Masks During Ceremony

My fiance and I are getting married in exactly 48 days. We have planned our wedding according to guidelines and have made choices that we hope will keep us safe and allow us to enjoy our celebration . We have limited our number of guests, ALL guest must be at least 21 ( we have chosen not to have children present for their safety as well as our own. No ring bearer or flower girl), prepared a social distancing setup for seating at the ceremony, social distancing for Reception seating, providing masks for our guest, hand sanitizer, and coordinating mask in our wedding colors for the bridal party. I am high risk( I have COPD), so is my sister in law ( she is going through cancer treatments) she is performing the ceremony. In the past 4 months we have lost close friends and family to COVID-19. We are taking every precaution for our guest who are coming. We want to make sure that we GET to spend our lives together. And that we don't put anyone else at risk.

No it is what you want. No one wants to remember their wedding with mask on in pictures. Try have a one on one with her and explain to her in person any be the best. If she don’t want to agree then you decide does there if you want to continue with her in your wedding or not.

View Quoted Comment I think others here would also respectfully disagree. I chose my bridesmaids because I wanted them to be with me closest at my wedding. I want to remember my pictures with them - the person underneath the mask.

I'm planning a marriage, not a wedding - I'm planning relationships with my friends that aren't about distance or a piece of cloth. I've resolved that may regret my wedding, but the lasting stuff I feel great about.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for sharing this. Too many people aren't taking this seriously. Maybe its because I'm in NYC and know how serious this is but I can't understand people's refusal to do something as simple as wear a mask. I understand not wanting photographs with masks on but that's the price you pay getting married during a global pandemic. In the grand scheme of things it's not that big of deal.

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I agree, especially given the current news from the infections...and now a death...related to the Maine wedding. It's truly heartbreaking. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/1-dead-after-wedding-reception-in-maine-linked-to-virus-outbreak/ar-BB18giNG

I was just the MOH at my best friends wedding this past weekend, an I was very uncomfortable with NOT wearing a mask, and she didn't want any in her pictures...I felt very bad for ever bringing it up, because the bride was not very communicative, and it did stir things up the week before the wedding. I think what was worse for me was the lack of acknowledging that I may be uncomfortable around people during a pandemic. I was fine, but am already scheduled to get tested because I did not wear a mask during the wedding or pictures and I don't know who is exposed. I think right now everyone has very different comfort levels and I would encourage you to work with your bridesmaid and be creative with pictures, after all I think the health of all of your loved ones is pretty important. Or focus your pictures on you and your partner and have a fun mask picture with your party/what ever people are comfortable with! Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Oh if she doesn’t want to be around people who are choosing to be unsafe, I agree. She shouldn’t have to. But it is the responsibility of the party host to ensure the safety of others. similarly to how you would cut someone off at your party who is drinking too much and is trying to drive home. Sorry, but if distance can’t be maintained, masks should be mandatory. This is serious.

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Comparing mandated masks to cutting off a drunk person is a grossly inaccurate analogy. People are cut off from the bar on an individual basis because they, specifically, are drunk and pose a threat to others. Doing a temperature check at the door would be analogous to cutting off a drink person. Requiring everyone to wear a mask because they may or may not pose a threat to others is akin to not having alcohol at all because someone might get drunk.

Regardless, if the bridesmaid thinks people are being unsafe according to her level of risk tolerance, she should stay home rather than trying to impose her wants on everyone else.

My Wedding is also on October 17, 2020, My FH and I have been having a hard time with this for many reasons. One, where we live, they made it mandatory to wear a mask, but yet, many do not. I have asked the bridal party if they want to bring and wear one (We have a few we are providing for the bridal party because I wanted one fun pic of everyone wearing a mask to commemorate the year and all the hardships we all went through to get to this day!) I, myself have not made it mandatory to wear a mask. Only because I know how many people are. I will have one with me because unlike a lot of my quests, I have an auto immune disease (Why FH is making a huge deal out of all of this! He wants me to be safe, but he also knows how much i want this day to go off without too many problems)

I say, keep to your code about no to mask for photos, after all if you do not want the reminder then by all means, stick to this. But if she feels its too much, then maybe ask her if she wants to step down. Your Guests are one thing, but your Bridal Party is a whole other ball game and if shes not willing to play ball... then its time to either get in the game and make it right, or time to find another ball player or take the forfeit. I know that sounds harsh, but at the end of the day, its is still technically YOUR DAY (trust me took a long time to get this through my own head!) Other than that, I wish you all the best of luck with this! I hope everything works out well and that she wants to still wants to stand with you for your big day!