Weddings in the Time of Covid – by Lois Heckman, Celebrant
Celebrant Lois Heckman took the time to share with us a story about one of her couples – she used the names Abbie & Elliot to protect their privacy. The couple had made plans to get married towards the end of April with Lois conducting their ceremony in the Poconos. The couple had planned a small wedding with approximately 35 guests. However, since the couple lives in California, they had planned to fly in for the wedding. Unfortunately, coronavirus put those plans on hold. Not only was it unsafe for them to travel, but both of them work in healthcare and they did not want to put any of their guests at risk. Usually, Lois would have recommended pushing the wedding back a few months, but Abbie recently discovered that she is pregnant and they prefer to get married before the baby arrives.
Abbie and Elliot were just one of the couples that Lois is working with who have been affected. All of her Spring weddings and even some of the Summer ones are having to reschedule or make changes to their plans. Some have even postponed their weddings indefinitely until things seem more certain. Lois raised a point that the whole situation has given rise to a new type of wedding stationery. Move over ‘Save the Date’ cards – the current stationery in demand is the ‘Change the Date’ card instead!
Changing Wedding Plans at Short Notice
Another important point that Lois raised in her blog about Weddings in the Time of COVID is the difficulties that some couples are facing when they try to rearrange their wedding on short notice. Even if a couple is able to secure a new date with their venue, making sure that date also works for other vendors such as photographers or DJs. Getting a date to suit everyone can be difficult at any time. It gets even more tricky when there are many couples in the same situation. For many couples the important part is making sure that their Officiant can make their new wedding date. After all – you can’t get married without an Officiant! At least if you have an Officiant you can still get married, even if it means downsizing your plans to a smaller wedding because your other vendors are not available.
When Will Weddings Get Back to Normal?
Another of the potential hurdles couples are facing is knowing when to choose your new wedding date. How far out should you be planning? Some states have not yet lifted their stay-at-home orders. Others are still putting restrictions on the number of people allowed to gather for celebrations like weddings. Lois says that many of her Spring weddings have rebooked for the Fall season. Hopefully the industry has begun to return to normal by then. Wedding vendors are mostly self-employed. With income directly linked to the number of weddings booked, the shut-down has hit them particularly hard. However, safety comes first and everyone has to do what they can to struggle through the current situation.
NOTE: Lois Heckman has officiated over 1,000 weddings and does her elopements at Harmony Gardens in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.