Virginia Brides - Reschedule or Ride it out?

I don’t currently reside in VA but I used to and will have my wedding there for sept 6th. My wedding will have 50 or less people but majority, including myself, will be traveling from out of state. My venue is still going forward with September weddings and I am currently sticking to the date. My wedding will be in the Hampton roads area. My only reservation is the face mask restrictions. I don’t want my guests to have to wear masks and not be able to dance at our reception. So me and my fiancé are still monitoring that.

Where in VA? What are your numbers? My cousin’s wedding was originally going to be on May 9, but they postponed to August 1. I know his FW does not want to reschedule again. But it’s going to be outdoors and fairly small. I think they’ll still try to have it as planned, especially since it’s hosted on family property, but most attendees are local.


I think you’re going to have some guests who are worried and may opt to stay home, but I don’t think you should postpone unless a majority of who you feel you have to have at your wedding won’t/can’t come.
Masks may be a good recommendation, as well as thinking through how food is served.

I’m just below the border in NC and am moving to VA right after the wedding so I’ve been trying to stay abreast of everything there too.

I’m in northern Virginia and getting married 8/9. I don’t want to postpone again because originally we were supposed to get married 5/30 and this has been so stressful, I’m ready to get it over with.


Our ceremony is in a church and they can have up to 50% capacity, so I’m not worried about the ceremony. I just don’t know what to do about the reception. The reception is at a hotel and I just asked them if they are going to operate at 50% capacity’s like restaurants are or go by the 50 person rule. Our room is huge and holds 300 some people. One of our ideas was the first half of the reception have dinner with the family and the second half of the reception have a cocktail reception with our friends. That way the older, more vulnerable people are separated from the younger. I’m waiting to hear from our venue to see if they’ve received any guidance. I wish the governor would address weddings like some of the other governor's have.
I wonder what the chances of being in phase 3 in August are? I feel slim because phase 3 is basically no restrictions, so I feel like phase 2 will be drawn out.

I read through phase 2 information this morning and it didn’t really clarify much for me outside of what we already knew.
We’re set to be married on November 21st in coastal Virginia. Our wedding is small to begin with but the guests are pretty much all from out of state. I’m optimistic with the way things are going that we will be fine.
I think VA should be good by the time your day arrives but if you’re concerned maybe watch for a couple more weeks and make your decision then?

I’m in Southwestern Va as well and our date is October 24th... I’m freaking out a little, but trying to stay positive! Our venue said we should be ok by then to hold a full reception, or if not a 50% capacity... just waiting to see what happens with phase 2 and how long it’s drawn out!


Good luck on your day and I hope you get to have it just the way you have planned it to be!

Hi All,

I currently live in Virginia and also do wedding planning as a part time job here. Here are the restrictions for phase 2 which includes event restrictions. https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/Virginia-Forward-Phase-Two-Guidelines.pdf

I too, was also supposed to be getting married on June 7 and obviously had to postpone that. I then moved to August of this year, and then a few weeks ago moved to August of 2021. I was way too stressed out about the "what ifs" to even enjoy the fact that my wedding was coming up so for me rescheduling was the best option. We also had already sent out invitations for our June date when Covid first happened. I sent the invites out on March 1, so for the first two weeks of March we were getting so many RSVPs. Then everything shut down, and the RSVPs completely stopped and people who had RSVPed starting backing out. We then rescheduled to August 28, 2020 after we realized things would not be open by June 7, and switched to an online RSVP. Literally no one was RSVPing. It was an awful feeling. I tell you this because I really thought people weren't that concerned about the virus and would be okay coming to my new August date but people were not okay with it (even people in their 20s and 30s). I would poll some of your closest wedding guests and see what they are thinking before you send out official invitations. I do think people are feeling way more optimistic now but I just don't think the mask/social distancing is honestly going to go anywhere until a vaccine is here.

I would strongly urge everyone to reach out to their venues and get a solid answer what their plan is. Venues can be penalized by the state and health department for not following guidelines and adhering to these restrictions so I would make sure they are very clear with you what they will be enforcing (masks, social distancing, guests congregating, etc). Also, as a wedding planner I have been advised by my lawyer to have clients signs a liability waiver that protects me in case anyone gets sick at a clients wedding. This is a very real virus and is probably not going away unless a vaccine or some sort of mutation occurs that makes it less contagious; just be advised you may be asked to sign a waiver for your wedding. Venues can try to make you as safe as possible but they can not guarantee it.

All of my Spring and Summer couples have moved their weddings. I just had two October couples move to 2021 and a September couple that is leaning that way now.

I apologize, I sound so negative, but I try to be as real with my clients as I can and share with them my true feelings on the situation. I don't want anyone to have to compromise on their wedding and have guests distanced or in masks so I am advising couples to wait and see how things play out; but we are making back-up plans in the meantime to reschedule to later dates. For some of my couples, the stress was just too much and this isn't the lead up to their wedding that they had envisioned so they would rather reschedule and get to have all of the pomp and circumstance like a bachelorette, bridal shower, engagement party, etc. I hope this helps!

It's the worst. 9/18/20 wedding outside of charlottesville, and while yes, numbers aren't extremely high there, we are very cognizant of the fact that numbers are going up in 22 states. and like most of you, 99% of guests are coming from out of state. The reason we want to push forward is because we worry about losing our elderly relatives before the new date, but in the same vein, you worry about subsequent illness or worse when bringing people together too soon. I polled my guests using Google forms and 85% said they'd still come. My stomach is in knots trying to foresee the future and make the right decision. 💕🤞😭

I am getting married the same day in northern Virginia and I hope it works. Very concerned. Fingers crossed.

Is it wrong that I’m excited and yet extremely nervous that we’re starting phase 3 on Wednesday?
I know at least one country in Pennsylvania near our families has been moved backward in phases. They were in “green” and have been moved back to “yellow” due to the case count.
I just hope everyone keeps wearing their masks and makes smart/safe decisions. I really want to marry my fiancé as planned in November.

View Quoted Comment I’m scared of the same thing!!!!! I’m an october 24th bride and have been worried about this... I almost wish we would stay in phase 2 for a bit longer!

My wedding is 8/9 and we have downsized to about 60 people. Is anyone nervous he is going to change the person limit back down to 50?

View Quoted Comment Yes!!! We are still on for 8/22 but mildly panicking about what is going to happen next with restrictions 😅

I'm right there with you guys! Our wedding was rescheduled to September 19 (2020), and my fiance is telling me we should reschedule again for this December. Our wedding will have less than 30 guests, and 3/4 of that is family.
My problem with moving it to December is that our wedding is to be at the Maymont (in Richmond, VA), in the Italian Garden (my dream garden!). If we hold off until winter, the flowers will be gone! They tear them up at the end of the season and replace them, but by that point, it will pretty much be only pansies and evergreens. Is that selfish of me?
September will be warmer than we had originally planned for (May 18, 2020), so I started to consider ordering hand held paper fans, but then reconsidered (Covid!), and am now considering ordering masks with quotes from "The Princess Bride" and "Lord of the Rings" on them (pop-culture/Medieval themed geektastic wedding).

I’m in southwest VA too! We cut our guest list from 120 to 40.

View Quoted Comment What is your date? I’m october 24 (southwest va too) and few like I’m in limbo!!!!

View Quoted Comment I’m 9/26. We were originally planning on just going along with our original plans but we ultimately decided to cut it down now instead of having to deal with the stress later on if the state shuts down again!

View Quoted Comment I’m trying to do that too! It’s tough!!! I hope we stay in phase 3!!!!!

View Quoted Comment Did you see what Northam posted on Facebook? He’s gonna watch the data over this weekend and if it’s bad he might make us phase back

View Quoted Comment I did! I almost wish i would’ve chose to have my wedding in July! All this uncertainty is driving me crazy!!!