What safety precautions are ya'll taking on the big day?

View Quoted Comment How fast can you get results? If they can do rapid testing and its free I say go for it. Even if they don't do rapid testing because it's free I say go for it. I would hope anyone who doesn't feel well or had positive results would not come to the wedding for the obvious reasons. So I don't see a problem with having people get a test.

View Quoted Comment I agree with what Tiger Bride is saying, I think requiring guests to get a COVID test can be pretty invasive, and a bit much. I also think it's wrong of you to require your guests to self quarintine for ten days before going to your wedding, people have work to go to, people have to make a living, and I don't think it's my place to tell others what to do.

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I know my family & friends and I know they would 100% be okay with doing what needs to be done to be safe. If not they don't need to come. And as the bride and groom we honestly do get to dictate how we want our wedding to go. If we feel it's best for people to wear masks/get tested/social distance prior to the big day then we will definitely be asking that of our guests for the safety of our guests and ourselves.

Like I said, this is an IF, we have no idea what the state of the world will be like then or if we even will take any of these precautions. We are just thinking ahead. But ultimately during a pandemic we gotta do what feels right for us.

I totally get people will disagree but I don't appreciate some of the judgement I'm getting. People need to do what is right for them, I know I sound like a broken record, but it's the truth. I've seen some post with brides freaking out for weddings that are at the end of 2021 and I respond on them letting them know +1 to a plan B but to take it day by day, I never pass judgement because I get the struggle and stress of these times. That's all I'm saying.

Thanks for the input!

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I feel you Katie! I know things keep changing, so it's more of just having ideas in mind to be safe. Out here in SoCal we usually get testing results back within 24 hours, and since most of our guests will be gettin where a few days before we figured that could be an option. At least for parents/siblings/bridal party, not necessarily everyone. But who knows by then they could have testing results same day? Good luck to you in your planning!

View Quoted Comment Good luck to you as well.

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You get to dictate how you want your wedding to go, but you do not get to dictate what people do before or after your wedding.

If you know your friends and family, and anyone who doesn't like it doesn't have to come, then I'm not sure why you asked for people's thoughts on a public forum. You can do whatever you want but idk why you'd ask for opinions and then get upset when people have different ones.

Well If I ask people to please be safe before the wedding and they can't do that, then I can ask them to not come. Which is what I've been saying this whole time.

I asked for thoughts on what people are doing to be safe, not to judge me. There's a difference.

We got married in September and it was the most magical intimate outdoor garden wedding.
We implemented for safety: outdoors, masks for guests if they choose, we did not wear a mask one time, all staff wore masks, all staff were socially distanced from guests at all times - except maybe for 30 seconds while pouring champagne toasts, and delivering of the 3 course meal. No buffet - so no shared touching utensils at anytime. Did not provide sanitizer as nobody was touching anyone else’s items. But again, being outdoors is critical. It was a spacious garden venue, we had 3 rectangle tables that were spaced apart nicely. Vendors did not come within 6 ft of us at any one time. Officiant stood a few extra feet back, but not awkwardly far away. The only time anyone had to go indoors was to use the restroom and it was a private bathroom for our wedding.
🤍

This is what we did:

- cut guest list to 35, down from 130; with COVID restrictions my venue could only accommodate 90, but we did not feel comfortable with that many people.

- provided "goodie bags" of hand sanitizer and a mask; left one on each ceremony chair

- ceremony was already going to be outside, but made sure seats were properly distanced and grouped households together

- put up a sign with guidelines (wash your hands, keep your distance, etc.)

- cocktail hour and dinner were in a huge ballroom space, along with a small outdoor deck; people could utilize this entire space all evening

- staff served the appetizers

- plated dinner, individual condiment portions, etc.

- households were seated together for dinner

- we canceled our DJ and didn't have any dancing -- background music only -- and ended the night around 9

I was still a nervous wreck, but fortunately, we've had no reports of anyone getting sick.

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No one is judging you, we are just giving our opinions on particular things you suggested. There's a difference there too. No one attacked your character or called your ideas stupid, etc. We just offered opinions that didn't align with yours.

Best of luck. Sounds like you know what you're going to do.

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This is great, sounds like you all still had a wonderful time!

View Quoted Comment Right, you said you would ask them not to see anyone who's not in their household. I think you could've worded that differently. Asking them to take normal precautions is okay because it's the same thing literally everyone else is being asked of. Everyone has someone who is at a higher risk, and I think everyone wants to be safe.

We had our wedding in August and it was a success, here is what we did:
- had a basket of masks available but honestly everyone already had their own and brought them so maybe just a have a few handy just in case
- hand sanitizer everywhere- outdoor ceremony with smaller rows (only 4 on each side but still close together so it wasn’t awkward and people could sit with their family). We had 80 people total and it worked well for our space.- indoor plated lunch reception with a variety of table sizes according to our family/friend groups. Largest 10 smallest 4. Our venue was a restaurant with a lot of flexibility. Our florist was also very flexible in providing different size arrangements. We sat everyone with their family or friends they knew.- focused on food/drinks as we figured there wouldn’t be as much dancing and there wasn’t which was still okay! Everyone was happy to be out and socializing with friends/family again. It was like a big happy hour!- encouraged everyone to use common sense and wear masks when they couldn’t social distance but didn’t require them 24/7. Most people wore them during the ceremony and when standing in line at the bar.
Overall we had a great day and we were super happy with how it turned out. Luckily almost all of our guests were in town which helped a bunch too. Good luck to everyone planning!

My best friend got married a couple months ago and some of the things i suggested:

space everyone out at tables [i would do it where it's families only like per household per table OR where its only like 2 couples per table or something like that depending on how big the table is]

i would not have the cake out [not like someone is gonna go sneeze on it haha but like just better to not have it out in the open like that]

for ceremony seating if you can at least do every other row or something, that would be better

if anyone is making speeches, make sure they are using different microphones or at least wearing a mask when doing so - i had not realized that literally the 8 people who made speeches were not wearing masks and all used the same microphone

don't dance - the dance floor gets so crowded

honestly i would skip the bouquet and garter tosses during this time - maybe do a raffle for them instead?

i would make masks mandatory - when you only make it a suggestion, people will literally not do it ahah. my bff did not make masks mandatory so literally no one wore one.

Unfortunately, today's safety precautions are such a big part of the wedding planning process. We will be providing mask and sanitizer, as well as risk bands for everyone's comfort. Another bride posted this on WW and I thought it was a great idea. I really want my guess as comfortable as possible knowing we are taking precautions.

I put out a big disclaimer that since we don't know what the Covid situation will be like in October 2021, for anyone who doesn't feel comfortable attending in person for ANY reason (Covid, financial, health, schedule conflict, whatever), we'll be live-streaming both the ceremony and reception. A few people from out of town/state/country already thanked me profusely and said they'll be watching the Live Stream, commenting, and still will send gifts. It's also a great way to save on the catering bill.


I was at an outdoor wedding a few months ago. Guests wore masks except when eating, and the wedding favors were little cute bottles of sanitizer, which was probably the most useful wedding favor of all time! Very few people showed up, it was in the height of pandemic uncertainty in Florida, but we still had a nice time and it was a beautiful event.

In Houston, TX we have a quite a lot of free testing areas so me requiring everyone to get tested first wouldn’t be a problem and I would pay for them HOWEVER I’m not asking my guest to do that. I’m limiting the amount of people at the tables, masks, and sanitizer stations and saw on the diy forum about social distancing pins. Asking them to test is extreme if you and your fiancé aren’t paying for them.

Hi Stephanie!


Having just hosted in the middle of it all as cases are rising, I would say do whatever works for you and your fiancé. Whatever precautions you and your fiancé choose are what’s right for you two. Our coordinator reminded us again and again that everyone who decided to still attend are consenting adults. There is only so much we can provide and control but the precautions we took were the last things on my mind that day.
With that said, we had an outdoor venue, a reduced guest list, pre packaged to go dessert, no meal or cake served, sanitizers and masks provided, bottled beer and seltzer’s with a bartender, distanced seating/hangout options and a livestream for anyone who wanted to join from the safety of their home.
Best of luck! Remember to stay in the moment! It will be wonderful! =]
Margaret

We were told to have a waiver saying you and the venue aren’t responsible and that it is “at-your-own-risk”. We were also told to have a “temperature check point” at the entrance. Most of my family is coming from Michigan to Texas, so asking them not to have outside contact for 10-days seems unreasonable to me (some will have to drive). I would require masks and have plenty of sanitizer available. You also might speak to some of the guests that you are close to and ask what they feel is reasonable.