Coronavirus and Weddings

What does the future look like for weddings after the Coronavirus Pandemic?

The most recently scheduled wedding we had in the First Congregational Church was due to be held on Saturday March 28th with 40 guests. Unfortunately it was just after Orange County went into lockdown. It was an unusual time and circumstances to be dealing with Coronavirus and Weddings. The week prior to the wedding everything was changing in the world with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Day by day we had to talk about changing the wedding. Right at the last minute the Orange County went into lockdown. This couple wanted to marry on this specific day. They also did not want to postpone their wedding. The First Congregational Church had to close. Two days before the wedding, the couple planned to marry in a park in Seminole county instead. Luckily, the hair and make up artist and florist, which they booked through our company, were still able to fulfill their commitment. The weather cooperated and the couple had a wonderful day.

Rescheduling Weddings

Currently we have dealt with the weddings we had in March and April. Each wedding is different and unique. The majority of these we are waiting for the couples to choose new dates as soon as restrictions are lifted. After all, life will go on. We are expecting to see a sharp rise in the amount of people who will be getting married. Times like these show us what is important in life and who is important in life. History shows us that after times of trouble (such as the last two World Wars) there is usually a surge in marriages and inevitably consequently babies. See Anne Sebba’s article here about the marriage boom after WWII

Right now we are all in complete shock, denial and on unprecedented ground. Slowly coming to terms with slowing down and accepting self isolation. We are becoming accustomed to new temporary rules for the good of the human race. 

I am not a virologist, but I know we should all be self isolating during these difficult times. This will help us get through this quickly and with the least fatalities.  By self isolating we are protecting the most vulnerable of our population!  This type of preventive measure may seem over the top to the younger generation, but it really is the only way we can fight this epidemic.

This is an ever changing situation. It diminishes our ability to predict where we will be in one or two weeks time. Currently most people are living day by day.

What will our weddings be like after the pandemic?

What the World is going through now will more than likely change how we think and behave in the future. 

When we start to come out of this it will probably be a gradual relaxation of restrictions and highly likely that some restrictions will be with us for quite a while.
We will definitely have to consider social distancing in the very near future so smaller weddings will be the way forward to begin with.

That is where we come in; For the last ten years we have been arranging small intimate weddings. Weddings that are shared with family and close friends.

During self isolation we are stuck with immediate family. These are the people we telephone and FaceTime and Zoom are our extended family and dear friends that truly want to be with. So speaking from experience that sounds like a solid way to prioritize a wedding guest list. Engaged couples planning a wedding can ask themselves: “During the pandemic, who did I spend my time with and who did I speak to, or FaceTime most days?”

Everybody is now familiar with live streaming

A large percentage of our weddings over the last 10 years have involved people from different States and Countries, we were an early adopter of live streaming weddings. Now we have Coronavirus and Weddings, this is a great way to invite family and friends from all over the world to watch the ceremony from the comfort of their own homes and without traveling and putting yourself at risk to contract this virus, and putting more of a stain on the hospitals and our health system.

So to all our couples that have booked with us for a future date, we look forward to seeing you very soon. To couples thinking of tying the knot in the near future, we hope you will consider the points we have addressed in this post and please contact us with questions at: Suzanne@winterparkweddingcompany.com and Cheryl@winterparkweddingcompany.com

Or 407 539 1538.  

Stay Safe and Well!