Our wedding is next weekend, 3/21 in NC. The governor recently told businesses and organizations to cancel events larger than 100 people. The uncertainty right now is driving me crazy and I spiraled into panic mode on Thursday about whether it was irresponsible to hold our wedding, if we should cancel/postpone, if it was putting our grandparents at risk, etc. Here's what we decided: We're proceeding as planned.
Here's how I'm staying sane:
1) I confirmed with our closest family members and our most important vendors, the ones we can't get married without. They're all still coming, and will let me know as soon as that changes if it does.
2) We've become comfortable with the idea that may change. Have a backup plan. Know that your marriage is most important, and if you have to get married by your officiant or at the courthouse, and have the party later, that's what you'll do.
3) I added the note below to our wedding website, and shared on Facebook that we had added a special note to our guests. This gives me the most calm, knowing that we are letting our guests make their own decisions, while knowing we will support them no matter what. Many have reached out to us to say that they are still coming, and they are providing lots of support! It also helps me to know that if people aren't coming, hopefully they'll reach out. I HATED not knowing if we would plan for 140 and only have a handful actually show. I took part of this from another forum so I can't take credit, but part of it is my own. I am SO glad we did this. It has given me so much calm in the midst of so much uncertainty.
Good luck to everyone & stay sane!
A Special Note to Our Guests
Dear Friends & Family,
We're so excited for our wedding day and the chance to celebrate our love with you all. We feel so supported that many of you have said you plan to be there; however, we also want to be careful and caring as we all figure out how to live in a world where Coronavirus has made all of us think more critically about travel and coming together.
To that end, we want you to know that we have decided to proceed with our wedding as planned. We don't expect that will change, but if it does, we will update here and will reach out to everyone individually.
Please know that we would absolutely love for everyone to be there in person and we hope that you will, but if attending makes you uncomfortable or especially if you have underlying health conditions, we understand if you choose to stay home.
To help with your decision, we want to share the following:
- Most of our guests are coming from a 2 hour radius of our venue. Very few of our guests will be flying in or traveling far distances.
- We're asking that anyone who is sick - for example, running a fever within 24 hours prior to the wedding or with cough/cold symptoms - to stay at home. Some of our guests are pregnant, over 60, or may have underlying health conditions.
- Weather permitting, our wedding will be held outside with plenty of room to space out if you'd like. The reception barn opens on either side so if the weather holds, the reception will be open-air.
- We are currently trying to find hand sanitizer to place strategically around our venue (the appetizer table, dinner line, dessert table, etc) and we encourage frequent hand-washing.
- For the buffet line, our caterer will serve the food so that fewer people will be touching serving utensils.
- We are blessed with a wonderful caterer who is allowing us to adjust our head count in the midst of this. We know there will be some last-minute decisions made as this unfolds, and that's ok, but if you know now that you won't be able to join us, we'd really appreciate you reaching out.
- We are open to all the love, hugs, and joy you can share, but please be thoughtful of how you share love with one another, especially our older guests.
We hope to see you next weekend, and we love you all.
