Planning a Sept 2021 wedding

April AZ bride here, not September, & we’re mailing out our invitations in 3 weeks. We have a Plan B set up as far as the guest list is concerned. I’m not going to worry about something that is beyond my control. If we have to make adjustments to the list then we will in March.

We rescheduled from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021. We aren’t really concerned about our date right now. I think a big reason we are seeing such a huge spike again is because of the weather (cold outside means people are now seeking entertainment indoors), and because of people gathering for the holidays. I think there’s a good chance things will be significantly better once vaccines start rolling out and the weather gets nice again. Don’t panic yet, girl! You can definitely be proactive though and formulate a plan B now (just in case). And you could reach out to your vendors to see if they offer soft holds on a future date.

Hi! October 2021 wedding here! We are sending our save the dates shortly after New Years to about 95ish people. So similar timeline on stds and guest count I’m optimistic! Covid is really acting up in many areas right now due to the coldness, general sickness season, gatherings, and indoor activities... So it looks pretty bad now, but the vaccine is giving me hope A lot can change in 9-10 months.Like others have said, just work with what you can control and have a back up plan or be willing to change some things up as time goes on. I’m concerned about guest list too or maybe people won’t feel comfortable enough for my event in October, but it seems that many people are very understanding for any guest list alterations if needed, etc. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment I totally agree. We are trying to get our guest list down to 90 and maybe 70 will come. I think I will be okay with whatever happens. Our venue is just rather small and they have a very small capacity right now which is nerve wracking. It is along freaking time, I mean 9 months! It’s true that a lot can happen. I am hopeful and praying this situation gets better. I’m hoping at least it’s allowed to have larger gatherings by then and even if it’s not back to “normal” at least it can be up to people to decide if they are comfortable, not up to the freaking state officials to say!

Hi! September 25, 2021 here and the wedding is across the pond. 😬 But I agree not to panic for now! I’ve been reading projected vaccine timelines and a New York Times article said essentially by summer 2021, anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one and thus normal social gatherings will resume more or less by then. They said there will still be a risk, but it will be a much smaller one compared to what’s happening today. If that is what is projected for summertime, then I think by fall we’ll be even better off! I sent Save The Dates to 175 people in mid November lol.

September 10th here. I am not super worried because either way Covid-19 goes, we will NOT postpone our wedding. We will just scale back to the required number of guests or do whatever we have to do to meet the protection measures that might be in place and go ahead with our wedding. It's not ideal, but ultimately what is important to us is just getting married and moving forward with our lives.

Everyone is different. If you are dead set on having a very specific kind of wedding that Covid-19 restrictions would totally ruin, then do what you need to do. The day is about you and your partner.

We were supposed to be August 2020 (had a microwedding instead) and postponed the big party to September 2021. While more optimistic than we were when trying to figure out our August wedding, we are still hesitant to plan "as normal" for September 2021. Therefore, we are only sending save the dates to 100 guests, as we anticipate there will be some restrictions on large gatherings for most of 2021. We are doing this because we learned the hard way, keeping it small and expanding later on is much easier than proceeding as if things will be normal and then cancelling/adjusting as necessary when closer to the event. A lot can happen over the next few months, but as a 2020 bride I am trying to learn from my past experiences for our 2021 celebration.

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I totally agree with you. Just wondering, how many did you invite, and what number do you think you will need to scale back to worse case scenario?

We haven't sent save the dates yet but are planning to in the new year and we are still contemplating our guest list. We have a little over 100 right now and i'm slightly uncomfortable with the number given the smaller venue space. COVID is scary AF.

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We have not sent the invites yet. That will probably happen in June. Originally, I wanted a super small wedding, if not an elopement. He wanted a big wedding: 100 plus people. We compromised to a 70-person guest list. So, a medium sized wedding.

Worse case scenario, we will scale back to 50 people or less depending on the guidelines put in place. We are not even doing save the dates. Most of our guest list is already aware they will be invited and aware of when the wedding is; plus it will save money.

What specific day in September did you and FH choose?

Planning my California wedding for September 12th, 2021. I am trying to plan hoping for the best and assuming the worst. I have a guest list of 200 people. I have two backup plans in place. I have mentally cut down the guest list if necessary. I try not to panic, but it's hard. Come June 2021 I will do a major reassessment. That is when the full amount for my venue is due. My venue has been closed since at least June of this year-to the public that is. It isn't a small sum, so I am not willing to put that much money down if it's looking dim.

Deep breathes- but it's not bad to have a plan b and c. Because we don't know what will happen.

September 4th 2021 bride here! We are planning ahead and if we are able to have a normal wedding. We have about 175 people we are inviting. We postponed 2 times already, but are definitely moving forward with September, no matter what it looks like with COVID. I read an article with Dr. Fauci who did an interview and said people who are planning weddings past June/ July should be good.


Honestly, it’s been difficult but I’m pretty optimistic for September. Both my sister and bro in law are doctors and they agree that things will be better with the weather, vaccines etc. while we probably can’t go to big public events like sports games etc with thousands of strangers for a while, I think weddings will be a diff story because your guests are known and hopefully, rapid/ at home testing will be more available at that time as well.

View Quoted Comment Thanks Tara! We’re almost date twins! It’s going to be the perfect weekend I know it! I feel optimistic too but man it’s scary!! We haven’t postponed thankfully but I’m working on a guest list now and I’m only sending 80 save the dates and praying!! Do you have a fully outdoor venue? Mine is mostly outside with an indoor reception.

September 10th 2021 bride in Los Angeles here. I just sent my out of town save the dates today and invited 74 people. We have around 100 people total once we count locals. I know this sounds terrible but I hope some people rsvp no. We would love to have around 50 people. This whole COVID thing has been stressful and Made me realize I would rather have a smaller more intimate wedding. I see the future having a lot less restrictions but still having to wear masks (on the dance floor) and also capacity limits. I’m planning full steam ahead and if we have to adjust our guest list per California guidelines, I already have a list of people I would have to cut. I hope that the vaccine brings us much more ease! I think we will be okay by the time our wedding comes around.

September 4th 2021 bride here, let's pray to God everything will be better by then .

Hello! September 10th 2021 bride. We are moving on as planned but we are keeping our guest list under 100 people with an option to add more later. We are assuming that there will still be restrictions in September. We are a little worried but it is out of our control. We decided that we will be moving forward no matter if we have 25 people or 100. We did make sure that everything we could set up to make it a safe event is in place (outdoor venue, outdoor reception, etc) I truly believe that we will be very close to herd immunity by then and our numbers will be drastically different in this country when our time comes, even with the variants at play. We also know a large portion of our guest list will be vaccinated due to their age, occupation etc. My fiancé and I and both of our immediate families are already vaccinated. I wouldn’t worry too much depending on where you live. I’ve heard it’s the most restrictive for traditional indoor ceremonies and receptions so I would have an outdoor backup or change to outdoor if you can.

View Quoted Comment I’m on the same page as you girl! We invited 50% capacity.. about 75 people, and we’re praying we can have our reception space indoors because we love the space so much! There’s also a decent amount of friends we didn’t invite because we were nervous and we’re wondering if we can invite more or should we wait idk! It’s so beyond weird! Hoping there is some restrictions lifted soon then we can invite some more people.

We are still going ahead as planned. We are not until September and we are outdoors with about 100 expected. Especially with the vaccine news that came out today, we are hopeful but we changed it to September to be safe (were originally June). My planner said that a lot of the restrictions are going to be a. lifted/not enforced because they can't be or b. will change once more and more people are vaccinated. Most of our guests will be vaccinated by this summer and the ones that are not chose not to be for personal reasons (only a few). I think summer is going to be tough but September will be doable.

View Quoted Comment Hi Laura,
We are date twins! What state are you getting married in? MA just announced 100 allowed indoors and 150 outdoors. I’m feeling SO much better. We actually are sending some more save the dates to be at exactly 100 and our families were very happy about that. I’m definitely feeling more optimistic now.