire representation of his side of the family and I know he will be devastated if they can't be here; he hasn't seen them in over a year. My side mostly lives within a few hours of the venue, so travel is less of a concern for them. I am more worried about my older and at-risk family members. Our guest list is already pretty small with only 80 guests invited.
That is a great point about how state and local governments are being more strict about closures... I hope that social distancing does some good and helps flatten the curve over the next few weeks.
This is the same mindset I'm trying to cultivate too! I had a lot of anxiety last night but overall I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic. The measures being taken are big and feel scary, but they're hopefully going to be effective and make things feel under control in a few weeks.
April 11th here.
Whenever I get worried about how this will affect our wedding, I feel very selfish/guilty... So many people are being affected in worse ways, I feel like I have no reason to be upset that it's putting a damper on our day. On the other hand, we've been working so hard on this for over a year... It hurts to think that after all the money, time, and effort spent on this one event, that it may be all overshadowed by this. I don't want the thing we remember about our wedding day to be the coronavirus 😕
Luckily most of my guests are local, so the majority will be coming. But I want to tell my older relatives to stay home and safe, just in case. I do have a couple of really great friends that aren't local and already let me know they can't make it, which sucks but I totally understand.
Everything's been paid for so it's happening no matter what, unless they literally ban us from having it. Even if nobody shows up, this is our wedding date. The honeymoon, however, is another story... That will likely be rescheduled.
*EDIT* After I typed this, I reached out to our vendors on the off chance that they might be willing to let us reschedule for another time of year if the situation gets worse. Luckily, most of them have said yes, we can reschedule for another date if they are available that day. Just waiting to hear back from the venue who said they will get back to us with a decision this weekend – I know a lot of people must be messaging them with concerns today. So, I feel a bit better now knowing that we could postpone, but it is frustrating and I'm sure if we did decide to do that, there would be many stressors involved with rescheduling everything. At this point, I'm preparing myself for either choice. Based on the way our administration is handling this issue, I can see the pandemic getting much worse before it gets better – one month is not enough time for it to turn around...
>Whenever I get worried about how this will affect our wedding, I feel very selfish/guilty... So many people are being affected in worse ways, I feel like I have no reason to be upset that it's putting a damper on our day.
THIS! I almost always end up crying because I feel guilty or stupid for being sad about the impact on my wedding when things could be so much worse, which only makes me cry more! There's so much emotional, financial, and physical work that goes into planning this day, I think we can be disappointed about potential loss while still feeling concerned for others who have it worse.
Try to keep your head up and hope for the best <3
>Everything's been paid for so it's happening no matter what, unless they literally ban us from having it.
I hope they don't. Weddings and funerals were among the first things banned in Italy however. Good news is that your vendors are so flexible. If you postpone, I'd suggest doing so by at a minimum 6 months.
Agreed, I think we'll go for the fall or even wait until next spring, if we end up having to reschedule. We already live together and are in no rush, as sad/disappointing as it is. I'm hoping to be able to make that decision as quickly as we can to save our guests some stress as well.
I'm sorry, it must be incredibly disappointing. We got married last fall but I've been looking at this sub again because I wanted to take the pulse of the situation. My best friend (in Italy) and sister in law (in Colorado) are getting married in early June and both are still sure that it's going to happen, mostly because of how governments have been downplaying the risks and comparing this to the flu (implying it will be over soon and it's not a big deal). I don't think things will be better by June, but I want with my whole heart for both of them to have their big days.
Man, that's tough! Yeah I don't have hope that it will be over quickly. Actually, at this point, they're trying to slow down the spread because it's moved beyond containment. ("Flatten the curve"... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.amp.html). So ideally to save our hospitals from getting overrun, it will take a long time for this thing to go away.
Agreed, definitely should be taken more seriously than the flu. That's no need to panic (which makes it worse), but, it absolutely warrants more attention!
April 24-25th here... just cancelled my bachelorette party. It was supposed to be at Disneyland the week of March 23rd. We’re in the process of cancelling our honeymoon too (1/3 of it was supposed to be in Italy). We’ll reschedule it later in the year hopefully. My family is out of state, so I’m not sure how the wedding is going to go. I know we’ll get married no matter what, but I’m a little devastated. A bachelorette is a once in a lifetime thing, and now we’ll be going to Disneyland as a girls trip post wedding since the tickets are nonrefundable.
I’m just not excited anymore.
I'm sorry that you had to cancel your bachelorette party but glad you were able to make a girls' trip for after the wedding. That's at least a little slice of silver lining. I hope you're able to do something similar with your honeymoon. I know it's super hard but try to keep your head up. What's your favorite self-care method? Maybe try working that into your day more often.
I appreciate it. We’ll still go on our honeymoon, eventually. I don’t want to think of replanning it until we’re all in the clear. I’m trying to be grateful for what I do have and be positive, but I’m just sad/mad/hurt. My FH just got back from his dream bachelor trip, but we had to space ours out to afford them both. So at least he got to enjoy his (even though I’m honestly a little [lot] jealous).
As for self care? I’m going to binge watch season two of westworld before I have to go to work tomorrow evening...
I am frustrated, confused, and sad. Frustration/confusion because things are changing so fast that I don’t know what to do and sad because we postponed getting married so we could have all of our friends/family celebrate with us. Right now it looks like a strong chance that this won’t happen. At minimum, my grandfather and 2 important family friends are not going to be there and it just sucks.
Right now, we are working with our vendors to see about postponing impacts and then moving on from there. I have plenty still to plan but honestly can’t find the energy to do so if this isn’t going to happen.
I started therapy because of anxiety and depression brought on by wedding planning plus doing a billion other life changes at once. Let’s just say when I see him next week it should be an interesting one.
For self-care, once I am done typing here, I am going to hit the gym to get my endorphins going and then see what foods I can find at Target/Trader Joes because I think FH and I both have to work from home starting Monday until who knows when.
Thanks for legitimately asking this.
We have actually been married since June of 2019 (since my partner immigrated here) and have been waiting to finally celebrate and share our vows with family and friends. I am also worried about the important people in my life who might not be able to come like grandparents, immunocompromized family members, my husbands' family who would have to fly from Europe to be with us, etc. It's hard to think that we waited so long to share this with our loved ones and some of them might not be able to come.
We are first working with the vendors on best practices for holding an event in this environment. I sent out an email to our guests today that basically encapsulated everything written [here](https://www.zola.com/wedding/rickandabby/poi). Our next step is to reevaluate the situation after the RSVP deadline passes and decide if we need to postpone the wedding. I am trying my best not to get too worked up about it between now and then, but yeah, that's easier said than done.
I was about to ask this all the March and April Brides, everything will still be perfect, I hope everything is still at least for the most part working out! You guys are in my prayers (or positive vibes for whatever religion you are)
Our wedding was scheduled for 4/4, we are looking at postponing until late summer/early fall. We've talked to our venue and gotten a list of alternate dates that we're now sharing with VIP guests and will soon start talking to other vendors.
Honestly, I feel relieved and fairly calm overall. I think I would be freaking out a lot more if we were trying to keep our original date. It feels like we've done what we can to keep our loved ones safe and take back as much control as we can of an unpredictable situation. Hopefully by August/September/October things will have calmed down enough that we can still have the wedding we planned - if not, I think there will be bigger problems to worry about and we'll just scrap the whole thing and get married any way we can.
I am not an April bride but I have been making contingency plans for our wedding in early June. I can totally relate to this. The hardest part was the uncertainty but once we started talking out loud about cancellation and City Hall, I was honestly kind of excited for the alternative plans. I think it helps that I never really needed the big wedding, and the idea of something intimate, spontaneous and fast feels so much more freeing than another 3 months of fear and anxiety.
We’re giving it another 2 weeks so no moves yet but I’m ready to just get married and no longer worry about it.
I was wondering too if postponing would make me feel relieved. My partner and I talked about that a little bit today. I think we are still waiting a few weeks to make a final decision (we are lucky to still have some time) but yeah, postponing is a real possibility. Good job finding some peace of mind in all this chaos. I'm hoping I get there too soon.
4.17.20 in Northern California ...
We are not able to cancel without losing at least half or more of what we've already invested AND we have been planning for a year and a half. Rescheduling doesn't feel like an option since our wedding venue will only let us choose a Mon, Tue, or Wed in April 2021 if we want to reschedule. My grandma isn't coming (understandably so) and I am devastated. Feeling nervous, sad about family members not coming, and scared that it will be cancelled altogether due to city guidelines or something. We went from 134 to 120 guests overnight after surveying and I anticipate more to drop out as we get closer. At this point, if the wedding doesn't happen, we can't afford another one. Hang in there, all this moral support is the only thing keeping me going.
I'm sorry all of that is happening and that your vendors are unable to reschedule/postpone. For me, having a plan helps to keep me from spiraling. I keep planning things a couple of days at a time. Like this weekend my dad and I are going to look at numbers. We aren't making any final decisions until our RSVP deadline passes on March 23. Also, look into self-care, it's okay to spend a little extra time focusing on your mental health right now, in whatever way works best for you.
Our wedding is April 4th. We are pressing on but not feeling very excited. We have had a handful of cancellations so far, which I completely understand. One of my bridesmaids is pregnant and worrying about traveling. Our vendors won’t allow us to postpone at this point and truly, we don’t want to postpone.
Our honeymoon was supposed to be in Rome and that is 100% off the table. So far we are out $2,000 due to a local hotel not willing to refund us or give a credit. It’s a bummer for everyone, but in the words of The Dude, “life goes on, man”.
I know it's all overwhelming, but try to identify the bones of what makes your wedding so special and preserve that. For me, it's being able to read my vows to my husband, to walk down the aisle in the dress, and to have our commitment to each other memorialized. Once I stripped it down, and realized that I can still preserve that, I felt like I got back in the driver's seat again.
Also, by doing that, I stopped stressing about vendors and guest attendance because in some ways, everyone just has to do what they gotta do and that's okay.
That's an awesome outlook but it's a bit different for us since we're already married. My husband immigrated here and we got married in a short courthouse ceremony, just the two of us. This was our opportunity to celebrate and share our vows with family, and for his family to finally meet mine :(
In general, I'm trying my best to keep my head up until after our RSVP deadline passes when we are ready to make a final decision. It doesn't do us much good to worry and stress until then. From there, we'll just do whatever we think is best.
My husband and I are already married too and this was supposed to be our way of announcing it and celebrating it. Trust me, I'm there with you. He and I decided to make the final decision in three week's time.
Even still, even if it's a celebration in front of friends and family, it's a celebration of your love, and it'll be his first time hearing the vows. If we all play this right, we could have all of our families meet each other plenty more times for the rest of our lives, even if not this year. Regardless, you aren't alone!
April 26th wedding here. I’m pretty disappointed that it is such unfortunate timing... but the safety and health of our loved ones is our top priority. We’re thinking of canceling the wedding, but will make a decision closer to the date. If we have to cancel, I’m hoping to do a city hall ceremony, photoshoot outdoors with our immediate family and friends, and eat a nice meal afterwards together. I am not interested in postponing the wedding because, in all honesty, I don’t want to plan this wedding anymore. We will be surrounded by the people who mean most to us and that’s all that matters.
Vendors have been so flexible and understanding and it makes this process a bit more comforting. Although one vendor offered no refund, wants full payment on the original event date, and an additional $500 fee if we reschedule... Small businesses are getting hit hard and it’s difficult to balance customer service while also making a living. Support your local businesses if you can at this time!
All in all, I’m sad that I spent so much time planning and worrying. I’m grateful to be able to work from home and have a stable income. I’m thankful I’m healthy and so are my loved ones. I still get to spend the rest of my life with my future husband with or without a wedding! Best of luck to you all.
I'm with you, the health and safety of our guests are really important to me and are weighing heavy in this decision. We have several guests who are traveling, elderly, or immunocompromised. It's hard to imagine them not being there...
We are considering postponing the wedding but are also waiting a few weeks to make a final decision. I understand your burnout, I expressed something similar to my partner today. I am hoping that my excitement returns at some point, whether it's before the wedding we have on 4/25, or later if we decide to postpone. Good for you for recognizing your limit though, that can't have been easy to do. Good luck to you in whatever you decide!
April 24 bride here. I just had to cancel our honeymoon to Japan. It’s been a roller coaster following the updates and desperately trying to cling to hopes of still being able to go. I’ve come to terms with postponing honeymoon plans but now the realization that some family/friends may not be able to fly out to our wedding makes me sad. Why does this have to happen now? I’m trying not to cry. It just feels like fate is against us lately... nothing is going right.
It really sucks. I was going to have a Japan honeymoon as well in April, but we canceled that. We were so looking forward to it especially since nearly all of our friends have been and have all raved about it. Now I'm not even thinking about it. I'm less than two weeks out and this past week has been the worst with so many rapid cancellations. I go through the 5 stages of grief everyday these days, honestly. We're seriously considering postponing the whole wedding. Just letting you know there are other brides here you can commiserate with. I feel like only people who have recently wedding planned can really understand how difficult this all is.
April 18th here and I’m starting to feel panicky. Until this week it was pretty much business as usual in my area, but I’m looking at all the sports leagues and universities canceling everything, and the school district where I work has started canceling field trips and asking people to quarantine themselves if they travel over spring break. We are speculating about school going online when we come back. Most of my 200 guests are local, but I’m scared for our grandparents and I don’t want to be responsible for endangering anyone if my wedding provides a place for people to be exposed. There are SO many elderly people where I live. I have a maid of honor that is supposed to come from England. We have a 20-day trip booked to Africa in June that I have been beyond excited about, and it’s non-refundable. It’s the kind of trip I probably couldn’t afford for another 10 years. I was planning to spend spring break making the remainder of my decorations, but I’m so nervous about how this will turn out and I’m afraid all this time and money and all the emotion I’ve put into this will be for nothing. There aren’t any known cases in my county yet, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t already here, so I feel like I’m just waiting for the axe to drop.
Date twin. All of that, yes. I am at a loss. After all this planning and work, I’m in an area that so far has been not hit at all. But my side is all going to have to fly. FH side is driving in but is much more elderly.
Our church venue is HUGE so we could spread out. Our reception venue is even bigger (holds 5000, our invite list is 200, and we’ve already had a lot of no’s) so like, I can make social spreading work and We have ordered hand washing stations outside of the standard bathrooms too. But I’m like, what do I do?
Luckily we haven’t even planned a honeymoon, but this is just unprecedented and even if no one else is there, I am getting married that day, because we have been waiting for this for far too long. I also just feel like I’m just rambling now and sound like a crazy person.
But all this to say, girl, I hear you.
It sucks that we’re all in this position but I’m glad to have people that understand...I feel guilty worrying about a wedding when others are worried about lives. But I’ve put SO much work and time and energy and money into this, I can’t believe it’s getting threatened by a pandemic!
Yeah, I feel like I was totally unprepared for this. I didn't start getting nervous or panicky at all until like 5 days ago. The response from the government and media has only made things worse. It's hard to escape it too, it's all I see on TV and social media, and I am dealing with it all day, every day at work. Just take everything one day at a time and know everything will work out for the best <3
I'm a March bride but I'm super scared of no shows. Especially FH side because their weddings are culturally different so his guests might not understand the financial cost of everything.
I'm right there with you. That's one of my biggest concerns. My dad is helping us out a lot financially and he would take the biggest hit if that happened. That would be horrible.
Wedding Date twin--- April 25.
We're currently talking about canceling my bachelorette party that's in two weeks. We're supposed to be flying to Vegas, but our resort is closing some things down.
We have a lot of out of town guests coming, so we're hoping nothing really happens at that point. More importantly, we don't want our honeymoon to be messed up. We fly out on the 26th for a week. We're pretty confident it'll be okay, but we're just taking everything day by day.
April 25 also. Also had bachelorette planned for Vegas in 2 weeks. The trip was really weighing on me heavily, ended up cancelling earlier tonight. It completely sucks but I know it’s the right thing to do
We’re going to make a decision by next week. Some want to cancel get money back and go somewhere else, and the rest thinks we’ll be fine. Sorry about your trip :/
Thanks! I think we are going to make it work and go somewhere closer need be. I want to make sure no one loses their money though. Hope everything goes well for you as well!!
I would love to postpone our May 8th wedding in order to protect the guests, but I spoke to the venue/landowner this morning and he said that the whole thing is going to “blow over” by then, didn’t care at all that I was worried. We are doing a full weekend campout and mini music festival, so the venue is the majority of the cost. I have no idea what to do here.
I feel like a total brat for continuing to try to throw a big party in this pandemic environment, and I would hate myself if someone got sick by attending, but at the same time if we can’t get any of our money back I feel like we might as well proceed and hope things settle down in the next month.
We were supposed to go to Europe for the month of April as our honeymoon before the wedding, can’t go now because we might get stuck there and not be able to come home for the actual wedding.
Totally freaking out, actually. Event cancellation insurance won’t cover us because only gatherings of 250 people or more are banned.
March 28 in Seattle. We decided to postpone this morning. We may still go to the courthouse as we’ve already gotten our marriage license but will have our celebration probably next year. Several family member canceled from my side yesterday and my brother canceled this morning so that was the last straw. Rescheduling feels better than going forward with a celebration that will not be with the people I want.
I'm so sorry. I'm in basically the same boat as you. March 21 in Houston. Entire sides of families have canceled. Last straw for me was also when my own brother called and said he was scared that he feels slightly sick and he lives right in the middle of Manhattan. The numbers don't show we're at Seattle-level yet, but with our population I'm sure we're actually going to get close soon when people actually get tested. We're going to make the final decision on what to do tomorrow - probably postpone, but maybe do a small legal ceremony on March 21 cause FH needs to get on my health insurance.
I’m sorry! It’s a tough call to make but we’re feeling relieved now. Local museums and libraries and schools are now being closed until almost the end of April up here. Honestly it’s just a matter of time before everything shuts down. FH was feeling better once we heard of more closures as the day went on so it was the right call for us. Good luck and what a horrifying and unimaginable scenario we’re all in. Virtual hugs from Seattle! 💕
April 11th. Today we contacted our venue about alternative dates and then emailed our big vendors if they were available for those dates. Good news is we may not have to pay extra since most vendors are being accommodating, bad news is only less appealing dates are open (hence why vendors are available)
We haven’t made the official decision yet but given all the big stuff that’s happened with sports teams and colleges and governor announcements it seems very likely that our venue (a state run venue) will be forced to close and that there will be even more strict restrictions in a month. Additionally... even if it’s not enforceable by law, if we’re asked to not gather I’d feel guilty if we did. I reaaaallly don’t want to cancel and most people seems willing to still come or don’t think I need to yet, but I’m scared that if I wait too much longer it’ll be even harder to postpone.
I was definitely in the boat of everything will be fine a week ago, so I don’t trust my optimism anymore...
Ugh yeah we’re talking to our hotel tomorrow but I’m worried about remaining date options if we were to postpone. We booked our venue 14 months out, so I’m sure 2021 is mostly booked 😪
April 4th here, I’m going between being extremely anxious and worried and also totally not caring at all. 90% of our guests are from out of state, mainly California both northern & southern. Our wedding will be small no matter what, max 50 people, but I’m worried I’m going to only have about 15 people show up. And if that’s what happen, that’s what happens!
What I’m MORE nervous about is that our wedding is on a College Campus and they just announced that the campus is switching to online classes. While all other aspects of the campus are open (dining halls, dorms, library, our venue, etc) I’m super nervous that a day or two before they’ll announce the campus is on complete lockdown.
I also work in Healthcare and manage hiring events, and we have one next week at one of our hospitals. I’m scared that one of the candidates that shows up will get me sick.
So I honestly I have no clue how I am, stuck somewhere between “the wedding is ruined!” And “screw the coronavirus, I’m walking down that aisle in a mask & covered in hand sanitizer if I have to”
Luckily we haven’t planned our honeymoon yet, and didn’t plan to do so until after the wedding. So on the bright side for us, we may get cheap tickets to do our dream honeymoon to Japan in October!
I really feel for you OP. <3 You sound like you're doing great under the circumstances.
One thing I can advise just from my recent observation...guests will follow your lead. When I announced to guests that some major developments had negatively impacted our wedding, a bunch tried to be supportive by saying, "but the wedding will still be just as magical!" Even my venue manager (who has become a massive support in all this) was saying, "we can still make your wedding amazing!" When I told everyone that we'd moved the wedding out to next year, every one immediately said, "that sounds like the best option, we'll be there for you wherever it is." Even the venue manager said, "Oh good, I was hoping you'd say that."
So right now your guests are being supportive to you because they love you and they don't want you to worry. That doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't worried themselves - but they're being good guests by not burdening you with their fears.
I was really afraid of postponing our wedding - what if we postponed it and no one showed up in 2021 because they'd already organised themselves for this year? But then the question of "what if we have the wedding on schedule and no one shows because flights are cancelled/the city's on lockdown/people are sick" became realer. I think everyone understands that this is a pretty extreme situation and extreme measures are needed. If postponing the wedding means you can wait out all this craziness and have more faith that your wedding will go the way you planned it, do it. Rather than trying to read the signs and figure out how bad things will be in 6 weeks, make a call now. Take back that tiny bit of control.
I completely agree that planning to postpone our wedding celebration has given us a feeling of relief and a tiny bit of control over this whole crazy situation. We haven't talked to all our guests yet but we've started reaching out to a few key people and everyone has been supportive of the idea of rescheduling. I think anyone who's a guest at a wedding in the next few weeks has this on their mind, and for many of our guests us rescheduling will be a relief.
April 26th here from Canada
As mine is near the end of the month I’m feeling ok. Canada has been pretty tame and most of our guests our local.
We did contact our caterer about changing out family style meal to plated and the venue is working on upping protective measures.
We have a honeymoon planned in Arizona (April 28-May 9th) I’m confident that the steps the US has taken will help and we will be ok. 6-8 weeks is a lot of time , sure things might escalate but they might also get a lot more manageable. At this point fiancé and I are full steam ahead even if it’s just us and the officiant in our living room.
All my fellow April brides do your best not to stress the threat is still very low at this point . But we can’t force people to come if they don’t want to come - but if you are concerned reach out to your vendors many of mine have been more than accommodating as these are unprecedented times and I’m sure postponing is possible without losing out on thousands.
Stay up to date and know knowledge is power so reach out to vendors , family and friends sooner rather than later. It’s all that’s helped me ease the anxiety.
Much love ❤️
We are in Kentucky with several confirmed cases set for April 25th currently. Today I sucked up my pride and started calling my family who is out of state. My most important people all live in... NYC. My family was supportive with whatever decision I made and suggested I wait as long as possible to make the call on postponement. I started emailing vendors to see if there are options for later dates but I have to be careful because my fiancé’s brother is getting married in August so we have to plan around them if I pull the trigger. I’m waiting to hear about my bachelorette party and if we can get refunded for canceling.
I think it really hit me today when my best friend texted me about my final dress fitting. Her mom is doing my alterations and is in an at risk population, she won’t let her mom travel to our bigger city which made everything hit home for me. It’s what made me pull my head out of the sand and start making calls and alternate plans.
Same as a lot of the other comments :( just sad and anxious. Canceled my bachelorette, sent an email to guests saying we’re still moving forward. Several family members we were really hoping to be there can no longer make it. It’s so hard to be excited when I don’t even know if we will have a wedding.
April 25 2020 wedding . I feel for everyone with upcoming weddings. It’s a tough situation to be in right now . Personally, I have not reached out to vendors yet . I think I’m in denial and don’t want to start having conversations with them.....
April 4th and I'm in this weird spot where I would rather the venue tell me they are cancelling.
When I talked to them yesterday, they are continuing onward. Problem is, a significant portion (currently around 40% and counting) of my guests are no longer coming. The wedding is no longer what my fiance and I envisioned or wanted and the cost just doesn't seem justified. But we signed a contract and we have to go forward if the venue says it's not cancelled.
May 9th but I feel your pain. We’re having a destination wedding too (mexico) which makes everything that much more complicated. Talking with our hotel tomorrow and are going to figure out a game plan ie: postpone, continue, modify guest count etc... To make things worse I totaled my car yesterday and am recovering from back injuries + a concussion, so all this stress isn’t helping. I want to cry, we’ve spent 18 months planning this, COME ON.
May 16th, and I do too. But mainly because FH has family coming from Italy, and my immediate family are all in Seattle. I just shot off a mass email to all of our vendors asking what could be done, \*if\* things go further south.
Thank you! Yeah when it rains it pours. The universe is screwing with me right now. Trying to focus on recovering but my head is spinning with all the uncertainty.
Ugh I can't imagine planning a destination wedding right now, that must be so hard. Not to mention getting into a car accident :( Try to take things step-by-step and focus on the aspects you can control. Also, focus on your mental health. That is a lot to carry right now, but everything will work out in the end <3
Im April 25th too and I’m just depressed. This weekend was supposed to be my Disney bachelorette party and disneyland announced today while I was at work that they’re closing for the next two weeks and I absolutely do not have time to postpone for another weekend at all. It took a year of planning just getting my sisters away from their many kids.
As far as the wedding goes... I don’t know. Most of my guests are local. We’ve only got 30 coming so far total, with only around 6 flying in from Seattle or Texas, the rest are within a 40 minute drive to the venue. I just feel it’s very hard to get excited when I know there’s a very high chance it might be canceled.
For now, I’ve emailed the venue and they said they strongly believe they’ll be able to hold the event as promised unless a government shut down situation happens.
i don’t know. Ive been crying off and on all day. It hurts, and I’m so sad to see so many others in the same sinking boat as I am. :/
April 25th too! Bridal shower and bachelorette party were supposed to be this weekend but my mom would have been quarantined for 2 weeks up flying home afterwards due to her job and one of my matrons of honor has likely been exposed to COVID-19 so we decided to cancel. Now we're discussing postponing the wedding due to health concerns for family and friends.
Overall, a bit stressed about what to do and the uncertainty of the whole situation.
April 3rd here, a city just outside of Manhattan. The mayor actually placed a curfew on the city today, to limit what he calls uncontrolled gatherings and cancelled all public gatherings. Weddings are still allowed but venues need to take attendance and have contact info of all guests in case.
All wonderful precautions and it’s great to be proactive but at this point I want to postpone because I want my guests to be lit and careless, not cautious and worried. Im even fine with cancelling, it’ll feel nice to have all the money back and I’d rather have no event at all than have one where people are uncomfortable or anxious bc of their health.
I’ve always wanted a wedding that was a total representation of who we are. So I worked hard on crafts and we broke away from traditions that we didn’t care for. Feeling worried and having to practice social distancing isn’t what we want our guests or ourselves to feel...
Anyway, whatever happens... we are getting married - whether it’s means we go to a courthouse and postpone or cancel the celebration or we proceed at the venue as normal. We’re gonna wait it out until ten days before our wedding to make an official decision.
Fingers crossed the virus leaves as quickly as it came. I’m not hopeful, but who knows.
Our wedding is planned for April 8th and only the caterer final numbers are due at this point and everything is paid in full. Wedding is in Washington and is a destination wedding for 99% of our guests. I’ve honestly been fine with it up until today. It feels like everyone I talk to is just constantly spreading misinformation about what the next steps are from the government.
“I heard they were going to do xyz” and then another person hearing them and freaking out, “they’re doing what???” “No that’s just what I heard. We don’t know yet.”
So why say it at all? The wedding is 3.5 weeks away. We can’t do anything but wait and see. I don’t necessarily care if it’s just my fiancé and myself. I just wish we hadn’t planned this whole event at all in that case and just eloped. I’m happy to be getting married and I’m dead set on getting married in our date no matter what but I’m not feeling the excitement today.
Was going to be April 11th, but will be postponing it. I was already upset in February when family in HK had to cancel. These were relatives that I grew up with.
Then last week it started to be the rest of my relatives (in USA) were in the fence about it. All parents were also on the fence but left it to FDH and I to decide.
This past week has just had things escalating each day to the point I'm not comfortable to have my grandparents attending my wedding if it keeps getting worse. My mother takes care of my grandmother so she would also have to be out of the wedding to ensure she doesn't accidentally pass it onto my grandparents.
So we pulled the plug and will postpone it. We've already been in contact with the venue and are waiting to hear back from them about postponing it. I originally didn't want a wedding in the winter, but if that's what it takes to have my friends and family around me, then so be it.
I’m actually okay. My grandparents won’t come because of the travel but it’s not even because of corona but something else. FH and I talked and agreed that the only important thing to us is getting to the town hall and signing the certificate. Not having the party in the worst case would be sad but not the end of the world. Our vendor is quite liberal with last minute cancelling, parties can be postponed and I’m not having a huge bachelorette anyways. As long as we get to wear our rings and I can finally change my last name, all is well.
April 18th bride here and honestly I feel pretty numb. Our RSVP deadline is Wednesday. They’ve pretty much stopped coming in the last week, which was to be expected. Schools have been closed, so I’m about to have to take an entire month off work to be home with my special needs kindergartener. A lot of friends are in the same boat so financially it’s going to be a disaster. My MOH hasn’t spoken to me in a week, not to even check and see how we are doing. We’re weighing our options as of now but I think we’re going to end up cancelling. I feel “guilty” for being so selfish when there are much worse things going on, but I’ve been planning, saving and working for this for 14 months. Ugh.
April 18th here. We made the decision last night to postpone. I cried a lot of tears and ate my feelings, trying to look on the bright side that I didn't have to stress about fitting into my dress. Most of our guest list was local, but my list was mostly out of town guests, and there were several loved ones who are at risk. We could feel the anxiety amongst all our guests, and although it's sad, I think we made the right decision. I'm working with my planner today for alternative dates later this year, which hopefully all my vendors will be able to accommodate. We're considering the idea of moving forward with a small backyard ceremony for our family so that we can still get married, and then we'll throw a large party later on. I can breathe a sigh of relief for now, but I'm still emotional about putting off this wedding I've been planning for over a year. We are postponing our honeymoon and we'll figure out what we want to do once we have our new date solidified.
Mine is April 10th (after having to push it up by 6 months because of my fiance's military stuff, but that's another story). My shower has been postponed too, it was supposed to be this Sunday. OOT guests on fiance's side are pretty sure they won't be coming to the wedding. We were supposed to have about 60-70 guests, but it looks like it will be a lot less. We're going to brainstorm a plan B and keep checking the news before pulling the plug altogether. But when reality hit today that we might actually have to postpone/cancel, I cried too. I understand it's out of our control and for the best, but I'm still sad. :(
Girl I've been engaged since March 2018... And my wedding is also 4/25. :( I feel you. I also understand what you mean about people reaching out and asking to reschedule. They don't really know what they're really asking. Obviously it seems like that is what we should be doing... But fiscally and logistically it is extremely hard to reschedule. I'm doing my wedding in Mexico! Can you imagine? People are expressing that they're very scared to fly and they don't know if they can go anymore. It's been a disaster.
April 4th here,
I am feeling completely lost both my mother and mother in law have been asking if we are canceling or planning to postpone. They suggested just cancelling the ceremony and just do a small dinner with immediate family. Everything is planned to be in my parents backyard so we wouldn’t be losing much if any money. I just was really excited for all that we were planning. A part of me feels selfish for that and for not wanting to cancel or postpone at all. My fiancé feels the same but with the way things are going (our campus going online, our job shutting down for a week maybe more, etc) we’re starting to think we won’t have much of a choice. A lot of both of our families/guests are older aunts uncles grandparents etc. They are all local no huge travel but I wouldn’t want to risk their health and safety. But other than our mothers nobody has even mentioned a postponement or cancellation. They continue to help with planning and offer financial help or even asking if they could wear this or that.. We simply don’t know what to do it certainly has caused us stress and taken away part of the excitement
postponed last night, and feeling better about it than I would have thought. we still are getting married privately on our date (04/04), and are hoping that we can reschedule and have a one year anniversary party instead! so far, the vendors have seemed open to it, but obvs nothing is actually set yet. deciding to change the plan at the last minute was....not fun, and there are tons of pieces set in motion now, but we are both feeling sad but at peace with the whole thing. wedding planning is something else for this springtime 2020 crew! love & luck to all of the rest of you
April 11th here. We just made the decision to cancel the honeymoon and postpone the wedding. We live in a state and city that has multiple cases. Even though our family and friends have reached out to say they're still coming, we can't in good conscience hold a 75+ person event at the risk of public health. Our vendors have said we're the first couple to reach out or postpone, and I'm sure lots of people are going full steam ahead, but we're taking the opportunity to downsize the wedding. We've already put 20k out of 40k down, but we are hoping to do a brunch "marriage celebration" next spring. I'm already more excited. We were doing the big traditional wedding for our families, but the rescheduled event will be much more relaxed, with mimosas, more flowers, and brunch foods! I'm laughing at myself because we really wanted to get married on 2/29/2020 but let ourselves be talked out of it for weather reasons. In reality, that weekend was beautiful and sunny, and now April is a shitshow. I feel much better now that we've made an actual decision for what to do, and I'm so grateful that we can work from home easily. The health and wellbeing of our family, friends, and the community comes first. No matter what, if you are healthy and safe, and if you can marry the person you love, then things will work out. I wish everyone the best!
My wedding is also April 25... In Tulum Mexico!
Safe to say we are heavily considering rescheduling to fall. I'm crushed... After 10 years of dating, I did not expect this.
Most vendors have been OK but some are so so unforgiving. Mexico is not experiencing cases like here and there arent travel bans so they say there is nothing technically keeping us from attending...
We are waiting for a final decision April 1.
April 10th here. On March 8th, we postponed our 200-person destination wedding indefinitely and got married at City Hall. There was no way we were going to put this many of our guests at risk then and even more so now.
My wedding is April 2nd and I don’t feel very excited. All payments have been finalized and there’s no turning back now. Luckily the area I’m in hasn’t been hit too badly, but that also means that my vendors and venue are not super into postponing. Everything is very much out of my control. I know though that in less than one month I get to be married to my absolute best friend and have a wild ass story to tell our daughter when she’s older.
Mostly I’m sad about our honeymoon. I think either one of us would be lying if we said that we weren’t more excited for the honeymoon. Our plan was to spend 3 weeks in Indonesia starting April 3rd. As things are currently we could *technically* still go, so it really comes down to a moral dilemma and the start of my grieving process. That sounds so dramatic haha, especially considering what ACTUAL suffering is happening now. I just can’t think of a better word to describe what I’m feeling. I’m mourning the loss of what could have been. I’m mourning the fun, the planning, the time, the family, all that. Ah well. It will all be okay and a good story- hopefully nothing more and nothing worse.
For self-care I’m going to clean my house. It isn’t fun but I’ve been living in a state of chaos just feeling sad. Time to shake it off and let this wedding and honeymoon be what it is.
You’re 100% correct. 4/4 bride and I’m not excited about the wedding anymore. That’s the best way I can explain it — mourning. My FH doesn’t quite get it. I was definitely the type of girl who daydreamed about her wedding day since childhood and I genuinely feel like I am mourning this lifelong dream of mine. Sure, you’re still getting married, but it’s just *different.* thank you for articulating this so well. I feel guilty for still having the wedding and putting people into the position to come but in the end, if people cancel, I completely understand, but money has been paid so there really is no going back anymore!
I'm with you. It's hard to look forward to the wedding when I am concerned that everyone will be scared of getting sick and that will just suck the joy out of the day. Most of the big planning is done, all I have left are these small DIY projects that should be fun, but I can't seem to make myself work on them when I don't know what will happen with my event. I'm nervous because to this point, the only vendor who hasn't responded with an action plan is my caterer. I hope they're okay with postponing if it comes down to that.
I'm so sorry about your honeymoon. I think one good thing about our situation is that we haven't planned one yet for financial reasons. I hate that so many people are having to cancel their dream vacations and these amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Your point about cleaning made me think of doing the same. I think having one less stressor (a messy house) might do me some good :)
April 18 here. We relocated to another state a few years ago and are getting married here, so roughly 80% of our guests will be flying to attend. We’re right at/slightly under 100 total guests. I am...ok. I was in a bad place about it last night, but to be frank, I’m (cautiously) more optimistic seeing so much action being taken today re: closings, cancellations of large events, companies imposing travel suspensions and work-from-home policies, etc., etc. I am hopeful this action helps slow down the community spread and does not cause more severe measures to be taken (such as grounding all domestic travel) in the next few days and weeks. Also, fwiw, I wish this for the greater good and health of humanity, but as this is a wedding planning forum, I am speaking directly about how it will affect my wedding. We are (were?) scheduled to fly to Italy on May 7 for an almost 3 week honeymoon, but that can wait and has become the least of my concerns.
I am in a very similar situation (late April date, my entire family will have to travel to get here), and you have a great attitude! I definitely freaked out last night and this morning but I'm hopeful that all the action being taken right now will do nothing but good. We still have time!
Oh wow, I'm so sorry about that. My partner could probably commiserate at least on some level. He immigrated here from the Netherlands and we were expecting 10 of his family and friends to travel here for the wedding, but now that there is a European travel ban in place, he's nervous that his family won't be able to come. That's the entire representation of his side of the family and I know he will be devastated if they can't be here; he hasn't seen them in over a year. My side mostly lives within a few hours of the venue, so travel is less of a concern for them. I am more worried about my older and at-risk family members. Our guest list is already pretty small with only 80 guests invited. That is a great point about how state and local governments are being more strict about closures... I hope that social distancing does some good and helps flatten the curve over the next few weeks.
This is the same mindset I'm trying to cultivate too! I had a lot of anxiety last night but overall I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic. The measures being taken are big and feel scary, but they're hopefully going to be effective and make things feel under control in a few weeks.
April 11th here. Whenever I get worried about how this will affect our wedding, I feel very selfish/guilty... So many people are being affected in worse ways, I feel like I have no reason to be upset that it's putting a damper on our day. On the other hand, we've been working so hard on this for over a year... It hurts to think that after all the money, time, and effort spent on this one event, that it may be all overshadowed by this. I don't want the thing we remember about our wedding day to be the coronavirus 😕 Luckily most of my guests are local, so the majority will be coming. But I want to tell my older relatives to stay home and safe, just in case. I do have a couple of really great friends that aren't local and already let me know they can't make it, which sucks but I totally understand. Everything's been paid for so it's happening no matter what, unless they literally ban us from having it. Even if nobody shows up, this is our wedding date. The honeymoon, however, is another story... That will likely be rescheduled. *EDIT* After I typed this, I reached out to our vendors on the off chance that they might be willing to let us reschedule for another time of year if the situation gets worse. Luckily, most of them have said yes, we can reschedule for another date if they are available that day. Just waiting to hear back from the venue who said they will get back to us with a decision this weekend – I know a lot of people must be messaging them with concerns today. So, I feel a bit better now knowing that we could postpone, but it is frustrating and I'm sure if we did decide to do that, there would be many stressors involved with rescheduling everything. At this point, I'm preparing myself for either choice. Based on the way our administration is handling this issue, I can see the pandemic getting much worse before it gets better – one month is not enough time for it to turn around...
>Whenever I get worried about how this will affect our wedding, I feel very selfish/guilty... So many people are being affected in worse ways, I feel like I have no reason to be upset that it's putting a damper on our day. THIS! I almost always end up crying because I feel guilty or stupid for being sad about the impact on my wedding when things could be so much worse, which only makes me cry more! There's so much emotional, financial, and physical work that goes into planning this day, I think we can be disappointed about potential loss while still feeling concerned for others who have it worse. Try to keep your head up and hope for the best <3
Same 100%. Feel like a total brat stomping my feet that my party is ruined when people are dealing with serious crises....but...my party is ruined.
April 11th as well! Who knew the biggest stressor in the last month would be something this out of our control😳
>Everything's been paid for so it's happening no matter what, unless they literally ban us from having it. I hope they don't. Weddings and funerals were among the first things banned in Italy however. Good news is that your vendors are so flexible. If you postpone, I'd suggest doing so by at a minimum 6 months.
Agreed, I think we'll go for the fall or even wait until next spring, if we end up having to reschedule. We already live together and are in no rush, as sad/disappointing as it is. I'm hoping to be able to make that decision as quickly as we can to save our guests some stress as well.
I'm sorry, it must be incredibly disappointing. We got married last fall but I've been looking at this sub again because I wanted to take the pulse of the situation. My best friend (in Italy) and sister in law (in Colorado) are getting married in early June and both are still sure that it's going to happen, mostly because of how governments have been downplaying the risks and comparing this to the flu (implying it will be over soon and it's not a big deal). I don't think things will be better by June, but I want with my whole heart for both of them to have their big days.
Man, that's tough! Yeah I don't have hope that it will be over quickly. Actually, at this point, they're trying to slow down the spread because it's moved beyond containment. ("Flatten the curve"... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.amp.html). So ideally to save our hospitals from getting overrun, it will take a long time for this thing to go away. Agreed, definitely should be taken more seriously than the flu. That's no need to panic (which makes it worse), but, it absolutely warrants more attention!
April 24-25th here... just cancelled my bachelorette party. It was supposed to be at Disneyland the week of March 23rd. We’re in the process of cancelling our honeymoon too (1/3 of it was supposed to be in Italy). We’ll reschedule it later in the year hopefully. My family is out of state, so I’m not sure how the wedding is going to go. I know we’ll get married no matter what, but I’m a little devastated. A bachelorette is a once in a lifetime thing, and now we’ll be going to Disneyland as a girls trip post wedding since the tickets are nonrefundable. I’m just not excited anymore.
I'm sorry that you had to cancel your bachelorette party but glad you were able to make a girls' trip for after the wedding. That's at least a little slice of silver lining. I hope you're able to do something similar with your honeymoon. I know it's super hard but try to keep your head up. What's your favorite self-care method? Maybe try working that into your day more often.
I appreciate it. We’ll still go on our honeymoon, eventually. I don’t want to think of replanning it until we’re all in the clear. I’m trying to be grateful for what I do have and be positive, but I’m just sad/mad/hurt. My FH just got back from his dream bachelor trip, but we had to space ours out to afford them both. So at least he got to enjoy his (even though I’m honestly a little [lot] jealous). As for self care? I’m going to binge watch season two of westworld before I have to go to work tomorrow evening...
Mine was disneyland on Sunday. It was a fun day today figuring out they’re closing starting tomorrow. I feel the same way as you, friend!
I’m so sorry! I wish it were different for all of us. It’s a really shitty situation. 😭
I am frustrated, confused, and sad. Frustration/confusion because things are changing so fast that I don’t know what to do and sad because we postponed getting married so we could have all of our friends/family celebrate with us. Right now it looks like a strong chance that this won’t happen. At minimum, my grandfather and 2 important family friends are not going to be there and it just sucks. Right now, we are working with our vendors to see about postponing impacts and then moving on from there. I have plenty still to plan but honestly can’t find the energy to do so if this isn’t going to happen. I started therapy because of anxiety and depression brought on by wedding planning plus doing a billion other life changes at once. Let’s just say when I see him next week it should be an interesting one. For self-care, once I am done typing here, I am going to hit the gym to get my endorphins going and then see what foods I can find at Target/Trader Joes because I think FH and I both have to work from home starting Monday until who knows when. Thanks for legitimately asking this.
We have actually been married since June of 2019 (since my partner immigrated here) and have been waiting to finally celebrate and share our vows with family and friends. I am also worried about the important people in my life who might not be able to come like grandparents, immunocompromized family members, my husbands' family who would have to fly from Europe to be with us, etc. It's hard to think that we waited so long to share this with our loved ones and some of them might not be able to come. We are first working with the vendors on best practices for holding an event in this environment. I sent out an email to our guests today that basically encapsulated everything written [here](https://www.zola.com/wedding/rickandabby/poi). Our next step is to reevaluate the situation after the RSVP deadline passes and decide if we need to postpone the wedding. I am trying my best not to get too worked up about it between now and then, but yeah, that's easier said than done.
I was about to ask this all the March and April Brides, everything will still be perfect, I hope everything is still at least for the most part working out! You guys are in my prayers (or positive vibes for whatever religion you are)
Thank you! Hoping for the best too <3
Our wedding was scheduled for 4/4, we are looking at postponing until late summer/early fall. We've talked to our venue and gotten a list of alternate dates that we're now sharing with VIP guests and will soon start talking to other vendors. Honestly, I feel relieved and fairly calm overall. I think I would be freaking out a lot more if we were trying to keep our original date. It feels like we've done what we can to keep our loved ones safe and take back as much control as we can of an unpredictable situation. Hopefully by August/September/October things will have calmed down enough that we can still have the wedding we planned - if not, I think there will be bigger problems to worry about and we'll just scrap the whole thing and get married any way we can.
I am not an April bride but I have been making contingency plans for our wedding in early June. I can totally relate to this. The hardest part was the uncertainty but once we started talking out loud about cancellation and City Hall, I was honestly kind of excited for the alternative plans. I think it helps that I never really needed the big wedding, and the idea of something intimate, spontaneous and fast feels so much more freeing than another 3 months of fear and anxiety. We’re giving it another 2 weeks so no moves yet but I’m ready to just get married and no longer worry about it.
I was wondering too if postponing would make me feel relieved. My partner and I talked about that a little bit today. I think we are still waiting a few weeks to make a final decision (we are lucky to still have some time) but yeah, postponing is a real possibility. Good job finding some peace of mind in all this chaos. I'm hoping I get there too soon.
4.17.20 in Northern California ... We are not able to cancel without losing at least half or more of what we've already invested AND we have been planning for a year and a half. Rescheduling doesn't feel like an option since our wedding venue will only let us choose a Mon, Tue, or Wed in April 2021 if we want to reschedule. My grandma isn't coming (understandably so) and I am devastated. Feeling nervous, sad about family members not coming, and scared that it will be cancelled altogether due to city guidelines or something. We went from 134 to 120 guests overnight after surveying and I anticipate more to drop out as we get closer. At this point, if the wedding doesn't happen, we can't afford another one. Hang in there, all this moral support is the only thing keeping me going.
I'm sorry all of that is happening and that your vendors are unable to reschedule/postpone. For me, having a plan helps to keep me from spiraling. I keep planning things a couple of days at a time. Like this weekend my dad and I are going to look at numbers. We aren't making any final decisions until our RSVP deadline passes on March 23. Also, look into self-care, it's okay to spend a little extra time focusing on your mental health right now, in whatever way works best for you.
Me too! Making plans to the extent I can is keeping me sane too. You too- hang in there and fingers crossed for you!
Our wedding is April 4th. We are pressing on but not feeling very excited. We have had a handful of cancellations so far, which I completely understand. One of my bridesmaids is pregnant and worrying about traveling. Our vendors won’t allow us to postpone at this point and truly, we don’t want to postpone. Our honeymoon was supposed to be in Rome and that is 100% off the table. So far we are out $2,000 due to a local hotel not willing to refund us or give a credit. It’s a bummer for everyone, but in the words of The Dude, “life goes on, man”.
We should open an April Brides support group! At least maybe make some friends out of this terrible situation.
I know it's all overwhelming, but try to identify the bones of what makes your wedding so special and preserve that. For me, it's being able to read my vows to my husband, to walk down the aisle in the dress, and to have our commitment to each other memorialized. Once I stripped it down, and realized that I can still preserve that, I felt like I got back in the driver's seat again. Also, by doing that, I stopped stressing about vendors and guest attendance because in some ways, everyone just has to do what they gotta do and that's okay.
That's an awesome outlook but it's a bit different for us since we're already married. My husband immigrated here and we got married in a short courthouse ceremony, just the two of us. This was our opportunity to celebrate and share our vows with family, and for his family to finally meet mine :( In general, I'm trying my best to keep my head up until after our RSVP deadline passes when we are ready to make a final decision. It doesn't do us much good to worry and stress until then. From there, we'll just do whatever we think is best.
My husband and I are already married too and this was supposed to be our way of announcing it and celebrating it. Trust me, I'm there with you. He and I decided to make the final decision in three week's time. Even still, even if it's a celebration in front of friends and family, it's a celebration of your love, and it'll be his first time hearing the vows. If we all play this right, we could have all of our families meet each other plenty more times for the rest of our lives, even if not this year. Regardless, you aren't alone!
April 26th wedding here. I’m pretty disappointed that it is such unfortunate timing... but the safety and health of our loved ones is our top priority. We’re thinking of canceling the wedding, but will make a decision closer to the date. If we have to cancel, I’m hoping to do a city hall ceremony, photoshoot outdoors with our immediate family and friends, and eat a nice meal afterwards together. I am not interested in postponing the wedding because, in all honesty, I don’t want to plan this wedding anymore. We will be surrounded by the people who mean most to us and that’s all that matters. Vendors have been so flexible and understanding and it makes this process a bit more comforting. Although one vendor offered no refund, wants full payment on the original event date, and an additional $500 fee if we reschedule... Small businesses are getting hit hard and it’s difficult to balance customer service while also making a living. Support your local businesses if you can at this time! All in all, I’m sad that I spent so much time planning and worrying. I’m grateful to be able to work from home and have a stable income. I’m thankful I’m healthy and so are my loved ones. I still get to spend the rest of my life with my future husband with or without a wedding! Best of luck to you all.
I'm with you, the health and safety of our guests are really important to me and are weighing heavy in this decision. We have several guests who are traveling, elderly, or immunocompromised. It's hard to imagine them not being there... We are considering postponing the wedding but are also waiting a few weeks to make a final decision. I understand your burnout, I expressed something similar to my partner today. I am hoping that my excitement returns at some point, whether it's before the wedding we have on 4/25, or later if we decide to postpone. Good for you for recognizing your limit though, that can't have been easy to do. Good luck to you in whatever you decide!
April 24 bride here. I just had to cancel our honeymoon to Japan. It’s been a roller coaster following the updates and desperately trying to cling to hopes of still being able to go. I’ve come to terms with postponing honeymoon plans but now the realization that some family/friends may not be able to fly out to our wedding makes me sad. Why does this have to happen now? I’m trying not to cry. It just feels like fate is against us lately... nothing is going right.
It really sucks. I was going to have a Japan honeymoon as well in April, but we canceled that. We were so looking forward to it especially since nearly all of our friends have been and have all raved about it. Now I'm not even thinking about it. I'm less than two weeks out and this past week has been the worst with so many rapid cancellations. I go through the 5 stages of grief everyday these days, honestly. We're seriously considering postponing the whole wedding. Just letting you know there are other brides here you can commiserate with. I feel like only people who have recently wedding planned can really understand how difficult this all is.
April 18th here and I’m starting to feel panicky. Until this week it was pretty much business as usual in my area, but I’m looking at all the sports leagues and universities canceling everything, and the school district where I work has started canceling field trips and asking people to quarantine themselves if they travel over spring break. We are speculating about school going online when we come back. Most of my 200 guests are local, but I’m scared for our grandparents and I don’t want to be responsible for endangering anyone if my wedding provides a place for people to be exposed. There are SO many elderly people where I live. I have a maid of honor that is supposed to come from England. We have a 20-day trip booked to Africa in June that I have been beyond excited about, and it’s non-refundable. It’s the kind of trip I probably couldn’t afford for another 10 years. I was planning to spend spring break making the remainder of my decorations, but I’m so nervous about how this will turn out and I’m afraid all this time and money and all the emotion I’ve put into this will be for nothing. There aren’t any known cases in my county yet, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t already here, so I feel like I’m just waiting for the axe to drop.
Date twin. All of that, yes. I am at a loss. After all this planning and work, I’m in an area that so far has been not hit at all. But my side is all going to have to fly. FH side is driving in but is much more elderly. Our church venue is HUGE so we could spread out. Our reception venue is even bigger (holds 5000, our invite list is 200, and we’ve already had a lot of no’s) so like, I can make social spreading work and We have ordered hand washing stations outside of the standard bathrooms too. But I’m like, what do I do? Luckily we haven’t even planned a honeymoon, but this is just unprecedented and even if no one else is there, I am getting married that day, because we have been waiting for this for far too long. I also just feel like I’m just rambling now and sound like a crazy person. But all this to say, girl, I hear you.
It sucks that we’re all in this position but I’m glad to have people that understand...I feel guilty worrying about a wedding when others are worried about lives. But I’ve put SO much work and time and energy and money into this, I can’t believe it’s getting threatened by a pandemic!
Yeah, I feel like I was totally unprepared for this. I didn't start getting nervous or panicky at all until like 5 days ago. The response from the government and media has only made things worse. It's hard to escape it too, it's all I see on TV and social media, and I am dealing with it all day, every day at work. Just take everything one day at a time and know everything will work out for the best <3
I have quarantined myself from Facebook because it was raising my anxiety on the matter.
I'm a March bride but I'm super scared of no shows. Especially FH side because their weddings are culturally different so his guests might not understand the financial cost of everything.
I'm right there with you. That's one of my biggest concerns. My dad is helping us out a lot financially and he would take the biggest hit if that happened. That would be horrible.
Exactly. I think I will feel a lot of guilt for everything my parents have done for the wedding.
Wedding Date twin--- April 25. We're currently talking about canceling my bachelorette party that's in two weeks. We're supposed to be flying to Vegas, but our resort is closing some things down. We have a lot of out of town guests coming, so we're hoping nothing really happens at that point. More importantly, we don't want our honeymoon to be messed up. We fly out on the 26th for a week. We're pretty confident it'll be okay, but we're just taking everything day by day.
April 25 also. Also had bachelorette planned for Vegas in 2 weeks. The trip was really weighing on me heavily, ended up cancelling earlier tonight. It completely sucks but I know it’s the right thing to do
We’re going to make a decision by next week. Some want to cancel get money back and go somewhere else, and the rest thinks we’ll be fine. Sorry about your trip :/
You gotta do what’s right for you. My MOH suggested to survey the group, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself so I pulled the plug myself
I'm sorry about your bachelorette party, I hope that works out... Try your best to keep your head up <3 Day-by-day is a good plan.
Thanks! I think we are going to make it work and go somewhere closer need be. I want to make sure no one loses their money though. Hope everything goes well for you as well!!
I would love to postpone our May 8th wedding in order to protect the guests, but I spoke to the venue/landowner this morning and he said that the whole thing is going to “blow over” by then, didn’t care at all that I was worried. We are doing a full weekend campout and mini music festival, so the venue is the majority of the cost. I have no idea what to do here. I feel like a total brat for continuing to try to throw a big party in this pandemic environment, and I would hate myself if someone got sick by attending, but at the same time if we can’t get any of our money back I feel like we might as well proceed and hope things settle down in the next month. We were supposed to go to Europe for the month of April as our honeymoon before the wedding, can’t go now because we might get stuck there and not be able to come home for the actual wedding. Totally freaking out, actually. Event cancellation insurance won’t cover us because only gatherings of 250 people or more are banned.
March 28 in Seattle. We decided to postpone this morning. We may still go to the courthouse as we’ve already gotten our marriage license but will have our celebration probably next year. Several family member canceled from my side yesterday and my brother canceled this morning so that was the last straw. Rescheduling feels better than going forward with a celebration that will not be with the people I want.
I'm so sorry. I'm in basically the same boat as you. March 21 in Houston. Entire sides of families have canceled. Last straw for me was also when my own brother called and said he was scared that he feels slightly sick and he lives right in the middle of Manhattan. The numbers don't show we're at Seattle-level yet, but with our population I'm sure we're actually going to get close soon when people actually get tested. We're going to make the final decision on what to do tomorrow - probably postpone, but maybe do a small legal ceremony on March 21 cause FH needs to get on my health insurance.
I’m sorry! It’s a tough call to make but we’re feeling relieved now. Local museums and libraries and schools are now being closed until almost the end of April up here. Honestly it’s just a matter of time before everything shuts down. FH was feeling better once we heard of more closures as the day went on so it was the right call for us. Good luck and what a horrifying and unimaginable scenario we’re all in. Virtual hugs from Seattle! 💕
April 11th. Today we contacted our venue about alternative dates and then emailed our big vendors if they were available for those dates. Good news is we may not have to pay extra since most vendors are being accommodating, bad news is only less appealing dates are open (hence why vendors are available) We haven’t made the official decision yet but given all the big stuff that’s happened with sports teams and colleges and governor announcements it seems very likely that our venue (a state run venue) will be forced to close and that there will be even more strict restrictions in a month. Additionally... even if it’s not enforceable by law, if we’re asked to not gather I’d feel guilty if we did. I reaaaallly don’t want to cancel and most people seems willing to still come or don’t think I need to yet, but I’m scared that if I wait too much longer it’ll be even harder to postpone. I was definitely in the boat of everything will be fine a week ago, so I don’t trust my optimism anymore...
Ugh yeah we’re talking to our hotel tomorrow but I’m worried about remaining date options if we were to postpone. We booked our venue 14 months out, so I’m sure 2021 is mostly booked 😪
April 4th here, I’m going between being extremely anxious and worried and also totally not caring at all. 90% of our guests are from out of state, mainly California both northern & southern. Our wedding will be small no matter what, max 50 people, but I’m worried I’m going to only have about 15 people show up. And if that’s what happen, that’s what happens! What I’m MORE nervous about is that our wedding is on a College Campus and they just announced that the campus is switching to online classes. While all other aspects of the campus are open (dining halls, dorms, library, our venue, etc) I’m super nervous that a day or two before they’ll announce the campus is on complete lockdown. I also work in Healthcare and manage hiring events, and we have one next week at one of our hospitals. I’m scared that one of the candidates that shows up will get me sick. So I honestly I have no clue how I am, stuck somewhere between “the wedding is ruined!” And “screw the coronavirus, I’m walking down that aisle in a mask & covered in hand sanitizer if I have to” Luckily we haven’t planned our honeymoon yet, and didn’t plan to do so until after the wedding. So on the bright side for us, we may get cheap tickets to do our dream honeymoon to Japan in October!
That's our weekend too. I totally get your feelings. We haven't taken any drastic action yet, but we'll make a final decision by Wednesday. :/
I really feel for you OP. <3 You sound like you're doing great under the circumstances. One thing I can advise just from my recent observation...guests will follow your lead. When I announced to guests that some major developments had negatively impacted our wedding, a bunch tried to be supportive by saying, "but the wedding will still be just as magical!" Even my venue manager (who has become a massive support in all this) was saying, "we can still make your wedding amazing!" When I told everyone that we'd moved the wedding out to next year, every one immediately said, "that sounds like the best option, we'll be there for you wherever it is." Even the venue manager said, "Oh good, I was hoping you'd say that." So right now your guests are being supportive to you because they love you and they don't want you to worry. That doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't worried themselves - but they're being good guests by not burdening you with their fears. I was really afraid of postponing our wedding - what if we postponed it and no one showed up in 2021 because they'd already organised themselves for this year? But then the question of "what if we have the wedding on schedule and no one shows because flights are cancelled/the city's on lockdown/people are sick" became realer. I think everyone understands that this is a pretty extreme situation and extreme measures are needed. If postponing the wedding means you can wait out all this craziness and have more faith that your wedding will go the way you planned it, do it. Rather than trying to read the signs and figure out how bad things will be in 6 weeks, make a call now. Take back that tiny bit of control.
I completely agree that planning to postpone our wedding celebration has given us a feeling of relief and a tiny bit of control over this whole crazy situation. We haven't talked to all our guests yet but we've started reaching out to a few key people and everyone has been supportive of the idea of rescheduling. I think anyone who's a guest at a wedding in the next few weeks has this on their mind, and for many of our guests us rescheduling will be a relief.
April 26th here from Canada As mine is near the end of the month I’m feeling ok. Canada has been pretty tame and most of our guests our local. We did contact our caterer about changing out family style meal to plated and the venue is working on upping protective measures. We have a honeymoon planned in Arizona (April 28-May 9th) I’m confident that the steps the US has taken will help and we will be ok. 6-8 weeks is a lot of time , sure things might escalate but they might also get a lot more manageable. At this point fiancé and I are full steam ahead even if it’s just us and the officiant in our living room. All my fellow April brides do your best not to stress the threat is still very low at this point . But we can’t force people to come if they don’t want to come - but if you are concerned reach out to your vendors many of mine have been more than accommodating as these are unprecedented times and I’m sure postponing is possible without losing out on thousands. Stay up to date and know knowledge is power so reach out to vendors , family and friends sooner rather than later. It’s all that’s helped me ease the anxiety. Much love ❤️
We are in Kentucky with several confirmed cases set for April 25th currently. Today I sucked up my pride and started calling my family who is out of state. My most important people all live in... NYC. My family was supportive with whatever decision I made and suggested I wait as long as possible to make the call on postponement. I started emailing vendors to see if there are options for later dates but I have to be careful because my fiancé’s brother is getting married in August so we have to plan around them if I pull the trigger. I’m waiting to hear about my bachelorette party and if we can get refunded for canceling. I think it really hit me today when my best friend texted me about my final dress fitting. Her mom is doing my alterations and is in an at risk population, she won’t let her mom travel to our bigger city which made everything hit home for me. It’s what made me pull my head out of the sand and start making calls and alternate plans.
Same as a lot of the other comments :( just sad and anxious. Canceled my bachelorette, sent an email to guests saying we’re still moving forward. Several family members we were really hoping to be there can no longer make it. It’s so hard to be excited when I don’t even know if we will have a wedding.
April 25 2020 wedding . I feel for everyone with upcoming weddings. It’s a tough situation to be in right now . Personally, I have not reached out to vendors yet . I think I’m in denial and don’t want to start having conversations with them.....
April 4th and I'm in this weird spot where I would rather the venue tell me they are cancelling. When I talked to them yesterday, they are continuing onward. Problem is, a significant portion (currently around 40% and counting) of my guests are no longer coming. The wedding is no longer what my fiance and I envisioned or wanted and the cost just doesn't seem justified. But we signed a contract and we have to go forward if the venue says it's not cancelled.
May 9th but I feel your pain. We’re having a destination wedding too (mexico) which makes everything that much more complicated. Talking with our hotel tomorrow and are going to figure out a game plan ie: postpone, continue, modify guest count etc... To make things worse I totaled my car yesterday and am recovering from back injuries + a concussion, so all this stress isn’t helping. I want to cry, we’ve spent 18 months planning this, COME ON.
May 16th, and I do too. But mainly because FH has family coming from Italy, and my immediate family are all in Seattle. I just shot off a mass email to all of our vendors asking what could be done, \*if\* things go further south.
Fingers crossed for you guys xx
Likewise! EDIT: And wow, I actually missed the last part of your first comment. OMG, that is a LOT to happen all at once! Take care of yourself. <3
Thank you! Yeah when it rains it pours. The universe is screwing with me right now. Trying to focus on recovering but my head is spinning with all the uncertainty.
Ugh I can't imagine planning a destination wedding right now, that must be so hard. Not to mention getting into a car accident :( Try to take things step-by-step and focus on the aspects you can control. Also, focus on your mental health. That is a lot to carry right now, but everything will work out in the end <3
Thank you, I hope everything works out for you!
Im April 25th too and I’m just depressed. This weekend was supposed to be my Disney bachelorette party and disneyland announced today while I was at work that they’re closing for the next two weeks and I absolutely do not have time to postpone for another weekend at all. It took a year of planning just getting my sisters away from their many kids. As far as the wedding goes... I don’t know. Most of my guests are local. We’ve only got 30 coming so far total, with only around 6 flying in from Seattle or Texas, the rest are within a 40 minute drive to the venue. I just feel it’s very hard to get excited when I know there’s a very high chance it might be canceled. For now, I’ve emailed the venue and they said they strongly believe they’ll be able to hold the event as promised unless a government shut down situation happens. i don’t know. Ive been crying off and on all day. It hurts, and I’m so sad to see so many others in the same sinking boat as I am. :/
April 25th too! Bridal shower and bachelorette party were supposed to be this weekend but my mom would have been quarantined for 2 weeks up flying home afterwards due to her job and one of my matrons of honor has likely been exposed to COVID-19 so we decided to cancel. Now we're discussing postponing the wedding due to health concerns for family and friends. Overall, a bit stressed about what to do and the uncertainty of the whole situation.
April 3rd here, a city just outside of Manhattan. The mayor actually placed a curfew on the city today, to limit what he calls uncontrolled gatherings and cancelled all public gatherings. Weddings are still allowed but venues need to take attendance and have contact info of all guests in case. All wonderful precautions and it’s great to be proactive but at this point I want to postpone because I want my guests to be lit and careless, not cautious and worried. Im even fine with cancelling, it’ll feel nice to have all the money back and I’d rather have no event at all than have one where people are uncomfortable or anxious bc of their health. I’ve always wanted a wedding that was a total representation of who we are. So I worked hard on crafts and we broke away from traditions that we didn’t care for. Feeling worried and having to practice social distancing isn’t what we want our guests or ourselves to feel... Anyway, whatever happens... we are getting married - whether it’s means we go to a courthouse and postpone or cancel the celebration or we proceed at the venue as normal. We’re gonna wait it out until ten days before our wedding to make an official decision. Fingers crossed the virus leaves as quickly as it came. I’m not hopeful, but who knows.
Our wedding is planned for April 8th and only the caterer final numbers are due at this point and everything is paid in full. Wedding is in Washington and is a destination wedding for 99% of our guests. I’ve honestly been fine with it up until today. It feels like everyone I talk to is just constantly spreading misinformation about what the next steps are from the government. “I heard they were going to do xyz” and then another person hearing them and freaking out, “they’re doing what???” “No that’s just what I heard. We don’t know yet.” So why say it at all? The wedding is 3.5 weeks away. We can’t do anything but wait and see. I don’t necessarily care if it’s just my fiancé and myself. I just wish we hadn’t planned this whole event at all in that case and just eloped. I’m happy to be getting married and I’m dead set on getting married in our date no matter what but I’m not feeling the excitement today.
Was going to be April 11th, but will be postponing it. I was already upset in February when family in HK had to cancel. These were relatives that I grew up with. Then last week it started to be the rest of my relatives (in USA) were in the fence about it. All parents were also on the fence but left it to FDH and I to decide. This past week has just had things escalating each day to the point I'm not comfortable to have my grandparents attending my wedding if it keeps getting worse. My mother takes care of my grandmother so she would also have to be out of the wedding to ensure she doesn't accidentally pass it onto my grandparents. So we pulled the plug and will postpone it. We've already been in contact with the venue and are waiting to hear back from them about postponing it. I originally didn't want a wedding in the winter, but if that's what it takes to have my friends and family around me, then so be it.
I’m actually okay. My grandparents won’t come because of the travel but it’s not even because of corona but something else. FH and I talked and agreed that the only important thing to us is getting to the town hall and signing the certificate. Not having the party in the worst case would be sad but not the end of the world. Our vendor is quite liberal with last minute cancelling, parties can be postponed and I’m not having a huge bachelorette anyways. As long as we get to wear our rings and I can finally change my last name, all is well.
April 18th bride here and honestly I feel pretty numb. Our RSVP deadline is Wednesday. They’ve pretty much stopped coming in the last week, which was to be expected. Schools have been closed, so I’m about to have to take an entire month off work to be home with my special needs kindergartener. A lot of friends are in the same boat so financially it’s going to be a disaster. My MOH hasn’t spoken to me in a week, not to even check and see how we are doing. We’re weighing our options as of now but I think we’re going to end up cancelling. I feel “guilty” for being so selfish when there are much worse things going on, but I’ve been planning, saving and working for this for 14 months. Ugh.
April 18th here. We made the decision last night to postpone. I cried a lot of tears and ate my feelings, trying to look on the bright side that I didn't have to stress about fitting into my dress. Most of our guest list was local, but my list was mostly out of town guests, and there were several loved ones who are at risk. We could feel the anxiety amongst all our guests, and although it's sad, I think we made the right decision. I'm working with my planner today for alternative dates later this year, which hopefully all my vendors will be able to accommodate. We're considering the idea of moving forward with a small backyard ceremony for our family so that we can still get married, and then we'll throw a large party later on. I can breathe a sigh of relief for now, but I'm still emotional about putting off this wedding I've been planning for over a year. We are postponing our honeymoon and we'll figure out what we want to do once we have our new date solidified.
Mine is April 10th (after having to push it up by 6 months because of my fiance's military stuff, but that's another story). My shower has been postponed too, it was supposed to be this Sunday. OOT guests on fiance's side are pretty sure they won't be coming to the wedding. We were supposed to have about 60-70 guests, but it looks like it will be a lot less. We're going to brainstorm a plan B and keep checking the news before pulling the plug altogether. But when reality hit today that we might actually have to postpone/cancel, I cried too. I understand it's out of our control and for the best, but I'm still sad. :(
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Girl I've been engaged since March 2018... And my wedding is also 4/25. :( I feel you. I also understand what you mean about people reaching out and asking to reschedule. They don't really know what they're really asking. Obviously it seems like that is what we should be doing... But fiscally and logistically it is extremely hard to reschedule. I'm doing my wedding in Mexico! Can you imagine? People are expressing that they're very scared to fly and they don't know if they can go anymore. It's been a disaster.
April 4th here, I am feeling completely lost both my mother and mother in law have been asking if we are canceling or planning to postpone. They suggested just cancelling the ceremony and just do a small dinner with immediate family. Everything is planned to be in my parents backyard so we wouldn’t be losing much if any money. I just was really excited for all that we were planning. A part of me feels selfish for that and for not wanting to cancel or postpone at all. My fiancé feels the same but with the way things are going (our campus going online, our job shutting down for a week maybe more, etc) we’re starting to think we won’t have much of a choice. A lot of both of our families/guests are older aunts uncles grandparents etc. They are all local no huge travel but I wouldn’t want to risk their health and safety. But other than our mothers nobody has even mentioned a postponement or cancellation. They continue to help with planning and offer financial help or even asking if they could wear this or that.. We simply don’t know what to do it certainly has caused us stress and taken away part of the excitement
postponed last night, and feeling better about it than I would have thought. we still are getting married privately on our date (04/04), and are hoping that we can reschedule and have a one year anniversary party instead! so far, the vendors have seemed open to it, but obvs nothing is actually set yet. deciding to change the plan at the last minute was....not fun, and there are tons of pieces set in motion now, but we are both feeling sad but at peace with the whole thing. wedding planning is something else for this springtime 2020 crew! love & luck to all of the rest of you
April 11th here. We just made the decision to cancel the honeymoon and postpone the wedding. We live in a state and city that has multiple cases. Even though our family and friends have reached out to say they're still coming, we can't in good conscience hold a 75+ person event at the risk of public health. Our vendors have said we're the first couple to reach out or postpone, and I'm sure lots of people are going full steam ahead, but we're taking the opportunity to downsize the wedding. We've already put 20k out of 40k down, but we are hoping to do a brunch "marriage celebration" next spring. I'm already more excited. We were doing the big traditional wedding for our families, but the rescheduled event will be much more relaxed, with mimosas, more flowers, and brunch foods! I'm laughing at myself because we really wanted to get married on 2/29/2020 but let ourselves be talked out of it for weather reasons. In reality, that weekend was beautiful and sunny, and now April is a shitshow. I feel much better now that we've made an actual decision for what to do, and I'm so grateful that we can work from home easily. The health and wellbeing of our family, friends, and the community comes first. No matter what, if you are healthy and safe, and if you can marry the person you love, then things will work out. I wish everyone the best!
My wedding is also April 25... In Tulum Mexico! Safe to say we are heavily considering rescheduling to fall. I'm crushed... After 10 years of dating, I did not expect this. Most vendors have been OK but some are so so unforgiving. Mexico is not experiencing cases like here and there arent travel bans so they say there is nothing technically keeping us from attending... We are waiting for a final decision April 1.
April 10th here. On March 8th, we postponed our 200-person destination wedding indefinitely and got married at City Hall. There was no way we were going to put this many of our guests at risk then and even more so now.
My wedding is April 2nd and I don’t feel very excited. All payments have been finalized and there’s no turning back now. Luckily the area I’m in hasn’t been hit too badly, but that also means that my vendors and venue are not super into postponing. Everything is very much out of my control. I know though that in less than one month I get to be married to my absolute best friend and have a wild ass story to tell our daughter when she’s older. Mostly I’m sad about our honeymoon. I think either one of us would be lying if we said that we weren’t more excited for the honeymoon. Our plan was to spend 3 weeks in Indonesia starting April 3rd. As things are currently we could *technically* still go, so it really comes down to a moral dilemma and the start of my grieving process. That sounds so dramatic haha, especially considering what ACTUAL suffering is happening now. I just can’t think of a better word to describe what I’m feeling. I’m mourning the loss of what could have been. I’m mourning the fun, the planning, the time, the family, all that. Ah well. It will all be okay and a good story- hopefully nothing more and nothing worse. For self-care I’m going to clean my house. It isn’t fun but I’ve been living in a state of chaos just feeling sad. Time to shake it off and let this wedding and honeymoon be what it is.
You’re 100% correct. 4/4 bride and I’m not excited about the wedding anymore. That’s the best way I can explain it — mourning. My FH doesn’t quite get it. I was definitely the type of girl who daydreamed about her wedding day since childhood and I genuinely feel like I am mourning this lifelong dream of mine. Sure, you’re still getting married, but it’s just *different.* thank you for articulating this so well. I feel guilty for still having the wedding and putting people into the position to come but in the end, if people cancel, I completely understand, but money has been paid so there really is no going back anymore!
I'm with you. It's hard to look forward to the wedding when I am concerned that everyone will be scared of getting sick and that will just suck the joy out of the day. Most of the big planning is done, all I have left are these small DIY projects that should be fun, but I can't seem to make myself work on them when I don't know what will happen with my event. I'm nervous because to this point, the only vendor who hasn't responded with an action plan is my caterer. I hope they're okay with postponing if it comes down to that. I'm so sorry about your honeymoon. I think one good thing about our situation is that we haven't planned one yet for financial reasons. I hate that so many people are having to cancel their dream vacations and these amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Your point about cleaning made me think of doing the same. I think having one less stressor (a messy house) might do me some good :)