November 2020 Wedding - Change of Plans?

Hello fellow November and Texas bride! Our wedding is Nov28th and we live in DFW so I totally understand the worry about COVID here!! About 90% of our guests are OOT too. We can't afford to postpone and our venue and vendors aren't very willing or able to. Thankfully we already had a small guest count, 120 max, so we don't have to downsize. We are going to be requiring and providing masks, we are giving hand sanitizer as favors, having a server for our food, and asking that people social distance as much as possible from those not in their family units. We weren't going to have dancing anyways but we aren't doing that either. The courthouses have been flaky on whether they will be open or not and we don't want to wait any longer to be married as we have other life goals that we are trying to save for. Life goes on and the best we can do it just put in place the proper precautions! Good luck and let me know what you do I'd love to hear it!

I am in Florida and we are the twin to Tx in regards to COVID. I was always having an intimate ceremony or micro wedding so we are good to go and even if for some odd reason Florida decided to do a full lockdown which even then small events with 10 or less were allowed, I am still doing my day even if marrying in my friend's backyard. The decision comes down to are you ready to postpone? Can the vendors cut back monetary wise? Can you put procedures in place for guests to social distance?

I had this same debate with myself beginning in late April in PA! My fiance and I are scheduled to get married on August 1st (my parents' 50th wedding anniversary). The date is special to us, we are both in our mid 30s, and we don't want to wait any longer to be married and start our life together. Ultimately, we are doing a small intimate ceremony with immediate family on our original date and we will have our big celebration (with vow renewal/anniversary ceremony) next year on the same weekend. It has been a mix of emotions for me but I'm really at peace with it now.

My best advice is to set a date by which you will decide to postpone or not, and give yourself time to pivot if you want to go with a smaller ceremony now and big celebration later. We decided in the first week of June that we were going to postpone, even though our venue would be open (with BIG restrictions). Thankfully our vendors have been really understanding because we started these conversations early with “What if...?” scenarios. With that kind of time and some research on my part, we've come up with a scaled down plan that will still feel special. Like others have said in discussions, you don't want to go small and have it feel like a let down. Make it feel special: get your hair done professionally, have the food catered by a favorite restaurant, ask your florist for a simple bouquet and bout, have your photographer come for a couple hours to capture the moment, and create a special playlist together. It can be small and simple and really special because no matter what you're still marrying your person.

And as for next year, it's still going to be special and fun. I keep thinking and hoping that I may even be a bit more relaxed next year and can really enjoy every minute because we are already married.

I'm sorry Michelle - these are all such tough decisions! On the one hand you can certainly take more time to decide, but I know for some the uncertainty is the more stressful option!

Here's a local thread that might be helpful to check out: Texas Woes of 2020, and here are two recent discussions I've seen from other November brides: Cancel, Delay, keep Planning?? 11-20-20 and Fall wedding.

Well I am bummed I won't have the family reunion I originally planned on Nov 14 but we decided to get married anyway. Even if it is just a few people close to us. We cannot control the world and waiting just doesn't sound like fun either as this will be a constant worry now and I just don't want that stress. I figure we can always plan something else in the future. I figure those that want to be there will. I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting sick so no hard feelings if they don't want to attend either. We will have precautions for those that do come. Life is also worth living though and cannot completely stop it. Time will not stand still and things will eventually work out. Maybe not like I planned but they will be beautiful somehow. The important things tend to work themselves out. On a positive note I thought we were spending more than I wanted to and now most likely that cost will be lowered if not many people come. The other positive is it will be more intimate ceremony and people won't be worried about first world problems. On the other hand I am bummed I may not get to see my out of town family or go on the original honeymoon I planned, but I hope this adventure will still be awesome and I can plan those other adventures for a future date which I can look forward to. Sometimes life stinks but we have to make the most of it.