COVID Wedding/Elopement Tips & Ideas

16 Sep COVID Wedding/Elopement Tips & Ideas

If You Kick Ass & Are Still Getting Married Or Having A Wedding During The Pandemic, This Read Is For You!

The following tips look at the impact of the virus, generally as a high level guide if you’re planning a wedding or elopement for 2020 or 2021, 2022. This article has been updated on 1/09/2020. COVID-19 is an ever-changing situation, so for up-to-date health alerts and advice related to the virus, visit health.gov.au or other reputable sources.

First up, let’s kick off by sharing our heartfelt sympathies if you’re currently experiencing stress and COVID wedding disruptions due to the outbreak. It’s honourable and damn powerful to see weddings and elopements continue to go ahead to simply honour love and move into a new phase of life as a couple. It’s down right inspiring to witness. Furthermore, seeing the wedding community band together to help each other. Bloody beautiful! One thing that will get us through and that we speak to is a shared love and for acknowledgement of the good things in life, the best thing in life – LOVE. In some ways, a wedding through covid is a polarisation of the beauty we can celebrate together. With this in mind, this article speaks to certain situations present during covid and possibly some tips on how to navigate this space, especially since we couldn’t predict this and so far in writing this article, no timeframe or awareness on when exactly this situation will sort out!

If you’re Australian, you’re probably still scratching your head regarding this past while. As if the bushfires of last summer weren’t challenging, now we find ourselves facing a life-threatening virus too?

Being a wedding celebrant in the Byron Bay, Tweed Coast and Gold Coast regions, i’ve been getting a number of queries from concerned couples seeking guidance on what to do right now. As I am aware of the industry, the locations and the lay of the land; here’s some thoughts on this if you find the read useful. For sure, a few weeks from now, maybe this information is outdated. As we know, each week a border closes, a restriction is lifted and in another state a restriction is doubled down on. Regardless of whether you read this now or want advice on this topic, I am here to help and would love to give you some guidance so please contact me for more.

So here goes and for sure, some or all these tips could be void at any moment (fingers crossed) but these tips should help with navigating an Australian wedding or elopement during COVID. Big love.

1. Plan C: Like a wet weather option, have a plan C (C for COVID) 
2. Build Awareness: Each state has different rules. Keep your finger on the pulse as the weeks roll on and simply be aware to what is evolving so you can communicate any adjustments with guests. Don’t worry about the guests, they get it. They are guests to your wedding or elopement after all and present to the fact that no one has a clue what’s next. End of the day – your wedding is your wedding. Run it as yours!
3. Canapé service: May not be permitted in all states, and it’s best practice to serve each guest separately so avoid shared plates or family-style catering. Your state might only allow sit-down service only too.
4. Table seating: Consider how many people you sit at each table as this is always changing. A backup seating arrangement is suggested.
5. Bubble seating household or close friend/family groups. Even location is somewhat useful to consider if you’re having a wedding on the borders such as on the Gold Coast, Tweed Coast or Byron Bay. Partners or family where possible.
6. Styling and Venue changes: Check in with your venue regarding styling changes. We’re aware of some venues not permitting cutlery and glassware on tables to minimise risk. Also too, some wedding venues may need to offer you more space for your guests to mingle to honour 1.5 – 2m spacing requirements passed down by the respective state.
7. Guest Lists: This one is soooooo hard. What happens if the limit is cut by your state to 10, or then lifted to 100. Or knocked down to 2. Plan out multiple scenarios just to be ahead of the game and so you’re proactively organized in case s#it hits the fan on the guest list numbers! End of the day, your wedding is about you and your partner so get clear together on numbers in case things change. 
8. Singing (including group singing), and wind instruments can spread COVID-19 if a performer is infected. If either of these are involved in the ceremony or reception, ensure that there is protection in place for guests including at least 3 metres distance from the performers.
9. Dancing (WTF – no dancing?) has been restricted in some states. Please make sure you choose a venue that has a dancefloor with enough space if dancing is going down. Consider what strategies you can put in place to avoid crowding on the dancefloor and other areas such as foregoing or modifying rituals like throwing the bouquet, and ensure people don’t take alcoholic drinks on the dancefloor or share drinks.
10. Record all of the names and contact numbers of all of your guests and vendors attending your wedding, regardless of if it is a residential or commercial property wedding and retain these records to provide to the government if required.
11. Create a COVID checklist or “Dude in charge of everyone’s COVID health”: This checklist and/or “Dude” is deployed to ensure that everyone honours the space requirements, makes sure chairs are the right distance apart, that grandma isn’t kicking off a dance floor pile on… Essentially the dude or dudette that is most germaphobe at the wedding to help monitor this so the venue and you and your guests are not unwillingly fined for any breaches.
12. Facemasks: Do you have a facemask policy? Are there facemasks given out or accessible to those who would like one?
13. Sanitization: Might not be a bad idea to have sanitization stands to acknowledge space for this.
14. Share Love…just not food…Or bevies…Or buffets or salad bars. Yep. The list of what not to share is pretty long but have an awareness on individualised food, drink, activities and space. Eg. A photo booth or kissing booth may not vibe that well, nor a salad bar or communal water/beverage dispenser.
15. Insurance: It’s unlikely existing wedding insurance policies will cover wedding changes/cancellations due to COVID-19 but it’s worthy of investigating if you’re considering booking wedding venues, wedding celebrants and other wedding related needs. At the time of writing this article, changes/cancellation due to COVID-19 won’t be covered as the pandemic is a known event.
16. Postponements and cancellations: If your wedding date is in 2020, a suggestion here is to contact your venue and vendors to learn of their postponement policy and gather dates for backups. Postpone your wedding rather than cancelling the entire occasion where possible as a vast majority of wedding venues and vendors are incredibly understanding in helping you facilitate this. If you decide to cancel your wedding, however, it’s likely you’ll forfeit any deposits you’ve put down. Also, depending on the proximity of the cancellation to your wedding day and the T&C’s and position of the venue/vendor, you may incur additional costs.
17. Honeymoons and travel: All overseas travel has been restricted for the foreseeable future. Postpone/cancel all overseas travel for the time being and consider an Australia trip or a local-moon after your wedding does take place. You’ll be providing much needed support to local businesses and our own backyard is pretty bloody beautiful don’t you think?!
18. ARRRRRGH: We 100% get where your head might be right now. You may be feeling hopeless, sad – even guilty or frustrated. Please know that this is all completely normal and that you’re in no way alone. Planning a wedding at the best of times is stressful, so go you for kicking ass, pushing on and making it happen! 
19. Communication is Key: Talk about it. With your partner, your close friends and family. Talk to vendors and to your wedding celebrant. We’re all in this together. Hopefully the above points prompt thought in this space and help guide you further. I’m here if you need a shoulder to cry or help navigating this tricky time! Your wedding – when it happens – is going to be made all the more special for getting through this period. Imagine the stories and photos to share with the grand kids in the future!

CONTACT

Have any other ideas and tips to share? I’d love to hear from you below or feel free to reach out to me to learn more.

Andrew Michael | Byron Bay Marriage Celebrant
Fun, Fresh, Authentic Weddings & Elopements | Unforgettable Wedding Day Vibes | Original & Real | Creator of Good Times
– 0432 239 122
– andrew@amweddings.com.au