Corona Virus & It's Impact on the Wedding Industry
A difficult subject to write and think about, but it regrettably cannot be ignored. Nearly the whole world has been seriously effected by this pandemic, both socially and economically. Not only are there many deaths, but many businesses have had to close down for the foreseeable future, and many may not have the financial stability to reopen when it’s all over. Now we are in lockdown we have also now lost the ability to go out and see our family and friends, and can no longer host any sort of gathering or party. It’s a pretty scary time for everyone. One such industry that encompasses all of this is the wedding trade.
I am both a wedding vendor and a bride, with weddings I had booked for this year and due to be married myself at the end of July. There’s no other way to put it- this sucks.
As a wedding photographer, it’s not a great time for us, or indeed any photographer or wedding vendor. None of us can really work from home and with weddings being booked so far in advance, we are all limited on what dates we are able to postpone to. Therefore we face the prospect of having to cancel weddings as well as just postpone them, which of course causes financial issues as well as general upset for ourselves and the poor couple. In regards to this, whether you are a vendor or a client, I would advise to take this time to read through all your contracts carefully. Many contracts will have a ‘force majeure’ clause in them which will come into place in an incident such as a pandemic which will enable a vendor to walk away from a job without having to refund any monies paid up to that date of the pandemic. This is to enable the vendor to stop the possibility of going bankrupt due to refunding lots of couples at one time. But obviously this isn’t ideal for the couple as they have no control over this situation either, so they shouldn’t have to suffer for it. It’s a difficult line to tread at the moment.
Many photographers and vendors are offering to postpone to later dates without incurring any extra fees, and are advising their couples to arrange a mutually convenient date between them, the venue and the photographer (as these are arguably the most important vendors). This is the best of a bad situation as no one looses out financially and everything can pretty much continue as it was, just on a different date. However it becomes a lot trickier when the couple or vendor needs to cancel altogether. if you have a ‘force majeure’ or ‘act of god’ clause in your contract then you are perfectly within your rights to walk away without refunding any money, but then you risk creating a bad relationship between you and the couple. Let’s be honest, word travels fast as well so it won’t be long before it gets out that you were less than helpful in these troubling circumstances. So whilst you are within your right to walk away, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that you do. Many photographers have a close network of other photographers which they can use to help each other out. In a situation where the couple want to postpone but you cannot make their new date, the photographer can point them towards a fellow photographer in the hope that they would do the same, and maybe they can share the money earned from doing so as well. In a situation where the wedding has to be cancelled completely, if you can afford to do so you should refund all the money except the deposit regardless of what your contract says. Maybe offer a gift voucher as well for them to use at a later date for a family portrait session or something as a gesture of good will, and with the hopes that they will use your services in the future. I myself have decided that I will be offering a huge 50% discount on all my wedding photography packages to any couple whose wedding has had to be postponed due to the pandemic and their original photographer cannot make the new date. These are unprecedented times and I feel like we should be stepping away from our contracts and just coming to an honourable agreement as fellow human beings. We are all going through this together after all.
As a bride, I am trying to remain calm and collected about the whole situation but I cannot deny it is causing me increasing amounts of stress. We were just coming up to the ‘5 months to go’ mark when the corona virus started creating a world-wide impact. Both our hen and stag parties had just been organised for later June and early July and my bridesmaid dresses were due to arrive very soon. We were also in the process of suit shopping for the groomsmen. I was really starting to get excited. Now we are facing the prospect of not only having to push back our hen and stag parties, but possibly having to postpone the wedding altogether. I am also feeling guilty about being upset about this. At the end of the day we both have our health so it could be much worse, so I do feel bad about being so upset about the wedding when the situation could be much worse. It’s very hard not to feel this way about your own wedding though, especially as it’s such a significant day in your life. Our wedding isn’t until the last day of July so we are remaining hopeful that it will still be able to go ahead, but even if it does we will have to face the fact that not all of our guests are likely to be able to attend. So what do we do?
If your wedding is in the next 2 months then you must absolutely postpone it without question. Even if we come out of lockdown in that time, mass gatherings will very likely be banned still and the health and safety of your guests is paramount, so you need to postpone now. If this is you, then I am so truly sorry and my heart goes out to you. If your wedding is this year but from June onwards, I would wait a few weeks before you consider postponing. Hopefully in a few weeks we will learn if lockdown is working and we might have a better idea of when businesses will be able to start opening again. However I would use this time to come up with a solid plan B just in case. It is likely that this will go on for longer than expected after all. Start talking to your venues now and see how they can accommodate you at this difficult time. We are getting married at a hotel which of course has had to shut down through lockdown. My wedding co-ordinator at the hotel has been in touch with me and we have agreed that, under the circumstances, she will provisionally hold a later date for us for a few weeks whilst keeping our current July date set, and will let us know if another couple enquires about the later date within that time. That way we can roll out a plan B to our vendors and guests whilst keeping hopeful that our wedding can still go ahead in July. I would definitely advise getting in touch with your venue to see if they can offer the same for you.
When creating a plan B, get some ideas rolling with your bridal parties. You will likely have to consider having a smaller wedding and therefore only inviting the closest family and friends, so get some ideas on how this can be acheived. Also contact your local council and see what they are saying about performing ceremonies at this time. You may still be able to get married on your chosen date, you might just have to do it at your local registry office instead with only your witnesses, then have a big celebration later in the year for everyone to attend. You could set up a blessing ceremony at the party too so everyone can still experience your commitment to one another. As you would already be legally married at that point, you could even nominate a friend or family member to officiate for you. This way you can wear your wedding dress twice too! (There’s always a silver lining!)
At the end of the day, the important things haven’t changed. Regardless of the date and venue, you are getting married to the person you love and want to spend your life with; remind yourself of this if things start getting you down. That’s what I’m trying to focus on at the moment. When in lockdown it is easy to see all the daily things we took for granted, so now is a time to sit back and appreciate what we do have and not what we have lost. Those are my thoughts on the current situation, I hope some of my advice could help fellow brides or vendors like me. Sending out a virtual hug to all of you.
