covid Brides: Retrospective

View quoted message

Such great insight, thank you!
Yes, unfortunately, I am a little bit of the type A high functioning anxious type, which probably is the side of me that prompted this post but it's certainly something I'm working on in therapy and I think this is a perfect example of an opportunity to be "comfortable with the uncomfortable!"

I think you nailed it with being ready to ride the uncertainties, and make decisions based on what we know or hold off on things that may be important based on what we don't know.

Something that my #1 venue has that I'm really valuing right now is that there's not an overall Food & Beverage minimum, just a minimum per plate. To me, that sounds very Covid-friendly in case we have to reduce numbers drastically for whatever reason, but still want to proceed with getting married that day. We'll still get to have our dream day, but may have to celebrate with the whole clan on another occasion when it's safer.

Thanks again for your reply! I can't imagine going through the planning process through this whole pandemic. I'm sure it's exhausting, and I feel blessed to be able to post a post like this, asking for advice based on others' experiences!

Congratulations to you for this October!

I think it goes without saying that planning a wedding through COVID is hell in a handbasket. We had most of everything set in March 2020 for our Oct 2020 wedding. The entire postponement felt devastating a first (I got over it eventually but it still sucked) . I think the biggest advice is just to go into it the planning being comfortable living with uncertainty. Try to get everything to be as flexible as possible, hold off on tough to change things until the realistic last minute (so find the sweet spot between Covid stress and timeline stress) and ultimately decide what is going to matter the most in the end!


It sounds like the border restrictions are the most uncertain point about being able to have your wedding so I would feel the same if a lot of my family couldn’t make it.
I hope with all my heart that by Oct 2022 we really are in the post pandemic phase and we just have it figured out how to live with COVID because whatever is going on right now is not sustainable at all. Buuut I think it’s good to set expectations for what the most ideal situation will be - we might never get back to 2019 normal or a place where there is no threat hanging over us. All I know is in July 2020 I thought (and everyone around me) postponing to Oct 2021 would be a sure bet. And here we are with one of the highest vaccinations rates in the world and the 4th wave is starting. We are still planning to have our wedding this year and hoping it’s as much of the day we wanted! But the constant anxiety around what this wave is going to look like SUCKS and is taking some of the pre joy out of it. I’m definitely trying to get to a place where I’m just ok with whatever happens. I’m ready to be married and it will be what it will be. Postponing again to feel “sure and safe” feels inane at this point.
That all sounds dramatic - what I’m trying to impart is my biggest advice to work on being comfortable with being uncomfortable about the planning! It helps if you are not a type A high functioning anxiety indivisible as well haha.
All the best xoxo

View quoted message

Thank you!

View quoted message

Great insight, thank you!

View quoted message

Yes, we're targeting October 2022 for that reason! We hope that 14 months from now we'll be in a different phase.

Covid planning for wedding are a bit difficult as you would be facing the challenge of date change which most couples have posted. If I were in this position, I would consider personally a small intimate ceremony for now as you may have a special date meaningful to you both to proceed. A reception can be set for a later time which most have considered due to the waiting and lack of excitement. This way you don't feel the deposit is being a hotel credit. It does seem the border will still not be open as we all are waiting to see the outcome of this new virus. My husband wanted to go camping to the states and now deciding not to due to the outcome of what may happen.

We were supposed to get married in Feb 2021. We postponed to Feb 2022. We had about 80% of our stuff booked when we decided to postpone. All of my vendors were super accomodating and I had no issue. Ive had my dress sitting in a closet for almost a year now so i am all over my diet to make sure i dont gain weight. Just ask about cancelation/rescheduling policies. Anything can happen that could make you postpone your wedding not just covid. Be patient and make sure you pick exactly what you want. If you have lots of time to look at other things you may regret your original choice.


I am still headover heals in love with my dress, venue, colour scheme but after reading lots of posts on here lots of people are regretting some of their previous choices. Not sure if this helps.

Probably not very useful, but I wish we hadn’t planned or booked anything. We got engaged December 2019 and had most of our vendors picked out and deposits paid by the beginning of March 2020. We ended up postponing the reception and had a small ceremony in November. But we aren’t even considering planning the reception again until things are more clear. Planning during COVID was an absolute nightmare. If you’re willing to push your wedding planning off until there is more certainty around COVID and what things will be like around your current date I would HIGHLY recommend it. But if not just make sure you can move your dates without penalty with all of your vendors.