10 Tips on Wedding Planning While Social Distancing
OMG OMG OMG you’re ENGAGED!!! and you found this blog we’ve put together during these crazy COVID times we are living in! YAayyyy! First of all congratulations, make sure you take in this moment and truly treasure each other and know that these tough times will make your love for each other even stronger! You guys can do this!
Second, get organized and start booking your favorite vendors. Third, RELAXXXX! I know this is so hard to do, espcially with not knowing how things will be next year due to COVID, but if you do the work now to book amazing vendors, you won’t be stressed later, and they will have your backs and make sure your day goes without a hitch!
So here we go, we’ve put together a list of 10 tips that you can start with in order to make your dream wedding happen during COVID-19 global pandemic and while social distancing.
Make a Pinterest board!!! I’m sure you’ve already started one years ago, but if you haven’t yet, get on it ASAP! We are visual people and if you pin what you want for your wedding day, it will be easier to see, and not overlook it.
Another easy tip, make a wedding email for just wedding stuff! You will be signing up to a LOT of offers, promotions, websites, and it will help to have all of this in the same place and not bogging down your primary inbox. When you’ve gotten married you can easily delete it all and no need to go through the hassle that is ‘unsubscribing’.
Book a wedding planner or at least a day-of / month-of - coordinator! Omg this will be a time saver to you, especially if you are not good at researching people, if you are indecisive, or if you are just overall not a planner type of person! This is sooo me! I hate planning our travel because i’m not one to research very much to find the cheaper yet still good hotel, or the best restaurants in that town etc… you get what i’m saying, if you this is you as well, you will need a planner in order not to feel overwhelmed, it’s totally worth it! Reach out to 2-3 planners and see which matches your personality best, a phone call or facetime date will do, and then pick the one that you like best! You will talk to this person the most so make sure you enjoy talking to them, they are relatable, and have a lot of experience. They could be the nicest but if they lack in experience you will have a hard time communicating.
Book your venue and your photographer first!!! These two tasks are really something that could be done virtually. But if you’d rather tour your venue in person, narrow down to 2-3 venues and reach out to them asap to schedule an appointment to go tour the venue. The first vendors you want to reach out to are the venue and the photographer. Why? because those are the ones that get booked the fastest, so if you don’t get on it right away they might not have your date available! Research both venues and photographers on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook by searching their names and reading their reviews. Ask them for a full gallery for inspo and check if they have your date available. When you feel comfortable with both, move to the booking process which can be done virtually with most vendors.
BE FLEXIBLE! I think it’s so important to be flexible, especially during these cray COVID times. Vendors are getting a ton of emails everyday from booked clients about changing their dates and postponing, on top of serving them, new inquiries come in and we try our best to reply asap, but we do need you to be patient and flexible. Yes you want a specific date but if your favorite photographer already has that Saturday booked, consider changing it to a Friday or a Sunday, and if that doesn’t appeal to you, consider a less busy time of year (busy season for photographers are usually Apr-June & Sept-Nov in Georgia).
Prep for Wedding Dress Shopping: This really needs to be done in person, even though many places may be closed or appointment - only. I recommend you reach out to your favorite 3 bridal shops and schedule an appointment to come in and try on dresses. Most of my brides usually find their dress the first time they go shopping, and one of the first dresses, but in case that is not you, go ahead and make appointments at a couple of other places to get on their calendar already!
“Propose” to your wedding party: This is the fun part! Etsy has really cute props to use for this and they are the sweetest and your girls will love it! Now it’s time to celebrate with them! Take them out for a drink/coffee date and propose! woohoo!! You will need your girls to help keep you calm and to help decide bridesmaids dresses etc… Pick bridesmaids that you see being friends for a long time, someone who understands you and knows how to calm you down and make you smile, and ones that are totally for you and your fiance and this new season in your life! True friends are hard to find, but if you got them, hanging on to them and make them feel special for being a part of your day!
Start your guest list: Yes this is the hardest part. Sit down with your fiance and start writing down everyone you’d like to invite, keep this open ended for now until you finalize it all. Of course start with family and close friends, and then friend’s of the family if you’d like. Choose people that will make you happy to see, people that you’ve spoken with in the past year at least, and people that are happy for you. You don’t want nasty people that will make you feel bad afterwards, or just polite invites to people you’ve met once when you were 5 years old. LOL. I felt pressured by my parents to invite their life friends and it was the worst feeling, trying to narrow down the guest list. After that sit down a few more times in the next few weeks and try to narrow it down before sending your invites.
While social distancing at home, it’s really helpful to join Wedding related Facebook Groups. There you will find vendors, and other brides who are planning their wedding while social distancing just like you. In the search bar, just type in anything wedding related and I promise there will be a ton of groups that will pop near and far from you! Join everything you’d like for now, it may come in handy!
Hire a Caterer/DJ/Band: Once you have your venue, planner, photographer booked you can start looking into these vendors. Ask your venue for a preferred vendor’s list. Also search by the type of food you’d like to have served at your wedding. For instance, search ‘BBQ caterers in Atlanta’ that should get you many vendors to try out. Look at reviews and narrow down to about 2 each and then make your decision.
Aaafff, I know that was a lot to go through and it’s just the beginning, there’s a lot more than just 10 steps to wedding planning while social distancing, BUT if you can get through these steps you will encounter more things along the way that will need your attention. You can totally do this! Yes we are social distancing, and yes our reality is somewhat different now, but we guarantee you if you do everything in Love you will have a wonderful wedding filled with the best vendors, amazing friends and all your family around (even if it is virtually).