How to handle Illinois' covid "plan"

I live in SoCal and our COVID reopening plans here are implemented in phases. weddings are phase 3. with that being said -- there's not an actual estimate of WHEN phase 3 will happen ya know? or when gatherings of larger than 10 will be ok and gradually get larger and larger. i feel like many things are up in the air, and the people i know getting married this year are just doing their best holding out hope that things will be ok by the time it's their date so they're going forward planning as is.

I'm also in the Midwest, Wisconsin. They haven't set dates of when the phases will occur. I wish that they would do so. I just saw a news report stating that the governor here does not see a reason to extend the stay at home order past May 26th. He also said that smaller retail shops may be able to open sooner. To me this sounds like good news. I'm still holding out hope that we will be able to have the wedding we want to have. I don't think they can limit gatherings for years, partly because that would be illegal and technically these stay at home orders are only valid for 60 days due the emergency declarations that were declared. So for Wisconsin, the governor declared the emergency order on March 11th I believe so the stay at home order is only valid until then. I feel like they can't tell us to stay at home forever and eventually this has to end. Good luck to your sister!!

We live in the Chicagoland area. We postponed our big wedding to September 13th, but still able to get married on our original date in April. After talking with our planner last week, we’ve decided to postpone to September/October 2021 and do a vow renewal. I understand the frustration, but keeping everyone safe and alive is the priority, and life might be this way until there is a vaccine. I can’t see large gatherings happen for at least the rest of the year. An option could be for your sister to get married in September with a small group of people and have a big celebration next year.

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That's tough too! If they want to be especially careful, I think a good balance would be to say "this date UNLESS [some metric like a big spike in cases]"

To be specific, in Illinois' case, the governor says they're banning groups of more than 50 until there's a cure. That could well be never! (Or at least until he's voted OUT haha)

Unfortunately/fortunately, Texas is becoming a bit of a free for all. Our salons and gyms are opening today, and our wedding venues will also be opening with 25% occupancy. We feel pretty secure with going forward with whoever is comfortable with coming - everything is already paid and we don't want to wait since we were supposed to be married in April. Texas is kind of the testing ground, but things seem okay so far. I'm tentatively optimistic

View Quoted Comment When did you postpone to?

View Quoted Comment August 15th! It's our dating anniversary - April 4th, our original date, was his parents' anniversary.

Chicagoland bride here! Our date is set for September 6 in the Northwest suburbs. We’re still planning as of now and I’m trying to stay optimistic but it’s getting hard. It’s frustrating that there’s no in between phase for gatherings of 50 and full on festivals, concerts, conventions, etc. Yes, our guest count (~140 expected) is over 50 but it’s nowhere near the thousands and thousands of people at a concert.


If the governor really doesn’t plan on opening until there’s a vaccine, there’s a very very slim chance our wedding will happen this year. We’re getting married in or around our day regardless but may have to postpone the reception.

I am a Chicagoland bride and in the process of postponing my July 18 wedding to 2021. My decision was to postpone our 200 person wedding to next year, and if there are still issues at that time, then I will cut the guest list to 50 and move on.

I think if my wedding were in September, I would wait for a bit to see how this all unfolds in the next month or two.

Gov. Pritzker's phases could move faster, or there could be a change where gatherings over 50 (but less than some bigger number) could become permitted. Phase 5 actually mentions a vaccine or a treatment, and there are plenty of treatments being tested and developed right now, so this is not going to be a situation that lasts forever. I realize it is hard to know what to do when so much is out of our control, but tons of states are limiting large events for the forseeable future, even the ones that are "reopening" sooner.

We are August 15th in Chicagoland area. We are holding out for a few more weeks to make a decision, but have a backup date/plan B for postponing for March 2021.

Hi Jessie! Make sure to check out Our COVID-19 Weddings Advice Guide where WeddingWire has started gathering resources and expert tips for couples whose weddings are affected by the current pandemic.

There's also a big discussion for all September Weddings here:

September Brides: Anyone canceling their wedding?

10/10/2020 in Chicagoland. We're currently grappling with what to do given the phased plan (overall it's a good plan but agree that jumping from less than 50 people to festivals is a little ridiculous). We haven't made any official moves yet to reschedule but planning to move at least the 200-guest reception to 2021 and still get married on our original date. Most of our vendors seem pretty accommodating so hopefully wherever you find yourself things will work out!

I live in central illinois, we are having an October Wedding. we're making the decision in August whether to postpone or not ( it'll give us time to let everyone know out of town as well) so our back up plan is to get married at courthouse on our original day with our parents there, and save the big wedding for October 2021. Basically just a waiting game and it sucks, there's no instructions for how to deal with any of this, however the couple decides to handle things will be fine. theres no wrong way at this point, its only what you can do/ what is allowed to happen. Thinking of all of you dealing with the stress and uncertainty and sending positive vibes/ wishing you all the best.