Advice on how to talk to vendors about postponing :(

October 10th is still a ways away. It is very possible your wedding could go on as scheduled with no restrictions by then. With there being no mandated shut down that far out, none of your vendors have to agree to refund your money or move your date. Unfortunately, you are held to whatever your contract states between these two vendors. If you and your fiance really want to postpone, just make the decision before you next deposit is due so you lose less money.

6 months away anything can happen by then. Your vendors are worried n dealing with people 8 weeks out from now.

I am not sure how other vendors are handling weddings that far out, but I can tell you I'm "getting married" June 13, and my venue won't speak to any couple until their wedding is a month out. I wouldn't be surprised if most vendors are going to take that approach to avoid losing business. I'm sorry that's not helpful, and I wish you guys the best in figuring it all out!

Hi! Is your postponement because of the virus or for another reason? I haven’t postponed but I have been in conversation with vendors about my May wedding so maybe I can help a little! I know I don’t have all of the information but it seems like it would be okay to make the second deposit. If the pandemic is still happening near your wedding date and government guidelines are impacting the ability to have your wedding (assuming the pandemic is your reason for wanting to postpone) I assume both your venue and DJ would be willing to help you postpone then based on what you shared. If a postponement does become necessary both your first and second deposit would be applied to the new date and very few vendors are charging rescheduling fees. This is also assuming that you want to keep the same venue. And if the virus is no longer in effect than you get to get married when you originally wanted without losing any money. Again, I know that there might be more details I don’t know and that the “waiting to see” option is stressful, but I don’t think you have to lose any money if you choose that option!

I think it’s pretty standard policy that vendors are only postponing without consequence if it’s due to government mandate. My best friend was getting married in May and as pp said, they were not rescheduling those weddings until they had to, so she was kind of stuck just waiting until they canceled on her. So I would not expect any of your vendors to be lenient for an October wedding at this time, and if you want to postpone it, be prepared to pay the applicable fees.

Chelsea, we are in the EXACT situation. Big venue payment coming up in May, and despite our discussions the venue refuses to change our date until they "have to". So we literally just made the decision to cancel the venue, lose our deposit, and postpone to Oct. 2021. We have other venue choices in town, so I know it's the right decision for us. Our other vendors have been freakin' awesome with the change. Good luck with this, it just sucks so bad.

I'll be honest here I would deff postpone. Your guests may not be comfortable coming & social distancing guidelines are looking to be in place for at least another 8-12 months until a vaccine is made. Your venue not giving you a refund or allowing you to re-schedule is insane to me. My scheduled wedding was on July 25, 2020. My venue already moved all April-June weddings to later on the year or next year. I freaked out thinking I would have bad dates left for next year so I reached out and they understood and luckily moved my date. I don't understand venues that aren't sensitive to this situation.

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Thanks Danielle - and no, that was super helpful context and info. I appreciate it and wish you guys all the best as well!! Stay safe and healthy!

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I agree - doesnt make sense. Its a hard enough time already Thanks, Sarah. We are pretty sure we are going to postpone at this point. Wish you guys all the best!!

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Thanks Ashley, this is really helpful info and context too.

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Hi Katie, thanks for your response! We're thinking of postponing based on the virus - everyone is coming in from out of town and we're worried people wont feel comfortable traveling/being at large events, we have some older guests and immuno compromised, we have some friends who are in financial hardship because of this, its put a huge damper on planning...etc

Thanks again for your thoughts and context!! Wish you all the best!!