How To Announce Postponing Your Wedding Due to COVID-19

Barn Reception Space: Wedding Forward, Save the Date Held by the Bride: Pexels, Bride and Groom Holding Hands: Unsplash, Bullet Journal with Wedding Bouquet: Pexels

COVID-19 has put a damper on all of our plans. It has canceled vacations, canceled summer traditions, like state and county fairs, and it is causing us to completely rethink how to educate our children.

There are many things to be disappointed about, but few things are more disappointing than figuring out how to properly postpone a wedding during the pandemic.

You have likely been planning your wedding for many months, or maybe even years. You have your ceremony space, your reception space, your dress, and your cake all lined up and ready to go, only to discover that the large gathering you have been planning is extremely unsafe.

But what do you do if you have already sent out invitations and everyone is planning to attend your big day?

Here are some tips that will help you learn how to announce and postpone your wedding due to COVID.

Barn Reception Space: Wedding Forward

Talk to Your Vendors Before You Make an Announcement

How are wedding venues handling COVID? This is an important question to consider because it can have huge implications for how you choose to move forward with your original wedding plans.

In some cases, you may be able to get your money back. In other cases, you may only be able to get a portion of your funds back. Depending on your particular contract, you could discover that you won’t be able to get any of your money back.

It’s important to talk to your vendors before deciding what to do because it can help you determine if you have to postpone or cancel your wedding due to COVID. For example, if you can get your money back, you may want to cancel your wedding altogether. If you will only get a portion of your down payment back, or none of it at all, you may want to consider a small intimate affair on your original wedding date instead of canceling altogether.

Be sure to ask if they might allow you to reschedule. You won’t lose any money, it’ll help you zero in on a new wedding date, and you’ll still get the cake, catering, and ceremony space you planned on.

Bullet Journal with Wedding Bouquet: Pexels

Decide on a New Date and Plan

Although the question of when to postpone your wedding due to COVID-19 is no longer a concern, because it is clear that large weddings in the fall, and even in the winter, should be postponed, figuring out when to reschedule can be a nightmare.

Talking to your vendors can help a lot, but you should also consider rescheduling for the same time of year as your original date. That might mean you have to push the date back a year or more, but it also means all of the décor and details will still make sense with your original theme.

You also have the ability to get married right away with a small intimate ceremony and save the larger celebration for a later date. Just make sure you plan your wedding during the coronavirus pandemic carefully.

Save the Date Held by the Bride: Pexels

Send Out a Formal Announcement

Once you’ve determined that you will be canceling or postponing your wedding, it’s time to send out a formal announcement. It’s nice if you can send out an announcement with a new date and details, but if you can’t, you should at least be able to share your plan of action.

Let guests know the reason for the postponement, if you plan on having an intimate ceremony with a larger celebration later, or if you plan on postponing everything until a certain date.

Not sure what you’re going to do, but you know that you have to cancel? Just say so! This is an unprecedented time, so no one expects you to have all the answers, but they will appreciate being informed.

Not sure how to word it when you postpone your wedding? Have a little fun and take a lighthearted approach to the situation with these postponement announcement ideas. 

                  Bride and Groom Holding Hands: Unsplash

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Once you’ve made the decision to postpone or cancel your wedding, and even after you have sent out formal announcements through the mail, online, or both, you should still keep the lines of communication open with friends and family.

It’s important to check in with far-flung friends and elderly family members to ensure they received your message. You can also ask friends and family to help out and spread the word about the details of your new wedding date.

If you choose to go through with an intimate ceremony, you have to figure out how to uninvite wedding guests due to COVID. Considering the circumstances, most friends and family will understand. Especially if you let them know you’re planning on inviting them to a larger celebration at a later time, and if they hear it directly from you instead of through a letter in the mail.

Creating a postpone wedding announcement and rescheduling your big day isn’t all bad! Planning your wedding during the coronavirus pandemic means you can get in on some serious sales. Shop for discounted items and see if you can fit that chocolate fountain into your budget after all.

Figuring out how to postpone a wedding due to COVID-19 isn’t fun and it isn’t easy, but it’s doable. With these tips, you can inform everyone of your new plans so you can still have the perfect wedding you’ve always dreamed of.