Dear 2022 bride (or groom), you must be so excited about your upcoming wedding. You may have heard of horror stories from 2021 and 2020 brides of replanning their weddings three, four or five times. We are writing this blog piece for you, with all the tips and advise that we have learned from successful covid weddings, to help you navigate these very different times and maybe with a little bit of luck, finger crossed we have low case numbers in the Summer of 2022, that you will have the wedding that always wanted.
A-B-C-D guest list
I’m not going to sugar coat it, this is going to be a lot of work. When we were planning our wedding, I thought, oh jeeze, how am I going to invite all the people who were important in my life? The right answer is you don’t. Instead of making a list of all the teachers and old colleagues that meant something to you, nowadays let’s face it with the health regulations the we have seen in the past two years, the weddings are small. You have to think from the perspective who do I HAVE to have at the wedding? The 10 most important people, parents, siblings, wedding party, would be your A list. Creating a tiered guest list really helps with knowing exactly what to expect if restrictions allow 10, 25, 50 or 100+ people. B list includes your siblings’ spouses and close friends and family. C list is 50 people and D list would be the full 100+ wedding.
Save the date
Whether you are printing cards or sending a message on Facebook, this is the only thing that you can send out with certainty months in advance.
Online wedding invite
Right after the health regulations are announced for your wedding date, you can send the actual invite. You can create your own online wedding invite as easy as designing it on Canva and send it to your A-B-C-D list. You can use paperless wedding invites or you can create a wedding website.
Book venue early
Finding the right venue is the cornerstone of your wedding. The challenge with 2022 is that you are competing with 2022, 2021 and 2020 weddings. Even though some couples already had a covid wedding, many are planning their first anniversary reception to celebrate with everyone who couldn’t be there the first time around. Make sure to book your venue early.
Find vendors who are flexible
There is a new criteria to what a good vendor means. Not only do you have to find the venue and photographer that you absolutely love, they also need to be flexible. Health regulations are out of your control and you should not be the one paying for it. You need to have this conversation with them in advance, what would happen if the regulations change last minute, they should allow you to postpone the wedding.
Rent the decor
Since you are not sure if you need decor for 10 or 100 people, to save you some time, money and energy, it may be best to rent the decor.
Write down deadlines
Make sure to ask your florist, rental company and caterer when would be the deadlines for you to give them the final number and put those dates on your calendar. If you forgot to change the numbers you may end out with lots of flowers, which is not the worst problem, but there is no sense in paying for food that can’t be served to guests who can not attend.
Keep it simple
Somethings are great to have in you have a large wedding, but would you still need the limo if it was a 5 people wedding? If the answer is no, then maybe ask your friend with the cool mustang or classic car if you can use their car for pictures. If the answer is yes, then go ahead with booking that car.
Have a shot list for photographer
Weddings can be hot, fast or simply chaotic. You don’t want to find out that you missed a special family photo only when you are printing Christmas cards. It happened to my nephew, they had a picture with the parents and a picture with the sister, but none with the couple and the parents and sister all together. If you write a list out for the photographer or a family member helps organize the people together then it all goes super fast and no shots will be missed.
Hire a videographer or livestream
In order for all of your family and friends to feel like they were part of your wedding, you should either hire a videographer or livestream. A year ago, we have not heard of livestreamed weddings, now every second one is. If I was to choose between the two, hands down videographer captures and creates a better product that you can enjoy for years and show to your kids one day.
Served no buffet
For many years, buffet was popular, however with covid, served reception is the way to go. The reception flows better and it is covid friendly.
Chicken and vegetarian option
Having a nice steak is quite an amazing option, however with the beef prices going up and the hassle of asking every guest how do they like their steak with their RSVP. It is a lot of work for you. Chicken is so versatile and it is always so well received, especially chicken supreme. More and more people ask for vegetarian options, so that may be something that you should discuss with your caterer.
One tier cake
The cake is only a photo op nowadays. A small, tall, decorated with flowers or cake is so easy and gorgeous. The rest of the guests will be served individual desserts anyways.
Hand sanitizers & masks
These are the supplies that we didnt think of having on hand before, but nowadays, somebody will for sure forget to bring a mask and you don’t want to miss grandpa at the ceremony because of something so silly.
Have a plan B
Decide in advance what you would do if the restrictions dropped to 5 people, would you want to wait or would you have the wedding anyways? If you would want to wait then have a second date picked out.
Honeymoon
Don’t forget to book the honeymoon, even if it is just to go to the cabin for a week. If you are traveling abroad then make sure you have all the vaccination papers, passports and be prepared to self isolate for 14 days after the honeymoon.
Name change
If you do decide to change your last name, then you need to apply for election of surname paperwork through Vital Statistics. I was able to change driver’s license, passport with simply marriage license, but the health card does not accept marriage license, therefore you may end up with non-matching documents and may not be let into restaurants even if you are vaccinated.
If you need any help let us know. We give free tours and consultations any time of year. Hope you have fun planning your wedding.
Photography Aimee de la Lande Photography Wedding Planner Ashley Brooke Weddings
Florals Prairie Creative Floral
Dress Pearl and birch
Suit EPH weddings
Make up Sara Claire MUA
Hair JR Baldo
