September Wedding Update

Oh my gosh, hi! I live in Virginia (Suffolk area) and also have a September wedding date. Our original date was April 26, so we postponed to September 5.


My biggest anxiety right now is not knowing what phase Virginia will be in when it’s time to send my new invitations, versus what phase we will be in by September. I have made a list of 50, to include vendors, and I have our original list which was 100 guests plus vendors.
It would be much simpler if I knew what the parameters would be. My fiancé and I have discussed just having a 50 person wedding and only sending out to those immediate friends and family, but I don’t wanna do that unless I absolutely have to. It gets really tricky because I have a much larger friends and family list than he does. And if we cut it to a small group he would only have 12 people and I would have 30 something.
That being said, we are obviously going to be getting married in September, at our venue with all of our vendors, it’s just a matter of what the guest list looks like. (This is all assuming we are at LEAST in phase 2, which I feel certain we will be by then.)

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Hi there! Yes, I totally understand that. I think that we would be in Phase 2 by then as well. Northam is definitely taking a lot of precaution - which is good! I'm glad he's doing that, but we are definitely going to open up a lot slower than other states. We have a guest list of around 150 and have no idea how we would cut it, nor do we want to. My bigger fear is that if we continue on for September we just won't be able to have the wedding we envisioned... like will people have to be distanced from each other? not hug each other or dance? will people show up in masks? I don't want everyone to be uncomfortable and worried the whole time.

I'm a September bride as well, I have been on here less and less just because of the anxiety this site has caused me. I'm in a different boat though because I'm in Wisconsin where the safer ban has ended and they aren't releasing any guidelines (our governor quote "is giving up"). With that being said they are allowing businesses to decide for themselves what they want to do and how they want to reopen. My FH spoke with the venue yesterday, and they are planning on having mid June and July weddings right now. So I'm not worried about my September wedding. My venue is very large and can hold 600 people max. So my 150 person wedding (including vendors) should not be a problem since that is exactly 25% of there max capacity. And that is if that is a rule. So all in all things are looking good. Invites are ready to be mailed out, dress alterations appointment is scheduled and my hair trial will be scheduled by the weekend when I go for my regular hair appointment. My only concern right now is the restaurant we booked for the rehearsal dinner was not open at all during this time, and they haven't had anyone in the restaurant so I'm mildly concerned that they are closing for good. But right now we are going to wait and see.

We live on the other side of DC in Maryland! I can definitely understand why you'd be nervous - DMV is still going through it! I'm so glad you found some peace and I hope it all works out to be beautiful!

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I know! We are in Alexandria. It just doesn't seem to be slowing down here. But thank you

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I'm glad things are still looking good for you! I would be a lot less nervous if we weren't in a big city that has been hit hard, but we are and that's just the reality of it. I'm really thankful that our venue and vendors are willing to work with us though. That's really nice that your venue is so big - ours is on the smaller side so our guest list would fill the place up with no ability to distance.

View Quoted Comment Thanks it does help we are in an area that wasnt hit hard. I know some of our guests wont come because of what is going. I've excepted that, but the VIPS will be there. What matters most is just marrying my FH. Good luck!

I am in the same boat as you. I am in NYC so less hopeful that the city will permit social gatherings over 50 people by September. Our guest list is currently 150+ people and our venue is massive. We are not willing to pay for such a large, lavish venue for such a small event with so many restrictions. It’s just not the type of event we were ever envisioning.


We are finally starting to think about ways to make a small wedding work for us. We will likely switch to a smaller rooftop space and do a short but sweet event with our closest family friends that live locally. We got engaged back in December 2018, were originally supposed to get married this weekend in May and postponed to September so we will not be pushing it any further. We will have a large celebration eventually but it may not be next year. Good luck!!!

Ohio just opened up wedding receptions of 300 people or less starting June 2020.

My wedding is on 9/6/2020, it's looking hopeful.

Maybe looking at getting married in Ohio? Jk

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Wow, that's so awesome, I'm sure you are feeling elated!! Did they mention anything about requiring masks? Another forum on this site mentioned their venue is requiring everyone to wear masks which makes me super anxious. We aren't paying all this money for our reception to look like a surgical room

View Quoted Comment I think that will be up to the venue.
Maybe provide masks as favor? And having funny look masks double as photo props?

Sorry meant to say having fun masks as favors and double as photo props

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We spoke with them this morning and they didn't explicitly say they would require masks, but that it would be likely our guests would need to wear them. I absolutely do not want that. We have officially began the process of postponing to May 2021.

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I absolutely do not want masks or any kind of Covid related favor at my wedding. We have officially began the process of postponing to May 2021.

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Hi!

So I'm on the other side in Maryland. Although Maryland is in Phase I, many countries are not yet entering it. Where I live and where my venue is, has opted to not move into Phase I yet. I'm thinking Hogan can't move the state to Phase II until all counties have made it through Phase I, but who knows. I've been trying to postpone with my venue since March, I email them once a month now. But they fully believe they will be able to host a 200 person wedding in August. How is your venue being? We got a lawyer involved recently to work with us on this. We don't feel comfortable having a wedding especially if people have to wear masks and be so spread apart.

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Hi!

I saw you're in Maryland..same! When is your wedding? What are your thoughts on when Hogan will allow weddings? Mine is in August, and I'm ready to just postpone my 200 person wedding but my venue won't let me yet. Meanwhile the county I live in and where my venue is, hasn't even moved into Phase I yet.

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Hey! We aren't until June 2021, so we're hoping this will all be over by now! I'm honestly not sure what Hogan will do; it'll probably be different in different parts of the state. We're in Montgomery County so we're not in Phase 1 yet either. Maybe your venue will let you postpone as you get closer, depending on what happens with the numbers as we open?

View Quoted Comment Oh okay! I’m also in Montgomery County, so I’m not very hopeful. I’m hoping by June they let me. I just don’t want to keep putting money into it right now with so much in the air.

I'm glad to see that you and your fiancee were able to come up with a game plan, hopefully things work out the way you want them too!

My wedding isn't until Feb. 2021, but COVID-19 made booking vendors the biggest pain in the ass for me and my fiancee. Two months ago, our original venue cancelled on us and gave our wedding date to another couple, which really stressed the hell outta me. We were able to find another venue, within the same budget, but right before we were able to go in for a tour and sign a contract, COVID happened, and our venue was forced too close down. In the end, I had to wait 3 whole weeks before I could finally sign the contract, and ounce we did, I went ham in booking as many vendors as I could, since a lot of wedding dates have been postponed to 2021, and it's getting harder to book the right vendors.

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Gosh that sounds so stressful. I'm sorry you had to go through all that! I'm glad you were able to find a new venue though!