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Dedicated August 2022

2022 large weddings safe to plan?

Emily, on February 3, 2021 at 2:48 PM Posted in Planning 2 20

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Hi everyone! My fiancé and I are hoping to get married in August 2022. We have a venue we’re ready to book that has a good COVID policy (no fees if we need to postpone, $1000 fee if we cancel altogether). We really want our wedding to have 120-150 guests and we’re hesitant to wait much longer than 2022 because we’ll be together for 10 years that year. Although we love wedding planning, we’re honestly just ready to have our wedding in a year and a half and move on with the next step of our lives. But, we’re also on the cautious end with COVID and wouldn’t dare put any of our family and friends who are traveling from out of state/out of the country, or have weak immune systems, at risk. I’d just love to hear how the rest of you are planning around or after COVID?

We’ve thrown out the idea of getting married in 2021 because we wanted more time to plan and we know that weddings of 100-150 people simply won’t happen this year, at least not safely. But, we’re wondering if it’s really going to be safe to plan in 2022.
How are the rest of you making your decisions? We’re keeping an eye on what the experts are saying and can’t find a lot of info about 2022. Most sources say that weddings are a no-go in 2021. Of course every source is unsure because everything depends on vaccine effectiveness and whether new strains pop up.
For more background, we’re planning to get married in Portland, OR. While some people we know in Oregon have been vaccinated, we’re now hearing that teachers and 65+ seniors won’t finish getting vaccinated until May 2021, which makes me think that everyone else won’t have the chance until the fall. About 75% of our guests live outside of Portland, about 50% would need to drive from out of state or fly, and about 10% live in Europe.

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20 Comments

Latest activity by Erin, on February 11, 2021 at 4:48 PM

Devoted August 2022
Nicole · on February 3, 2021 at 2:55 PM
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Your guess is as good as mine. For what it's worth, I decided to book a venue for August 2022 once the vaccines started rolling out because that's really the last step back to normalcy and I feel 1.5 years is enough time for that to happen.
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Dedicated August 2022
Emily · on February 3, 2021 at 2:56 PM
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Thank you! Do you have a plan to wait to book other vendors? I guess we’re thinking that we might book everything but wait until maybe February 2022 to pay for anything that says our date on it (so that we don’t waste money on things that may go to waste).
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Master May 2020
Kari · on February 3, 2021 at 2:58 PM
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Your plan to wait until the second half of 2022 and book a venue with a very reasonable Covid policy sounds good to me!

I think we will be in much better shape by the end of this year and August 2022 gives you a good cushion of time even after most Americans should have vaccine access, so herd immunity should be fairly well established by then. The only caveat I would still be a bit uncertain about is your international guests.

Plus in the event there are still restrictions, you will be able to postpone or just forfeit a very reasonable cancelation fee.
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Devoted August 2022
Nicole · on February 3, 2021 at 3:03 PM
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So far we've booked our venue (includes the caterer), officiant, and photographer. We're evaluating DJ's now. We wanted to get all the important things locked in. After that I think we'll wait until early 2022 to book the smaller vendors like baker, hair & makeup, florist, etc.
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Expert September 2022
EGD · on February 3, 2021 at 3:18 PM
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I just sent my contract to my venue to book for 9/2/2022, I'm fairly confident we will be able to hold the wedding we imagined and the venue showed no concern that we wanted to book for 150 guests.
My cousin has signed her contract for her July 2022 wedding that is out of state for all parties in attendance, she is an RN at MassGeneral in Boston and has spent the last year on COVID only floors in the hospital and has been very cautious of the pandemic and requirements. She's why I feel confident, if she's confident enough to continue with her wedding, I'm confident in mine!
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Beginner March 2022
Amber · on February 3, 2021 at 3:18 PM
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I was just talking to FH about this the other day. We’re planning for April 2022 and hoping for the best, but we know there’s a possibility we might not be able to have large gatherings of over 100 people around that time. So far we’ve only booked the venue. For the venue we were able to reserve a date but it’s too early to put down a deposit so it works out pretty well. I would say to hold off on booking your vendors until later this year if you can since we should know more around the summer. Also have a Plan B for the wedding just in case. We said that we would have a small ceremony of 10 people if we had to but some people opt to postpone. It’s definitely something to think about.
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Dedicated October 2021
Tee · on February 3, 2021 at 3:24 PM
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It’s so uncertain. I’m not sure how Oregon is doing vaccination efforts wise. I know some states are really struggling given the high population density. I would hope 2022 would be better but there’s still uncertainty given the virus variants/mutations. I’ve learned to have a back up plan and plan to the backup plan at this point. Some people may feel comfortable attending, others may not even if they’re vaccinated.

For the same reasons of being together a long time—We’ve decided to have a minimony this year and a larger celebration/vow renewal at a TBD date.
That’s great your venue is so flexible! Best of luck planning! We’re all in this together.
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Super October 2022
AJ · on February 3, 2021 at 3:33 PM
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I already secured my venue for October 2022, I'm hoping things are back to normal by then. I'm not planning on having over 100 people either way. I would hope with vaccines things will get back to normal summer/fall 2021.
That being said my work is working from home until Labor Day 2021, but that can always get pushed back again.
I would say it should be safe to plan and its good that your venue has a COVID policy.
Happy Planning!
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Super June 2021
Melanie · on February 3, 2021 at 3:34 PM
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I would go ahead and book the venue if that's the covid policy. $1000 loss for cancelling isn't bad at all compared to what other people are experiencing. A lot of 2022 dates are filling up due to 2021 brides postponing so you wouldn't want to wait until too late in the year to decide you want to move forward with 2022. I would also book your caterer if you don't have an in-house caterer and maybe photographer as well. Some of the other things like cake and DJ can wait until later in the year when you know more.
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Champion July 2019
Veronica · on February 3, 2021 at 4:02 PM
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Unfortunately, no one can know for sure. My husband and I are already married, but we were trying to get pregnant during Covid and my mom kept making comments about whether we were sure it was safe because of Covid. Ultimately, we decided continue to try to have a baby because we didn't want to put our lives on hold. My husband just turned 30 and he had actually wanted to be done having kids by 30. I am 27 and my mom had uterine cancer at like age 32 so given her history neither of us wanted to risk waiting. I am now 27 weeks pregnant and due May 1st. My advice would be to weigh the pros and cons and determine what works best for you.
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Devoted September 2021
Jay · on February 3, 2021 at 4:26 PM
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I hope it’s safe by then! We’re still planning on 150 for fall 2021, although I’m pushing to re-evaluate that plan by April. I would say you being so convinced this year isn’t safe enough is discouraging, except I kind of agree with you—& I think my parents (who are helping pay) & FH are being overly optimistic haha.

We’ve been planning with backup plans from the start, so we’re on the “married now party later” train, if it comes to a postponement. But it does seem worth booking now, since if we postpone the big shindig we’ll be aiming for fall 2022, & I bet many others are as well.
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Super April 2021
Tiger Bride · on February 3, 2021 at 5:02 PM
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I think this is really up to you and your comfort level, and the restrictions in your state. We are going to a "regular" wedding next month, having ours in April, and have two more in July and October. Once you're able to have them, with the restrictions lifted, it's up to you with what you feel comfortable with.
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VIP October 2022
Samantha · on February 3, 2021 at 6:38 PM
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We went ahead and booked for Oct 2022 and are hoping for the best. Thankfully the venue includes everything but the cake, decor and photographer (we aren’t having a photographer) so we don’t have to juggle multiple vendors and cancellation policies. We’ll lose our deposit though which was I think $500.
If COVID is still a thing by Oct 2022, well, we’ll figure it out I guess. I’m keeping my fingers in my ears and singing “lalalal.”
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Dedicated August 2022
Emily · on February 3, 2021 at 7:57 PM
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What area are you in? It’s not technically possible to have a regular sized one in our area. We’re supposed to go to one in July but I think that will end up being downsized.
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Super April 2021
Tiger Bride · on February 3, 2021 at 8:49 PM
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Three of them including ours are in South Carolina. You need a permit for events over 250, but none of them will be that large. The July one is in upstate NY, where the governor just said this week you can have up to 150. I'm not sure yet if they are going ahead with that or not but it was planned to be outdoors anyway so that helps them a bit.
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Savvy August 2022
Brianna · on February 3, 2021 at 8:59 PM
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My fiancé and I booked our wedding for August 2022 back in June of 2020 for the sole reason that 2022 should be getting back to normal. We had to guarantee the venue 125 at the time of booking and hoping we can keep it that way
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Dedicated September 2021
ALY C · on February 3, 2021 at 10:20 PM
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No one really knows what’s going to happen 100%. But I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine. And if a crazy variant pops up or a new pandemic I think the end of the summer is probably the safest time. I’m honestly more optimistic about our September 2021 wedding because it’s at the end of the summer. Cases really did rise during the winter. I think weddings can “safely” happen this year in 2021 too.
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Dedicated August 2022
Emily · on February 10, 2021 at 11:42 PM
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This is so good to hear! We found out that the venue we're booking will charge nothing if we postpone 3+ months before 8/13/2022 and will charge $1,000 if we postpone after that. Fingers crosses none of us have to postpone!
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Savvy March 2022
lisamarie · on February 11, 2021 at 9:43 AM
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I'm getting married April 2022 in PR at a venue that is completely outdoors. Half of my guests will be traveling from NY. I am inviting 130 people and all my guests are very close family or family friends. We are anticipating 30-40 to decline.
COVID will be a thing for the next few years, unfortunately. It is definitely not going away. We are going to learn how to live with it safely. I've booked nearly everything as 2022 is most likely going to be a crazy year for weddings. With vaccinations, I think we'll be in a better place by then.
We're planning to make the call in January 2022 before we send out our formal invitations. That will be based off of case #'s in both locations (under 1%), vaccinations, testing availability, and any travel restrictions there may be. We specifically made sure we would be able to postpone without a fee or losing our deposit for all vendors.
I was fine eloping but my fiancé wanted a big wedding so we will see if that happens!
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Dedicated November 2022
Erin · on February 11, 2021 at 4:48 PM
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Hello! We are getting married November 5, 2022. We knew we definitely wanted to get married in the fall but did not think we would be out of the woods yet COVID-wise by fall of 2021. We figured if we planned it for November of 2022 that should give the vaccine plenty of time to make the rounds and time for things to get back to normal. We also have about 120 guest list and I definitely want to try not having a bunch of masks in my wedding pictures! Fingers crossed!!
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