June 2, 2020 /

Rescheduling Your Wedding during Coronavirus

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Hello, hello, friends! Welcome back! We’re so excited that you’re here, even if we’re talking about rescheduling your wedding day. Just to get an idea… how many of you out there are thinking about rescheduling your wedding day because of stay-at-home orders and occupancy limits? Anyone? We know that a handful of our couples have had to reschedule. And now that things are opening up, we still have couples that are rescheduling and postponing. 

A candid black and white picture of a groom twirling his bride under his arm as her dress swirls around her feet at sunset on their wedding day at Powell Gardens.

Our hearts are with you, friends. We know this isn’t easy. 

And if you’re still thinking about rescheduling your wedding day? This post is especially, especially for you. Today we’re deep diving into all of the pros and cons of rescheduling your whole, entire day, talking about things to think about as you consider rescheduling, sharing a pro tip from yours truly to make things easier, and sharing a little bit of our industry insider point of view with you. You ready? Hang on, here we go! 

Rescheduling Your Wedding during Coronavirus 

Pros to Rescheduling Your Wedding 

  • You can still have the day you dreamed of | You can still keep everything exactly the same as you originally planned, just on a different date. 
  • You don’t “lose” any money | Most vendors we know are happily transferring original retainers to new dates for their couples. Which means, you don’t necessarily owe any additional money to your vendors. And there’s more time before your final payment is due. 
  • You have more time to “finish” planning | All those little details stressing you out? Now you’ve got the time to get them ironed out before the big day gets here. 

Cons to Rescheduling Your Wedding 

  •  You picked your date for a reason and you don’t want to/can’t move it because that date is special to you. 
  • You have to wait to get married. This might be a not so great thing, especially if you’ve been planning for a long time and you’re just ready to be married. 
  • You might have to pay a date change fee or new retainer with your vendors. If you’re thinking of moving your wedding to a Saturday in May you’ll likely have to pay a date change fee for at least a few of your vendors. Why? Because then they can’t sell that prime wedding date and are losing income on it. Stick to off-days (Fridays/Sundays) in non-peak months (December-early April) and you’ll be just fine. 
  • It’s stressful, man. This might be the biggest con. It just plain out sucks. And all of those little details and timelines that you had previously ironed out? May have to change. 

Things to think about

  • New Retainers you might have to pay | If you absolutely have to get married on a prime day (Saturday) in peak wedding season (May-October) your vendors will likely require a new retainer or at least a date-change fee so they don’t lose income on two days. Why should you care? They’re humans too. 
  • Sending out new Save the Dates/Invitations | Especially if you’re within two months of your original wedding date, get these babies sent out quick! 
  • Travel plans for family and friends | If you’ve got a lot of family and friends coming in from out of town they’ll have to go ahead and reschedule all of their plans and reservations. And while most vendors are likely to be flexible, some may not. 
  • Having your wedding on an “off” day or in a non-peak month so you don’t lose your vendors. | We’ve mentioned it a time or two now, but a lot of wedding vendors can only book 1 wedding a day. Which means that if you move your wedding date to a peak Saturday in May without checking with them first? They may not be available. If you’er willing to have your day on a Thursday/Friday/Sunday? They’ll likely be available still. 
A colorful, candid picture of a groom reacting to seeing his bride for the first time during their first look on their rainy wedding day at The Bowery in Kansas City.

Pro Tip

Reach out to all of your must-have vendors with the same email so we can all be on the same page with what you’re thinking. We want to help you as much as we can. Who are your must-have vendors? Well, that’s up to you and what is most important to you. But for sure consult your venue and planner first. Then we recommend your photographer, caterer, and DJ. 

Industry Insider POV

Your vendors are humans too. For many of us, our business is our only source of income. We absolutely 150% want you to have the day of your drams, exactly how you want it to happen. But, please keep in mind that we’re trying to keep our business alive and running as well so that we can keep our doors open. Be understanding with us if we have to ask for you to still pay your outstanding balance on your original wedding date, require a date-change fee or new retainer. We’re just trying our best to do the best that we can too. 

Want to see the rest of this series? Find it here: 

1 | Ways to Get Married During Coronavirus 

3 | Tie the Knot Now, Celebrate Later 

4 | Have a Zoom Wedding 

5 | Livestream Your Wedding

6 | A Modified Wedding Experience

7 | Introducing Intimate Elopement Collections

Book us for your Wedding:

To book us for your upcoming engagement session or wedding, please visit our contact page to send us a message. We can't wait to hear about your big day! Having a destination wedding? We LOVE to travel and have the perfect wedding photography package for you. We would LOVE to hear about your adventure!

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