The Pros of a COVID-Friendly Wedding
Hi friends!
After my first instalment of my COVID blog posts yesterday and how bleak it may have left some feeling, I figured it was important to bring some light to the amazing ways I have seen couples celebrate during COVID, even if it wasn’t their original plan. I know so many people want to have large weddings, and there is nothing wrong with that if that’s a priority for you and it’s worth waiting for. But if you’re someone who is considering downsizing your wedding to be in line with potential COVID-19 restrictions, I hope that this post is helpful and brings you excitement for your wedding!
You’ll still feel full of love and gratitude. My friend and photographer Brady McCloskey recently released his annual favourites blog post and something he wrote really stood out to me, because it was SO true. You should absolutely go check out his post, but I’ll also copy his words here, “While photographing this year I noticed over and over again that people seemed so happy to just be together and they didn’t take it for granted. I saw a greater sense of calm from everyone, and a bigger appreciation for our Island more than ever.” Every wedding that we worked in 2020, no matter how small, people were just so grateful to be together, to be able to celebrate, and to be able to be surrounded by their loved ones. Yes, a smaller guest list can be a bummer - your guests were on your guest list for a reason, you wanted to celebrate with those people. But a smaller guest list does not mean you love your partner less, or the people who are in attendance love you less, that your wedding was any less real or important or special. I promise you, while you may miss those guests who didn’t make the cut, you will appreciate those who did that much more. Not one of our couples who got married last summer has reported regretting the decision!
Your guests can celebrate virtually with you. We saw so many virtual weddings this year, and loved being able to see guests celebrating from afar. Many still got dressed up, toasted with the couple and made a whole affair out of it. Looking for a way to make your virtual guests feel more involved? If it’s within your budget, consider sending them a mini bottle of champagne and/or meal to be able to toast and dine with you virtually. Many businesses all over have adapted to offer this type of service - locally, check out Cured Creations who offer amazing charcuterie boxes! Your virtual ceremony or celebration can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be - we had couples this year who had a friend set up a laptop, phone or tablet to stream, as well as couples who hired videographers to professionally stream their ceremonies. Pro-tip - for our mini weddings, we used private Facebook groups to stream in. The couples could then invite only the people they wanted in attendance, and Facebook saves the live stream afterwards, so you can re-watch it! It proved to be more accessible to most than Zoom or other virtual meeting platforms. Another way to have those guests present at the reception is to have them film short clips and send them to a designated person to be put together in a montage - a modern twist on the traditional wedding slideshow!
If your guest list is decreasing but you’re comfortable keeping your budget the same, or close, then consider that you can now go more extravagant with things like your flowers & decor (less centrepieces to pay for, so you can have bigger ones if you want!), a more high-end menu (or maybe now you can afford those cocktail hour hors d’oeuvres or late night snack with less mouths to feed), or your maybe your host bar is now within reach! Things that were previously a priority but didn’t make the budget cut may now be back on the table, elevating both yours and your guests’ experiences.
On the flip side, if you’re happy with your previous expenditures and want to use those extra budget dollars elsewhere, now you have some room to play with your honeymoon, home renovations, starting your family earlier, replacing the sectional that you’ve had for 15 years, investing for the future - the list is endless!
You may be thinking, “But Kristina, what can we do instead of a dance?” Live music or other entertainment like a comedian, group games like trivia, lawn games, cake decorating competitions, bonfires - there are so many options to keep your guests entertained after the reception, if you want to keep the party going! I know games aren’t for everyone, but they can be a really fun way to bring your group together and encourage guests to get to know each other safely.
A smaller guest list may mean you can change course to a smaller venue with a totally different feel! Maybe your list was large enough the first time that you were forced into a large banquet hall that may not have been your style, so now you can transition into renting out half of a restaurant, or can host in your own back yard, or the venue you had originally lusted over but you couldn’t fit everyone into! Plenty of our couples are using COVID gathering restrictions to downsize and move to an alternative style of venue that more closely meets their styles.
I asked my Instagram followers who had or attended a COVID wedding last summer to submit the things they enjoyed about them, so here are some of those:
“More budget for food and drink!”
“You’re able to talk with and truly enjoy your guests and share in the moments!”
“Saving money! And having the smaller guest list was less stressful.”
“You have the perfect excuse to cut out all of those relatives that you aren’t close with.” (we’re all thinking this so I’m glad someone said it!)
“There isn’t enough space for me to say how much we loved our small wedding!” (this specific wedding was one of our surprise weddings this year which is a whole other level of fun, that is much easier to execute with a small list!)
“I just love the level of intimacy I’m seeing captured in these weddings! All about quality time.”
“We surprised everyone. They all thought they were coming for a BBQ!” (Imagine trying to coordinate 150 people for a BBQ to surprise them with your wedding…)
“Less expensive, only your fav people there, and more focus on each other.”
“More one on one time with your guests.”
“Couple was able to talk to every guest, close friends had drinks & Bonfire to end the night!”
“Felt important to be there <3”
“Attended a small backyard wedding, the couple paid one bill and got their wedding and a backyard upgrade in one!”
“The intimacy, getting to spend the day with your spouse more, less pressure to talk.”
There were an overwhelming amount of couples who got married and responded saying that they really appreciated being able to spend more quality time with those closest to them, were able to cut out the needless guests they weren’t close with anyway, and the intimate celebration just felt so much more warm, inviting and true to themselves. When you cut your guest list down to those who are the absolute nearest and dearest to you, you feel less pressure to cater to other peoples’ needs and can concentrate on what is most important to you!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s instalment which will chat about guest count and invitation etiquette!
xo Kristina