September 2021 brides - are you planning to push?

Would your venue and vendors be willing to put a soft hold on a date in 2022 while you wait it out to see if restrictions lift? That way, you can wait until like June or July before making a decision on whether to proceed with your wedding this year or postpone, and you would already have a backup plan in place in case you needed it.

I’m getting married September 11th 2021 also in pa and I’m not pushing ours back. We postponed 3 times now and this is it we’ll take it as it comes. 85% of our guest list is from out of town(Philly and New Jersey mostly) our ceremony is outside but your reception is inside.


I would pick a backup date and see if your vendors have that date available and then decide june or July what you would like to do. If you don’t want to settle or make changes to the guest list it’s probably better to postpone so you can still have anything you want on your day.

I get where you are. . .I was there last year this time for our September 2020 wedding. We ending up postponing to Aug 2021. I'm in Nevada and we are looking good. I really think as the vaccine starts opening up to all ages things are going to change quickly for the better. Personally I would hold out a little longer and see how your state starts opening up vaccine eligibility.

View Quoted Comment That’s nice to hear about Nevada. We live in SoCal but are getting married in Vegas on 10/30/21 (postponed from 10/10/20). But I don’t keep up with what’s going on from state to state. Since nearly everything was already planned for last year, I’m not too in touch with our venue or vendors since there still a good amount of months to go.


Things are definitely better this year than they were last year at this time. We only invited 65 guests and we’re moving forward with the wedding this year. A second postponement is out of the question and we’ll elope before postponing again.

Hi Jacqueline,
I totally feel you! I am in PA as well, getting married in early October, and am so anxious! Good news is that come April 4, indoor capacity will be 25%. And indoor restaurant dining will be at 75%!! https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/gov-wolf-effective-april-4-more-options-for-restaurants-and-other-businesses-mass-gathering-maximums-increase/#:~:text=Effective%20April%204%2C%20restaurants%20may,certified%20and%20those%20that%20undergo

If you don't feel you can cut your guest list much, I would look into postponing. Like others said, maybe not pull the trigger yet, but at least see if some of your key vendors and venue are available for a later soft hold date. I personally can't imagine 100% indoor event capacity being likely for PA in the fall, but everything is so unpredictable right now. PA is more strict than other states with restrictions though. 😔 It's very disheartening seeing other states with no or little restrictions (I feel so selfish saying that). There is definitely hope! Best of luck 💕

We too got engagedNov 2019! We too skipped over 2020 and booked before covid happened for 2021. From personal experience if you haven’t been locked into any contracts yet, I would suggest holding off or doing the smaller intimate wedding first. The restrictions don’t look like they’re letting up at all. And even when things seem like they’re getting better, you will get hit with more bad news and blunders.... not to mention.... masks aren’t going anywhere any time soon.... so you really want all of your photos and videos to have masks in them? We cant push it out because it would simply cost wayyyy too much and we’d lose wayy too much and 1 of our vendors won’t allow us to push it out if there is not mandatory shutdown. I think you might be happier pushing it out with a bigger reception if you can.

We postponed our Florida wedding from March 2021 to September 2021, and won't be postponing again. Everything is open here and current predictions are that things nationwide will start looking somewhat normal by July this year. Personally, I think September will be safe. However, if you are worried, which is absolutely your decision, I can tell you that making the call sooner rather than later will save you a lot of stress. We decided to postpone about 5 months before our original date and before we started making all final payments or sending formal invitations. I was so stressed about the decision, but felt so much better once we made it and could just move forward with the new plan. I agree with PP that it might be a good idea to see if your venue and other big vendors can put a soft hold on a future date and then set a date for yourself to make a final decision. Good luck! It's not easy either way.

I’m getting married in September 18th I am also in PA. This is something my fiancé and I have talked about. Our location can hold 150 people and right now we are a little above 95 including my fiancé and I. Personally right now it’s to hard to say. We plan on making that decision in August. If things get worse or stay the same we will personally be reaching out to those who are no longer invited due to covid. However we are going to do the same then just have immediate family and a few friends at a smaller wedding then in 2022 we would have a big one year anniversary party to celebrate with those who couldn’t be there for our wedding due to covid. However we are hopeful that isn’t the case, and that restrictions will not be as harsh in September.

I'd hold onto it! Talk to your venue about what they will be lenient about. I'm in Ohio and i know my venue is very open about having the bride and groom being satisfied ? They aren't into this "Covid BS", although i think OH govener has opened weddings back up. I'm not changing my mind, go big, don't settle! 💋

I’m planning a September 4 wedding in Ohio. Ohio has largely opened back up so I’m pushing through. I’m also at a venue that has moveable walls so if we need to space out for my 130 guest we can.

We got engaged in December 2019 and luckily September 25th 2021 is our original wedding date. We are getting married in south Jersey. Ceremony is outside and reception is inside. We’re allowed to have up to 150 people which is my original minimum and I’ve wanted it to be my maximum so that’s fine. My issue is the masks and dance floor. I don’t think New Jersey allows dance floors. We are spending sooo much money, so for us and our guests not having the time of our lives seems like a waste of money. I am 31 and I will be 32 once married. Im my mind I just can’t wait any longer to have kids. I want them like yesterday. So I am going to have it anyway and hope the restrictions lighten up by September.

Wedding date twin! We are getting married 9/25/21 outdoors with about 50 people and definitely not planning to reschedule. Hoping we are at a new normal by then

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Congrats! I am also getting married on Sept. 4th! in New York. We have an outdoor venue, for the most part, so we are sticking to the plan of 120 guests. We are allowed to have 150 people in an outdoor setting without testing. The mask idea is what I don't really like, but so is life.

We are 9/11/21 in Philly - which is our second celebration after a minimony last year. We only want to go through with it if we can have the full event - dancing, hugs, drinks, etc.

Seems to me like with full availability of vaccines, everyone should be able to be vaccinated who wants to be, which would then allow a full party?

I think it's worth thinking about how long you're willing to wait to have the celebration. I think where we are in Sept 2021 will also be where we are in Sept 2022 and even Sept 2023. We have the vaccine, but few treatments and no cure, so it's just a semi-seasonal virus going around. We all thought in March 2020 that things would be back to normal in March 2021 and well...they still aren't even really close.

It's also totally possible that we are living completely normally by Sept 2022, or even in a few months, and I hope we are! It's just that nobody really knows, so if you postpone now, you might find yourself frustrated in another year or so. Maybe you would rather keep the date and do whatever you can this year and just have it over with.

I am going to be in Upstate NY, which was one of the HARDEST states for regulations, especially weddings. We just ordered our invitations and are going ahead as planned - ceremony, dancing, cocktail hour (a normal one), reception, party, etc. We are glad we waited and I really think you will be fine for September. I trust those who I have spoken to and know that if they thought there was anything to worry about, they would say so (especially my Mom). Luckily everyone attending is vaccinated so we don't have to worry about masks.

I would be very careful about reading too much into things. I caught myself doing that and it drove me nuts. We have a great wedding planner who worries about that for us and keeps us updated if we need it. But recently, all of the updates have been happy ones. Now I am just happily planning with my fiancé and we are ecstatic that our friends and family are booking their trips and we are having the wedding we always wanted. I am sure you will have the wedding of your dreams too!

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Such good advice Laura. I rescheduled 3 times and now I feel more comfortable with the cases dropping and the mandates begin lifted. We are looking to resend invites for the first time since February 2020. My wedding is in NJ, so I feel you on the restrictions, we had one that said no dancing.