It’s April 2021 and weddings are back. Now what?
It all begins with an idea.
Scotland’s First Minister announced a return of weddings as of 26th April 2021 where 50 guests can attend. Since then there has been a huge surge in enquiries for Scottish wedding suppliers. Although there appears to be ‘life’ back within the industry, I know a lot of couples are struggling to pick up where they left off as so much has changed. Perhaps your wedding date is now in a different season, your personal finances have been affected by COVID-19, or simply the lack of motivation after countless postponements is pushing wedding planning to one side. Whatever the reason may be, this blog will help relight the fire in your wedding plans and provide a step-by-step guide on how to plan an epic wedding post lockdown.
“ It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”
Budget + finance
Step one, look over your budget and recheck finances. With admin and postponement fees creeping in, repurchases of any personalised decor (e.g. guest book, bridal robes, stationery), increase in venue or supplier prices due to change of date, or even a decrease in money coming in due to receiving furlough, now is the time to calculate what is affordable within the time frame of you getting married vs what of your budget is still left to pay. It’s doesn't necessarily mean your budget will increase, perhaps the decrease in guest numbers will allow you to reallocate to other parts of the wedding.
Suppliers
During the haste of rescheduling with your original suppliers to your new date, it’s common to relay incorrect details amongst the fast-paced rearranging. I recommend going back over your recent correspondence and triple checking the important details: day of the week, date, month, year, time, quantity, address, location, etc. This way you’ll have complete peace of mind that everything has been confirmed correctly for your new and hopefully final date.
Decor + styling
Perhaps you’ve gone from a light spring wedding filled with muted tones to an autumn wedding where typically warmer or jewel tones are used. It can be very tricky to imagine your new wedding design after months, maybe years of designing this particular day in your head. My advice to you would be don’t change everything single detail about your day. A lot of colours and tones work throughout every season and simple tweaks to your design will help transfer your spring styling to autumn very easily. Of course, it’s not just about colours, not all flowers are available in every season so it’s worthwhile to check with your Florist what is possible for your new date.
Checklist & timeline
Depending on what stage of the planning you postponed during, there could be a long list of ‘to-dos’ still to complete. After a while of not thinking about your wedding, it’s easy to push these to the back of your mind. Firstly, bring up your old checklist, mark off what has already been completed, and transfer all other points to a new list, keeping things fresh and simple. If you are still to attend hair and make-up trials, do a menu tasting or schedule a dress fitting, etc, I would recommend prioritising planning the points that involve another supplier first, and remember to stay flexible! The backlog of weddings is creating a jammed-packed schedule for most companies. Don’t expect to be able to attend a make-up trial on a prime weekend in summer.
Guidelines
The downside of re-starting your planning at the moment and marrying in 2021, is that you aren’t able to plan the specifics very far in advance. By specifics I mean, table plan, entertainment, catering service styles, etc as all these are dependent on Government guidelines. Although there is a lot of speculation surrounding how weddings may look in the near future, I wouldn’t plan exact specifics, like your table plan until you have confirmation on the Government website regarding what is allowed at the time of your wedding. Keep an open mind and start to discuss alternatives if your preferred option of say, 80 guests, 8 people at 10 tables is not going to be permitted. Don’t let the lack of clarity at this stage overwhelm you. Mark the latest deadlines in your calendar, for example, when your Stationer requires your table plan draft for printing and work to that date. If the information is provided sooner, great, however, if not you will have a clear plan on how to complete + provide the table plan at the latest possible date.
Find that excitement again…
For most, it’s been a long road, maybe one, two, or even three postponements, it’s time to start believing you WILL be getting married and you WILL have that momentous day. Find the fun in wedding planning again. Whether that’s a night in with your girls and some wine, or a suit shopping trip via the beer gardens with your boys, take the time to enjoy the process. The day will be here and gone before you know it, so remember to stop, laugh, and appreciate how lucky you are to be marrying your best friend this year!
Images by Karolina Kotkiewicz