LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS:

15 THINGS YOU CAN BE WORKING ON NOW!

As event industry leaders, we are working through new standards, expectations and ways to support our couples that have had to postpone their weddings and those that are currently trying to plan their own wedding during this lockdown time.

Although the Country is on lockdown, there are still things you can be doing in the comfort of your own home. These tips will help you use this down time effectively. Let’s continue to plan a celebration that is worthy of your LOVE.  You can use this time to make your wedding more personal, more thoughtful and simply awesome. Remember, we will all come out of this together!

Practice your first dance. You Tube has tons of videos to master the basic steps or you can take a virtual dance lesson. Don’t forget to pick your song first! And have a little fun together!

Write your vows. This is something you can work on together as a couple. Do you want to have traditional vows, personal vows or a combination of the two? You don’t want to leave vow writing to the last minute, so find a special notebook and let those reasons you love your fiancé flow out.

Work on that guest list. In the early stages of planning? Start jotting down your guest list and organizing it into A and B lists. Knowing your rough numbers is essential for making your budget, picking your venue and is one of the first questions most vendors will ask.

Pin those pictures and refine your style. Looking through some inspiration photos is sure to make you smile. You now have time to take those 20 Pinterest boards you have going and refine your style. Make some decisions now – is there a dress designer that you love? What do you want your flowers to look like? – and this will help you to hit the ground running when things finally open back up.

Start your invitations and have them ready to print. As an invitation designer, I suggest working with your designer to get the ball rolling. This will give your designer time to get your drafts over to you for approval and have the files ready to send out to print once shops are back up.

Create a playlist. Who doesn’t love a good song to dance too? At the end of all this your guests are going to be so happy to be out and celebrating with some great music! Your DJ will appreciate the extra work you put in to pick out some of your favorite (or DO NOT PLAY) songs! Along those lines, start picking your songs for all the protocols that we go through on your Wedding day (First dance, Mother/Son, Father/Daughter, Bouquet and Garter). If you need a starter list, please email me!

Have zoom meetings to build your vendor team. At this time, all potential vendors will be happy to hold a phone or zoom consultation to answer any questions you may have. You can continue researching and interviewing to build up your vendor team.

Work on your wedding website. Wedding websites are the best way to keep your guests informed. Your website will include important times, locations, room blocks, registry information, transportation and for now, can help if you need to inform your guests of a potential postponement. Try Minted or The Knot.

Create your online Wedding Registry. Target, Macys, Amazon, Pottery Barn … Now is the perfect time to spend those boring hours online dreaming of all the items you’ll need for your new life together. Don’t want actual gifts? Try Honeyfund or Traveler’s Joy.

Choose your Signature Cocktail. Everyone likes an excuse to do a little cocktail tasting! Find some recipes on-line and get to work. What a fun in-home quarantine date night!

Virtual venue hunting. Start your venue search online. Find Real Weddings from your favorite venues and see what you like or don’t like about each one. Many sites on-line will have 360 degree videos but you can also ask the sales manager to give you a virtual tour of the space.

Order your Cake tasting to your door. Many bakeries will be happy to deliver your samples boxed up and ready for you to taste at home. A little treat to make your day sweeter.

Get crafty – Stop putting off that DIY favor project. These are the tedious things most people put off to the last minute that end up leaving them feeling stressed out.

Focus on your Health – both physical and mental. Take a deep breath and find your center. Let me remind you why you are getting married in the first place – to spend the rest of your life with your love. This will happen and all the rest are just supportive details.

Don’t forget to have a virtual happy hour with your Bridesmaids! I did a virtual happy hour for the first time the other night and had a blast with my friends. Grab your drink, your girls and get to chatting. I don’t know anything that can cheer me up faster than seeing their faces.

Find the right Wedding Planner!  We see, understand and hear you. We are here to answer any questions you may have navigating this uncharted territory. Not only has this hit our industry and vendor friends very hard, we also know that you are having to make tough decisions regarding your Wedding Day. We are a call away.

xo, rc and team