Q&A Session With Bride Who Planned Wedding During Coronavirus
Jessica Yahn Photography
Q&A Session With Bride Who Planned Wedding During Coronavirus
Yes, you CAN still have a perfect wedding day even in the midst of these strange times! In this Q&A session, we sit down and chat with beautiful Elevate bride Emily who planned her wedding at The Veridian in Springfield Missouri during the pandemic. Reflecting on her planning process and wedding day, she shares what she did to make sure the wedding of her dreams still happened!
Q: First of all, congratulations to you and your husband Justin! We’re so thrilled you were able to celebrate your special day! So, take us back to the beginning when you first heard about COVID-19 - did you ever think it would actually affect your wedding?!
Emily: Actually, no I did not! I tried to be incredibly optimistic when our city went into quarantine back in March. I thought, "Oh we're getting married later this year in July, so COVID-19 is going to look so different by then and it's all going to work out like normal." And for a couple weeks, it seemed that way! But closer to our wedding date, our city ended up backsliding in regulations due to spikes in cases and it ultimately did affect our wedding day quite a bit.
Q: In what ways did the coronavirus impact your wedding? Did it affect your guest list, wedding date, etc.?
Emily: Justin and I always said no matter what happens, we wanted to get married on our original date, even if that meant a quick elopement and then a party next year. However, we were very lucky to still be able to work with all our original vendors! The Monday before our wedding, the City Council of Springfield voted to decrease guest counts at weddings based on the square footage of venues, as well as a mask ordinance that required every guest to wear masks. Because of that, we had to decrease our guest list, which was so, so hard, and then contact every family that "made the cut" to be sure to bring a mask to the wedding. I was pretty stressed and devastated because all the way up until the week of our wedding day, everything had been working out so well! But deep breaths and lots of encouragement from my friends and fiance helped me through!
Q: How did you navigate wedding planning decisions with your vendors?
Emily: At first, I didn't plan anything for like an entire month because even though I was optimistic, I was still nervous deep down! And NOT planning was the worst thing we could have done because we did have to scramble for certain things! I did have an advantage with my vendors, however, because I already work in the wedding industry. So, all the people I hired to help make my day special were already my friends that I kept in normal contact with. With the amount of downtime we all had on our hands being in quarantine, I was able to message my vendors regularly and fill out forms for each vendor with ease and not have to rush with the details.
Q: With your DJ/Entertainment, were there guidelines you discussed putting into place to keep your guests safe at the reception and on the dance floor?
Emily: Honestly, we decided that social distancing was ultimately up to the guests on the dance floor. I knew I wanted to dance! So if they wanted to join me up close or keep a 6-foot distance, that was fine with me! Whatever kept them safe and feeling at ease at my wedding. So, we had my DJ from Elevate Entertainment make an announcement about COVID-19 and socially distancing, but left the rest of the night up to the personal decisions of the guests. I did see an idea at a few weddings recently in which guests were provided color-coded bracelets that were labeled with levels of comfortability interacting with others at the wedding! If I had seen the idea sooner and had enough time, I would have 10000% adopted that idea for our reception!
Q: What did you do to keep calm and stay focused on wedding planning during these times?
Emily: I am not a very good planner by nature, so adding in the stress of planning around a pandemic made it even harder for me. I took lots of breaks in the day away from wedding planning, and would do something creative that would help me empty my head and create space to focus on my big day.
Q: Looking back at your wedding, was there anything planning-wise you would’ve done differently? What worked out like a dream?
Emily: Justin and I both said at the end of the night that everything was PERFECT! Mostly, we were just elated to be married. But the food, the photos, the music and games, the photo booth all worked out perfectly and we even had compliments from our friends and family saying how excited they were for us that everything worked out fine despite having to exclude some family friends. But even those who were excluded were incredibly graceful and have enjoyed the pictures and videos we sent them! I think the one thing I was nervous about that ended up working out so well were contact games with our DJ and the photo booth. Everyone took it upon themselves to be safe touching others and sanitizing after using our touch-screen photo booth.
Q: Lastly, what advice would you give to other couples who are trying to plan their dream wedding during these times?
Emily: My advice for engaged couples planning their dream wedding during this pandemic would be this: Don't sweat it. At the end of the day, you're married to your bestie! The food will be good, the music will be better, the love from your guests (whether it's 10 or 100 people) will be the very best part.