If you’re currently experiencing a huge amount of stress and heartache due to the Coronavirus outbreak, our most heartfelt sympathies go out to you .

If you've had to postpone your wedding like so many of my amazing couples, know that myself and the whole industry is feeling the feels too, and we are right there with you. We're devastated that you can't get married as planned right now. .

No one could have foreseen a pandemic coming that’s affecting the entire world. I want you to know that it may not seem like it now, but we are going to be ok and this won't last. And we have your back and will help you in ANY way we can to get through this.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Here's some tips on how to navigate this difficult time and get your wedding planning back on track.

Postpone, don't cancel

The number one thing to amidst all this chaos is to change the date, but puh-lease don't give up! Postponing may seem fraught with complexity but trust- your wedding team WILL help you through this. It will be a minor blip in the scheme of things.

Cancelling altogether because it’s too-hard-basket is going to be massively disappointing to all your friends and family who were pumped to celebrate your love, as well as being a big disadvantage to all the vendors and small businesses you've hired.

If your wedding is in the next 2-3 months, and your wedding has over 100 guests, you'll need to postpone according to current event restrictions as at 22 March. This may (and in all honesty, WILL) change over the coming days, and we advise keeping across advice from the National Coronavirus Hotline or health.gov.au

In the interests of keeping your loved ones AND your wedding vendors safe, and having the day of your dreams as you originally envisioned, you will unfortunately be affected by this. You may be already well underway into postponing and changing your date.

If your wedding date is sometime in the next 3- 6 months (say from June onward) we urge you to start considering the likelihood that you may have to move your date if this drags out. We'd advise contacting your venue and vendors ASAP to ask them what their postponement policy is JUST IN CASE, and to gather their available dates for later this year, or beyond.

If you do postpone your wedding, the vast majority of wedding venues and vendors will be incredibly understanding in helping you facilitate this. If you decide to cancel your wedding, however, it’s likely you’ll forfeit any deposits you’ve put down.

Also, depending on the proximity of the cancellation to your wedding day and the T&C’s and position of the venue/vendor, you may incur additional costs.⠀⠀

Keep clear lines of communication open with your team and your guests⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Start the conversation (if you haven’t already) with your venue and vendors about how they’d feel if you were to postpone your big day, as well as gathering alternative dates that are available. We can guarantee it’s a conversation they’re expecting.

Start with your wedding venue – get their available dates for the preferred months that you’re happy to reschedule your wedding to. Share these dates in an open and editable spreadsheet or a doodle poll with your vendors so that they can tick which dates they can and can’t do. This will make it much simpler for you to find the date that the vast majority can make happen. It's important to give all your vendors a chance to advise on their availability. Rescheduling to a date that they're not available, without any consultation, could mean that legally you're not entitled to a refund of your deposit if you are moving it to a date that they already have booked.

Stay in contact with your guests, and create a Facebook group message for your guest list if you need, so you can chat online with everyone at once.

Look to postponing to a weekday if you possibly can

With vendors booking out so far in advance, it might be difficult or not possible to make your wedding work with all of the original businesses you chose to partner with, due to the volume of future weddings and postponements.

Be open to getting married on a weekday, for example, a Thursday or Friday when there’s likely to be more availability for your wedding team.

This way you can still get married with all your ultra-amazing creatives that you'd spent so long hand-picking. Weekday weddings are a total vibe!

For any of your A-Team that sadly can’t service your new wedding date due to pre-commitments, it’s unlikely due to the nature of cancellations that you’ll be able to expect your deposit back but many vendors will be eager to work with you to provide some sort of “credit-service” to the value of your deposit.

We know it’s a nerve-wracking time for both couples and industry alike but we will get through it together. This is a situation where we all need to work collectively to be as compassionate and supportive of each other’s positions as possible. ⠀⠀⠀

Do something to celebrate your original wedding date anyway!

Something spesh just for the two of you so you can mark the date together that you had been looking forward to and planning for so long. Whether it's having a dance party in your lounge room to your wedding playlist, making a mini wedding cake or having a cocktail or three, take the time to have a little celebration of your own on the date that was going to be your wedding day.

You may also like to take some time out to reflect on the things that are important to us as people, and that’s our relationships. The very fact that you’re planning a wedding means you’ve found a life partner that you can depend on during the toughest times. It’s like you guys get to start your marriage early – just without the official piece of paper.

Try to look after yourself as much as possible

You're likely to be on a pretty wild ride of emotions right now and feeling pretty frazzled after months of wedding prep. We 100% get where your head might be right now. You may be feeling hopeless, sad – even guilty for feeling these things. Please know that this is all completely normal and that you’re in no way alone.

Your disappointment is valid, and we would feel exactly the same.

We’re all in this together and working toward a common goal – to get you guys hitched and having the best damn day ever, even if that day takes place a little later than originally planned.

NEED ADVICE ON RESCHEDULING YOUR WEDDING AND HOW TO NAVIGATE THROUGH THIS?

WANT TO CHAT FURTHER ABOUT THE LOGISTICS OF POSTPONING YOUR DREAM DAY? Feel free to get in touch with me

Have a question? FEEL FREE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME

I LOVE awesome parties and alternative weddings and know a lot of great wedding vendors that do too! And we love meeting hella cool couples who wanna shun tradition and do things their way!

If that's YOU? GET IN TOUCH TODAY- we'd LOVE to hear from you about your crazy cool plans!

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