covid brides - Reception Push off

Could you please clarify? You're rethinking on whether or not to have a reception? Or are you definitely having one?

The ceremony you had in October was described as being “phenomenal”. You had your family and friends there. So, at this point, what would be the reason/need for another wedding next year? Personally, I wouldn’t have multiple weddings in a short period of time. I would just wait five years or so and have a nice renewal celebration instead.

I didn’t have to push my date (getting married on January 16th — EEEKK), but we did significantly downsize our wedding from 250 to 25. While we
had originally planned to do a large formal reception later with all of our original attendees, we scrapped that idea for something more low key. We are having a seafood boil in his hometown in Mississippi and an “I Do BBQ” in my hometown in Florida to watch the wedding video once it comes back with those persons who aren’t coming to the downsized wedding.

A lot of people that initially planned to do a "part 2" are scrapping that idea -- whether due to finances, they're just super happy with how part 1 went, decided they didn't want a big party after all, and/or they're completely over planning.

Everyone's situations are different, so if you are thrilled with how your wedding turned out and don't see a need for a second, bigger celebration, more power to you!

We downsized from 130 to 35 and had initially planned on doing a more traditional reception in 2022, but I don't think we're going to. When we sent out our initial "Change of Plans" cards to guests we could no longer invite, we kept future plans vague -- "We hope to celebrate with you in the future" -- so I don't feel the need to communicate a further decision unless we opt for some sort of vow renewal party down the line.

We're still going forward with our reception next November after getting married in September. As much as I was happy with the end result of being married and the amazing pictures we got out of the change of plans, I still want to celebrate with everyone who is close to me (we only had our parents and one sibling each at our marriage). Additionally, I still want to support all of my vendors and not lose out on the thousands of dollars that we've already paid (we were only 3 weeks out from our wedding when we originally postponed). I definitely understand moving forward with the next stage of life and not having a reception, and if we didn't have so much money in the reception, it would for sure be a thought. However, I truly think we will all need something to celebrate in the next year or two and will be looking forward to our current plan.