How to have a COVID-19 safe wedding and still have fun

There’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for weddings and the return to normality. As England eases out of lockdown and weddings can start again planning your big day is making a comeback. Many couples are hoping to see a return to normality at the end of June which will allow their wedding day to go ahead restriction free. Some couples are still having a COVID safe contingency plan in place just in case and other couples are getting married over the next couple of months while there’s still restrictions in place. The idea of restrictions on your wedding day may be hard but hopefully this post will give you lots of ideas on how to have a safe but fun wedding while COVID-19 restrictions are around.

While many of us probably didn’t imagine having to incorporate hand sanitiser, social distancing and masks into our wedding day, for couple who are still choosing to go ahead with their wedding day while restrictions are in place then those things just have to factor into your wedding plans. Just as a quick reminder here are the current wedding guidelines for each step in the roadmap for England. Please remember these guidelines are for England only and are subject to change.

• From 8th March weddings can take place with 6 attendees and are no longer limited to exceptional circumstances. No receptions.
• From 12th April weddings and receptions can take place for up to 15 attendees. However this is limited to premises that are permitted to open at this time. Pubs and restaurants are only allowed to open outdoors.
• From 17th May weddings and receptions can take place with up to 30 attendees and indoor hospitality can reopen. 
• From 21st June all restrictions on social interaction will be lifted and it’s hoped weddings can return to normal.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own separate guidelines regarding weddings.   So if you’re planning on getting married between now and June you’ll be wanting to make sure your wedding is COVID-19 safe but still a fun day for you and your guests. Here’s how to do that!  

Make hand sanitising stylish

  Having a large bottle of hand sanitiser sat on the side in it’s clinical looking bottle probably isn’t the most attractive thing to have at your wedding. We all know hand sanitising is important though so why not set up a stylish hand sanitising station. With some cute signs such as ‘spread love, not germs’ or ‘be wise and sanitise’ to fit in with your wedding theme. Add some simple decorations to your sanitising stations and decant sanitiser into nicer looking pump bottles and you’re all good to go.   You could even have a bit of fun and make hand sanitiser favours. Lots of places are selling mini sanitising bottles now. With some vinyl transfers you could personalise them for your wedding and fill them up with sanitiser for each guest to have their own personal bottle.  

Decide on masks

  Your guests will have to wear masks which we all know isn’t ideal but if you’re planning on getting married while restrictions are in place then there are a number of options available. Clear masks have become a popular choice for weddings as they allow you to see you’re guests faces so you’re still getting that interaction and those facial cues that we miss out on with wearing a mask. You could also purchase masks in your colour theme to give out to guests so they still tie in with your wedding.

While the bride and groom aren’t required to wear a mask it could be that you may need one further along the roadmap as sit down meals become and option for receptions. The rule of table service will be in place but you may need a mask for moving around such as going to the toilet etc. Bride and groom mask are available from lots of small business on places such as Etsy. You may even want to purchase a bride and groom mask just for photos. Lets face it, your wedding is happening in a unique time it’s certainly an item that not many couples will have in the wedding memory box!

As restrictions ease too you might want to look at getting some masks for good photo opportunities with more guests. If you can’t get rid of them you may as well have fun with them I say! You can get masks made with different roles on them or you could even find some comedy face masks and get some really funny and unique photos.  

Make your guests feel at ease

  As restrictions ease and more and more people have the vaccine, the chances are your guests fears will also subside. However if you have guests that are elderly, vulnerable or just have a lot of anxiety they may be seeking a little reassurance for your wedding. If this is the case just have a chat with them and explain how your day is going to run and all the measures you’ll have in place to help keep everyone safe. Maybe think about making up a care package too and include their own sanitiser and mask for your wedding in their so they can feel like they’re prepared. Include these in amongst some things to get them in the wedding spirit such as a mini bottle of champagne and a bag of confetti so they can feel like the focus is on your wedding and not on the thing they have worries about.  

Involve family and friends

  As wedding numbers go from 6 to 15 to 30 there’s a chance you’ll have to make some big cuts from your guest list. At the end of the day it’s your special day so the guests that have to be removed should understand that given the circumstances they cannot be there. To help make people feel a little more involved though you could always live stream your wedding. That way the guests who can’t be there can still feel like they’re part of your day.   Maybe think about having virtual hen and stag do’s that are family friendly too that way your friends and family can still feel some of that wedding excitement with you even if they can’t physically be there with you on your wedding day.

Another good idea to involve loved ones is to ask them to get dressed up for the livestream and then send you a photo and message for a guest book after. That way you have a nice memory in the form of the guest book and your friends and family can say all the nice words to you that they would have if they could have been there.  

Keep communications open

  Communicating with your suppliers and venue is going to be key to making sure everything runs smoothly. Right now it’s absolutely best to have multiple back up plans for various guest numbers just so you have that peace of mind and you know that should you have to change anything with fairly short notice that you already have plans in place. Keep in touch with your venue and suppliers but also bare in mind that you’re not the only couple that will be contacting them. Most venues and suppliers should be good at working through the list of couples they need to contact if anything has to change so just be patient and remember that they have a lot of work to do too.

It’s probably best to read through all of your supplier contracts too, if you’ve postponed before you may have been sent a new and updated contract so it’s worth taking some time to go through these and ask your suppliers if they have a contingency plan in place should they be affected by COVID-19.   

Remember what the day is about

  Between postponements, social distancing, planning in a pandemic and everything else that’s been thrown at couples over the last year it’s easy to lose excitement for the day when there’s so many things to factor in that really should not be part of a wedding day. But if you’ve chosen go ahead with the restrictions in place don’t lose sight of why you’ve come to that decision. It’s because you want to get married, because you don’t want to delay your married life anymore, because you love each other. And that right there should be the focus of the day.

There’s a misconception that downsizing your day means you can’t do certain things which is absolute BS! You can absolutely still wear your wedding dress, still do wedding DIY’s (that pretty hand sanitising station isn’t going to set itself up), still have beautiful photos. Changing your plans doesn’t take anything away from your day, it will still be beautiful and special.

If you’re struggling with your wedding mojo right now then I highly recommend checking out two beautiful weddings that I’ve featured on here. Both happened with COVID-19 restrictions in place. First up Louise and Chris went for an intimate, low budget registry office wedding after deciding they absolutely wanted to get married no matter what. Secondly, Milli and Josh had a beautiful December church wedding as they too decided the most important thing to them was to just get married.

If you’ve decided that the restrictions are just not what you want then check out my post on how to easily postpone your wedding.

For those of you wondering what your wedding day may look like if it’s taking place over the next couple of months then I hope this has helped you out a bit.

Do you plan of getting married in the next couple of months? Let me know in the comments!  

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