Hi guys, just thought I’d check in to see how you’re all doing. It’s certainly not the year I was expecting! Normally I would have been 4 months into a very busy season, running around all over the place, being creative and putting together some exciting and beautiful days. But instead almost on a daily basis I’m faced with another postponement and another disappointed couple. It’s heartbreaking, especially when my clients plan for so long and in a lot of cases sacrifice holidays and luxuries to achieve their dream wedding. As you know from previous blogs both my children were getting married this year with one having no choice but to postpone and the other having to make the agonising decision to ensure they can have the wedding they planned without restrictions.
Either way is turmoil - it’s not just a case of choosing another date, it’s everything that goes with it. Are my suppliers available? Are they willing to move my date? Will they charge a transfer fee or increase their rates? Bearing in mind that a lot of weddings are actually planned at least 18 months to 2 years in advance you would expect any business to have normally increased their prices over that time let alone now for another year. This is just the start, friends and family have to cancel hotels, transport and perhaps child care arrangements, with some travelling across the globe. You are faced with headaches every which way you turn and you can guarantee guest list will change!!
Scenarios - What do you do?...
1. A guest has previously said they were unable to attend so you have chosen someone on your backup list. However the original guest can now attend the new date. What do you do?
2. A family member has recently got into a relationship but that’s fine as it’s new so they wouldn’t have expected an invite. Now the wedding is next year do you need to invite them?
3. You have a sister coming to your wedding whose baby is expected before your new date. Although you have other nieces and nephews coming they are older and you don’t want any babies. How do you approach this?
These are just 3 scenarios you could face that have immediately sprung to my mind and I’m sure there are loads more. Please share your predicaments and dilemmas as there are lots of couples out there that will gain some comfort knowing others are facing the same difficult decisions.
I‘ve been keeping busy putting together stylings and keeping social media active and yeah sure I’ve enjoyed coming up with new ideas etc but it’s not the same. I‘ve really missed transforming a room knowing I’ve played a part in such a special day, full of love, joy and laughter. Normally the conversations with my clients are exciting and energising, exploding with ideas and inspiration. But now unfortunately I can only be as supportive and helpful as possible as they dismantle the finished puzzle and work to rebuild the slightly altered picture. Reassuring them that the day they have been dreaming of will come around soon enough.
I am still hoping that our winter weddings will be able to proceed although with each passing month this looks more and more unlikely. I’m talking about weddings that can fully celebrate with a reception afterwards as opposed to the current allowance of weddings up to 30 with the multiple restrictions that come with it. Let’s keep everything crossed and you never know fate may be kind to us.
For all newly engaged couples my advice to you would be if you‘re planning a wedding for next year then you really do need to get your suppliers booked in as with postponements continuing to happen, I believe for months to come, diaries will fill up quickly. I’m more than happy to have an initial discussion over email, phone or social media if you don’t feel comfortable having a face to face meeting at the moment. It’s better to do this then to be disappointed due to unavailability.
Keep in touch and thanks for reading x
Comments