Covid Etiquette

We live in an area where masks and vaccination cards are still required but people are not wearing them and it’s not enforced by local businesses. At the same time, new cases are still in the 5 figures. Local wedding venues are not enforcing masks.



How you approach it is personal. If you are requiring masks and vaccinations the information needs to be given via word of mouth and a reminder on your details card in the invitation packet. People can decline or accept based on that. Toward the beginning of Covid I worked at a business that regularly tested employees and just testing alone would take an hour per 75 people. And they are only effective the day they are taken because anything can happen between the test and your wedding.

We're in the same boat. I've added a line on the front page of our website: "We kindly ask that all guests are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. We have immunocompromised friends and family who will be attending, and while we want to have a great day with everyone, we don't want to put anyone's health in danger." and we are also (as of now) putting a similar line on our formal invitations "We kindly ask that all guests are fully vaccinated against Covid-19."

We've already discussed that there are going to be some of his family that aren't and will push back on it, so I said we would do it on a case by case basis, but what I think I'm going to request is a negative rapid test from that morning (our wedding is in the evening, they'll have plenty of time) and we are not providing the tests. It's their choice to not be vaccinated (at no cost to them!) so they will be responsible for the cost of an at home test.

I haven't decided yet how to check those, given that I'm not sure what the situation will be like in December, or how many will push back. Most likely I'll talk to my mother in law and ask her to field people texting in proof of a negative test that day, since it will all be members of their family that aren't vaccinated (my family is not coming outside of my parents and all my friends are vaccinated).

I went to a wedding back in August that had a similar line on their invites, and my friend said they only had a very small number of people push back, which he said "cool, please don't come then". I've already told my fiancé, I don't mind looking like the jerk. I have a compromised immune system, and my mother is a cancer survivor. I have no problem not having someone there who doesn't take it seriously. I had Covid back before vaccines were available to everyone (what my fiancé calls the OG strain) and it SUCKED. I still don't have my sense of smell over a year later. I refuse to get sick again, or put anyone else in that position. If that means they miss out on our wedding, that's on them.

On our website I stated: "While we hope everyone is vaccinated and boosted, we understand that some may not be due to personal or health-related reasons. We will have masks and hand sanitizer for guests who wish to utilize those precautions. If you are sick or experiencing any symptoms, we ask that you please stay home."



We just bought up as many tests as we could until we had enough for all guest & also provided N95 masks. I agree with others about the website- I'd phrase it like "We request those without a vaccine choose to celebrate in spirit instead of in person, to protect our senior attendees."
I'm with you, if they don't care for the safety of others, I don't care to have a relationship with them anymore. People are so selfish these days and I'm over it. "My safety is way more important than your mild inconvenience" is my new motto in life.

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I totally agree!