Feeling it all
Well here we are again, writing about covid. It feels a bit repetitive now doesn’t it? And pretty frustrating with how much air time it’s getting, externally…and in my mind! I hope today’s blog is a complete waste of all our time when we reflect…
But right now, if your wedding is in Italy in 2021, this is for you.
Before I ramble on, I want to put my hands up once again and say that yes I have feelings around this, but couples, I am not like you and I don’t fully understand what it’s like to be in your shoes. All my advice is in sympathy and support of you.
I’ve spoken to quite a few couples in the past few weeks and despite everyone being pretty calm and just sort of mentioning this in passing, I know it’s a crap time and I know this is on your minds. From seeing so many couples postpone weddings this year, and now couples navigating this new plot twist, I feel we’re in a unique position to be able to give you the facts at hand and the advice we’ve conjured up over the last 7 months.
Firstly, take a deep breath. It’s going to be OK. I know it’s a lot. Constantly changing info, guests asking you for updates, starting to wane confidence that your wedding will be the one you’ve dreamed of. It will be OK. Together we will make this work for you and come to the best outcome. Next summer is a long time away and we remain so very positive about it.
My main piece of advice - let’s work out what we can control. From witnessing our couples, and some of my friends navigate this awful set of decisions through the summer, the most helpful advice I can give at this point is to work through what each wedding type could look like and decide right now what you would go ahead with and what you wouldn’t.
For example, would you consider:
- A smaller wedding - what size works for you and can all your VIPs be there?
- Some covid restrictions - would you go ahead with a wedding where people sit 1m apart / families are grouped closely and suppliers wear masks? (these were the restrictions in place for big weddings for most of this summer)
- Tighter covid restrictions - would you go ahead with a smaller wedding in Italy, social distancing, no buffet and perhaps no party?
- Would you consider postponing the wedding and to when?
By working through the above, you can get your head around what your wedding could look like if any of the above area feasible for you. And if the time comes to consider these options, you’ve done the hard part and you may even be at peace with it.
There is some great advice out there on having covid safe wedding in the UK, which may give you some of the worst case scenarios. But WATCH OUT, this could be like symptom googling when you’re feeling poorly, and take you down a bit of a rabbit hole.
We’ve been asked about a timeline for making decisions. In my mind, a timetable feels really hard to even consider because, as the whole industry has been to date, we will be acting on how things progress in real time.
We think that in February there will be enough info to consider whether the season is going ahead and this is when we have pencilled in a time to really make those calls. Of course if there is more info (good or bad) before hand, we will flex and act when we need to.
W&W couples know when we’ll be catching up in the coming 6 weeks and we’ve thought long and hard about the timings of these calls against the state of the world and the information we provide at this time.
What we know from suppliers…
Everyone is really positive for an amazing 2021 season but there are obvious nerves.
Each supplier will have a different policy for postponement and some won’t commit to this until there is more information as to what the season will be like. In a lot of cases, postponing would mean an increase to 2022 prices.
Some things to consider...
Venues are taking bookings for 2022 all the time at the moment and it’s a busy year, so every month that passes is going to heavily impact available dates.
For W&W couples, you’ve already paid almost all of your deposits. Maybe if there are any second payments to make (usually 3 months out), this could be a good line in the sand as to considering any changes to plans.
One of my biggest learnings from this year is to feel it all. The anger, the sadness AND the love and support. Don’t keep it in, allow yourself to feel it all. Make sure you talk about it with those close to you. They want to support you and care about how this is affecting you.
So, let’s all group together and create a world where covid kindly f***s off and we can all celebrate together next summer. In the meantime, we’re here if you need us.