Hey guys, welcome to the notes from Episode 16 of our podcast! We shot Lauren + James’ wedding at Le Petit Chateau! We were so happy for them as it was very touch and go whether or not their Le Petit Chateau Wedding was going to take place or not due to Coronovirus. Here’s their preview 🙂

In this episode we discuss wedding planning going forward during the uncertainty of COVID-19. Obviously we’re just discussing things as we have no idea how things are going to play out so at the time of recording we were working through theoretical scenarios.. but we thought these may be some things that might be worth considering going forward..

 

HAVE A HUMANIST WEDDING OR HIRE A CELEBRANT // One other aspect of your wedding that you will definitely have to consider if you’re looking at rescheduling your wedding will be rebooking your registrar. As they have limited availability you could find that either a) they don’t have any time slots available on your new date b) the dates that they do have available aren’t really suitable for your plans / vision of your wedding (e.g they may have a slot at 7pm for your wedding on December 5^th and therefore it’ll be pitch black after your ceremony, which isn’t ideal for photos..

This is the perfect example of where considering a celebrant could work wonders for your wedding. A celebrant can be anyone at all, we know several amazing celebrants that we can recommend if you wish to go down this route, if not, you could have a friend do the ceremony (just like Joey from friends!) You would still need to have a legal ceremony at a registry office but this can be done at any time.

RIDE THE RESCHEDULING WAVE // It may feel like a sad situation right now, but try to focus on the benefits of having your wedding date. The first thing that comes to mind as it allows you more time to save up money which could be spent to enhance your wedding whether that be adding additional coverage to your photography, hiring a videographer if you previously wanted to but didn’t have the budget for one, increasing your wedding flower order, spending more money or time on wedding décor to make your wedding look even more insane or even saving up more money to have that killer honeymoon!

CATERING ALTERNATIVES // So many businesses are being impacted by Covid-19, including some of our favourite resturants, it might be worth reaching out to one of your favourite food spots to see if they would consider catering for weddings? Why not? We’ve seen so many sit down resturants offering take out / deliver services recently so you never know, they may be considering diversifying their business model, this could be the perfect opportunity to speak to some awesome vendors. We can recommend a ton of our favourite restaurants that might be worth contacting. Whats the worst thing that could happen, they say no?

LOCAL FREELANCERS / If you haven’t already bought things like wedding favors or thank you gifts then why not look at helping out small businesses for gifts, here are just a couple of examples of gifts: pins for groomsmen, illustrations by local freelancers, gift vouchers for a family run restaurant

 

WEDDING ALBUMS? // Well, this is awkward isn’t it.. haha. We’re not really big sales people but if this is something you had previously considered, it’d be such a huge help to us if you ordered a wedding album. We always say that if you receive money as a gift from your wedding guests, what better way to spend that money than investing in a beautiful wedding album to have a tangible memory of your wedding day.

INTIMATE WEDDINGS MAY BE THE WAY FORWARD?? // We’re totally shooting in the dark here as this is an ever-changing situation that we’re currently under but it’s not beyond the relms of possibility that the government could put a cap on mass gatherings up to a certain number which could result in people having to look at their wedding guest list as it may need a little tinkering but try not to stress as you could consider:

Have an intimiate ceremony followed by a big party later down the line

Eloping?

HAVE A SMALL WEDDING + BOOK A PARTY FOR EVERYONE WHEN THE SITUATION CHANGES // Personally, SJ would love this because you could potentially have two weddings?! Have a really intimate wedding ceremony followed by a big party when it’s safe to do so. You could even wait and book the party as a huge 1^st wedding anniversary party!

ELOPE? // Elopements are becoming more and more popular these days and we’re more than happy to travel with you guys somewhere completely remote and document some insanely lush portraits of you both.

DOCUMENT YOUR ORIGINAL WEDDING DATE // If you do go down the rescheduling route the most important thing to remember is that you’re not cancelling your wedding, it’s just being postponed. You will still get married and it will be amazing. You could still do something to document your original wedding date. Facetime your family and closest friends, heck you could have a pretend wedding ceremony, buy a cake and do a fake cutting of the wedding cake on a video chat with as many of your wedding guests as possible. Get us on Facetime and we’ll take some screen shots for you too! If the government say that small gatherings are safe to do so by the time your original wedding date comes around but you’ve already rescheduled a new wedding date, get in touch! We would love to arrange some sort of shoot to document the day with you, we’re all about making the most of any situation. Sure, this time has been hella stressful for all wedding industry folk too but we have to all stay positive and remember we still have our health and we would be honoured to still have the chance to meet you guys and take some lush keep sake images for you. <3