Wedding blog

How to Plan Your Wedding During Social Distancing

Did you recently get engaged? Or were you already in the middle of organizing your dream wedding? The chances are that you suddenly had to put your plans on hold and what should have been one of the most exciting times in your life has turned into a slight nightmare. But don’t feel hopeless! Because despite social distancing, there is plenty of wedding planning you can do right now in the comfort of your own living room!

So without further ado, here are 6 ways how to navigate wedding planning during a pandemic!

The first 3 tips are best if you are at the very beginning of your wedding planning. If you are already further along, you might want to skip to tip 4.

One: Define your style

If you are right at the beginning of wedding planning, this is the perfect time to go crazy on Pinterest and look for wedding inspiration! What colors are you drawn to? What flowers do you love? Go even further and look for textures, stationery, typefaces, favors, cakes, bridal fashion (including shoes!), hairstyles, hair accessories, ring boxes, aisle decoration, wedding arch styles, and wedding signage.

Once you have gathered some ideas, go back and start eliminating pictures. This sounds harder than it is because you will very soon notice an overall look and feel that you love most and can quickly delete all images that don’t fit your favorite style.

Tip: If you use Pinterest boards to organize your inspiration, save all the images in one board but have different sections for each category like flowers, fashion, cake, stationery, decoration, reception, so on and so forth.

Also, have one section, which is your overall mood board, and in which you only put your most favorite images of each section.

This way, you stay organized throughout the planning, and once you start working with vendors, you can communicate your style and ideas effortlessly.

Two: Compile your guest list

Before you start looking for your venue, you need to have an idea of how many people you would like to invite. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know the exact number but rather if you want to have an elopement (2-4 people), an intimate wedding (up to 20 people) a small wedding (up to 50) a medium wedding (up to 80), a large wedding (up to 100) or a huge one (100+).

Knowing the size of your wedding is very important because no matter how much you love a specific venue if it isn’t able to accommodate your guests, it’s a no-go. On the other hand, if you are planning a smaller wedding, the wedding venue shouldn’t be too large either.

Three: Research your vendors

Once you established the look and feel of your wedding and your guest count, it’s time to search for your venue and vendors.

Most already have a website and social media accounts. So have a look, dig deep and ask yourself:

Do I like the images/videos on their website and their social media? Do they reflect my style?
Are there any reviews on their website or Facebook page? Or on any other review site like The Knot, Wedding Wire, or Google?
Do their services fit my expectations?

If you like what you have found out so far, reach out to the vendors. Either via email, social media or give them a call right away. Just because most vendors have closed their brick and mortar store, doesn’t mean they are unavailable. Quite the contrary, they will be thrilled to talk to you about your plans!

Once you have narrowed down your vendors, use video chats for interviews! Some tools that make it very easy are Skype, Google Meet, or Zoom.

Four: Schedule your dress fitting

If you are already further along in your wedding planning, there is still enough for you to do!

Even though dress fittings won’t be possible in person, get in touch with your favorite bridal salon, and ask for a virtual consultation. A lot of bridal boutiques started to offer this service.

Some will even deliver your favorite dresses to your doorsteps so you can try them on safely in the comfort of your own home!

Tip: If you are getting married in Dubai, have a look at this amazing bridal salon that offers this service: Ginger + Poppy Bridal Boutique.

Five: Organize your cake tasting

Like with wedding dress fittings, you might not be able to have a cake tasting in the shop. But the great news is that some bakers have started to bake sample boxes of cupcakes or mini-cakes that they will deliver right to your doorstep! Reach out to your baker and ask about this option!!

Six: Get lost in details

My final tip for your wedding planning during a pandemic is thinking about details!

Here some ideas that are often overlooked but are a great way to personalize your big day even further:

Set up a wedding website. Include the following basics: date and time, address of your venue and directions, information about the dress code. And then also include some personal information about the two of you! For example, how did you meet, or what do you love about each other?
Build your online wedding registry with intention. Take the time to think about what would really enhance your life as a newlywed couple? Now you have the time to go over all the things that are still missing in your household.
Create a signature cocktail. How about a “his”, a “hers“ and a “theirs” cocktail?
Write a wedding photo checklist that you share with your photographer. This way, you make sure you won’t forget any must-have pictures.
Compile a wedding song list. What better way to spend your time right now than listening to songs that you both love? Your wedding song list should include ceremony songs (prelude, processional, walking down the aisle, actual ceremony, recessional) cocktail hour songs, and reception songs (your grand entrance, cake cutting, first dance, parents’ dance, bouquet toss, last dance).

I hope this article gave you some inspiration about how you can keep planning your dream wedding during a pandemic where social distancing is essential!

If you like to have more support, have a look at my website to find out how I can help you even further, or get in touch with me directly to set up a complimentary consultation call!

Love, Michaela