The Rivas Weddings Reopening Plan

Yep. Those are for sure words we never thought we would have to write. But then again, so was our blog post on how we would handle COVID-19. Although, we haven’t really been closed since you all have been absolute TROOPERS and continued to Zoom and Skype with us on a weekly basis. 🙂 You’re all rock stars, by the way. 🙂

Anywho, even though we’re still a good three weeks away, this morning we put together our plan to “reopen.” We decided to put it here so that all of the details are in one place. Because, you know, life.

So what do you need to know?

The Rivas Weddings Reopening Plan

The Guidelines

Well, friends, first, foremost as a non-essential business, we will always follow the federal, city, state, county, guidelines. This means that throughout the summer and even into fall, we’ll do whatever our local governments tell us we can and cannot do.

Virtual Client Meetings

You know we love seeing all of your beautiful, smiling faces in person. However, for the foreseeable future we’ll be holding all client meetings (including initial meetings and reveals) via Zoom. We can’t say that you won’t get a big virtual hug every time. But for now, we feel this is the best, safest way to move forward for your health and ours.

Engagement Sessions

During your session we’ll be maintaining a 6 foot, social distance at all times. We’re not going to lie – this one’s going to be really, REALLY hard for us since you know we like to get in nice and close. BUT, again, we feel it’s best for your safety and ours. Will we be wearing masks? As of right now, YES. We realize it might make things a little weird, but would feel better safe than sorry.

Hugs

Friends, you know that we’re big huggers and that we can’t start or end a session without one. But for now, unfortunately, whenever we’re together we’ll be avoiding hugs, fist bumps, elbow taps, etc. Know that we’re giving you a big ole hug in our hearts even if we can’t do it in person yet.

Location Photography

During most of our engagements/wedding days when on location we try to avoid large groups of people anyway. BUT, going forward, if there’s an uncomfortable amount of people, (hello guidelines), and we don’t feel good about it, we just won’t do it. We can either postpone the rest of your session or move to a new location. (This falls under our work-place safety clause in our contract.)

Sickness

Okay, so this is a biggie. If we have a session scheduled and you’re feeling unwell or are showing any symptoms of COVID-19 (or have recently been ill), please let us know. (Check out that work-place safety clause again.) If this happens we respectfully ask to reschedule your session until you’re symptom-free for at least 72 hours, without the use of any medication that might mask symptoms. If you live with someone or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, per city and state guidelines, we ask that you reschedule your time with us until after the 14 day self-quarantine period has finished.

We promise to do the same thing if we’re not feeling well or get sick. We’re not trying to be hard-asses, but are only trying to prioritize the health and wellbeing of you, your families, all of the clients that we work with and their families, our families, and ourselves. We’re trying to keep ourselves from getting into too many scenarios too soon so that we can confidently and safely serve you better in the long run.

Rescheduling your Wedding

We get it. This just plain-out sucks, period. If you’re thinking about rescheduling your wedding due to COVID-19 please let us know. We’ll be using our modified rescheduling policy for the foreseeable future if you’re rescheduling because of the virus. If you’ve decided to just reschedule your wedding just because? Then our normal rescheduling policy still applies to you.

Here’s our modified rescheduling policy: If you’re moving your wedding date because of COVID-19 we’re happy to move your non-refundable retainer and any payments made to your new wedding date at no additional charge as long as the new date is within 1 year of your original wedding date.

Booking your Wedding

Also, friends, you can still get married this year and we can still be there. Wedding day might look a little bit different than you expected, but that’s why you hire awesome photographers. As long as your celebration is following federal/state/city guidelines we are more than happy to book your wedding date for this year and to capture your big day. Essentially, WE’RE STILL BOOKING FOR 2020. We do have updated collections and retainer policies to help make this process easier, but please know that if you’re interested we would LOVE to talk to you about your big day.

Wedding Day

So here’s the deal. We have to stick to the rules and guidelines that are set forth by our local leaders. If you’ve got eight bridesmaids, yourself, and a makeup artist crammed into a tiny hotel room? We won’t be able to be in there to take getting ready photos. Same thing goes with party buses, wedding ceremonies, etc. Don’t forget as you’re making adjustments and updates to your wedding plans that we count as humans too. If you’re already at or near the guideline limit, it’s illegal for us to be present to take photos. It breaks our heart, but we ultimately have to follow the law or our business could face the consequences.

Alrighty friends, that should just about do it. Again, we’re not trying to be hard-asses, but are only trying to prioritize the health and wellbeing of you, all of the clients that we work with, our families, and ourselves. We’re trying to keep ourselves from getting into too many scenarios too soon so that we can confidently and safely serve you better in the long run.

If you have any questions or concerns about what other impacts COVID-19 might have on your wedding day or our operations, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask us directly. You all know we’re completely open books around here, and always want to make sure that you’ve got more information than you probably need. This is new territory for all of us, and I think it’s safe to say we’re all trying to figure everything out together.

If anything changes or updates how our business operates, we promise to let you know.

Until then, friends, we love you all, and stay healthy and safe.