Plan Your Central Florida Wedding

Rescheduling Your Wedding Due to COVID-19

March 18, 2020 Orange Blossom Bride Season 2 Episode 17
Plan Your Central Florida Wedding
Rescheduling Your Wedding Due to COVID-19
Show Notes Transcript

In this impromptu episode, we are talking about how to reschedule your wedding due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. This episode will help you to navigate through if you have been put in this unfortunate situation. Big thank you to Jenn Warrington of Party Shots Orlando for speaking with us and to Andie Muller of Events by The Flower Studio for helping to provide great talking points for this episode.

Jenn Warrington:   0:00
sit down, have the hard discussion and conversations and figure out what is right for you guys. What is right for your family and what is right for the public.

Amanda Schmidt:   0:19
Welcome to the plan. Your Central Florida wedding Podcasts. I'm your host, Amanda Schmidt editor of Greater Orlando's top wedding publication, Orange Blossom Bride. I'm sure when you said yes, you had no idea you were jumping on this roller coaster. The goal of this podcast is to make the wedding planning process less stressful and more fun. We'll provide you with great tips and ideas along with expert advice from some of the areas top wedding pros. So let's get started planning your Central Florida wedding.  

Amanda Schmidt:   0:50
In the last episode, we talked about protecting your wedding day in case of an emergency. However, between the time that episode was recorded, and now we have a national/world crisis that is affecting those planning their wedding. So I've asked Jenn to come back from Party Shots Orlando. Hey, Jen!

Jenn Warrington:   1:10
Hi. How are you doing?

Amanda Schmidt:   1:11
Good. As good as we can be, right?  This was really an impromptu recording here.,so you're probably not gonna hear the structure like we normally have, but it's really important because we've had a lot of couples reaching out to us asking what to do about their wedding and we've really recommended that they talked to their vendors. But we wanted to talk to you a little bit more as I had done a Live on our Facebook and on our Instagram. But even since this past weekend that I did the Live, things have been changing rapidly. So this podcast will come out on Wednesday. Um, what is that? March 18th So things could change from the time we're recording it on St Patty's Day today from then. But we're going to go with what information we have now and try to help everybody kind of guide them through this process. So last episode, like I said, we were talking about protecting yourself in case of the emergency. But now for some this emergencies here, Jen.

Jenn Warrington:   2:13
it's true. And you know, to any couples that are listening to this again, the way that I left the last podcast off was telling you to take a breath and relax, and it's going to be Okay, I want to start this podcast by reassuring you the same thing. No matter what happens, you are still going to get married. Everything is going to be fine. It may not be in the same sense that you have imagined and planned, but it's still going to happen and it's all gonna turn out just fine. So if you start off with that positivity and that mindset, it will help you through all of this that you're about to deal with for the next couple of weeks.

Amanda Schmidt:   2:53
I love that because it is all about my mindset. There really is nothing we can do about this situation. So making the best of it is what's going to make the wedding in the end, is best.

Jenn Warrington:   3:04
Absolutely. You know, I actually had a neighbor that reached out, and she was saying that she was even a little bit stressed and about this whole situation, and it's hard not to be stressed because we're being fed so much media now with that being said, the media is good. It is informing us. It is letting us know what is happening. But if you were on Lee consuming this media which has such a fear base to it. It is going to cause you anxiety and stress. So take time right now to work on what you can for your wedding. Um, and if you have nothing of your wedding to work on, paint your nails, read a book, listen to a podcast, bake a cake. I don't know, do something other than constantly feeding yourself with the noise because that is not going to serve you. Well,

Amanda Schmidt:   3:56
it's so true. I was just talking to another vendor earlier today and I said, Well, if anything, probably everybody in the country's gonna have really clean houses by the time this is all done, because we're gonna get bored. And I'm sure there's gonna be an uptick with people looking at Pinterest and all that kind of stuff. But it is true for those who don't have anything left to do with their wedding because they may have a couple weeks. Let's talk about the action steps that they should take should they decide to postpone their wedding because that is the route that we're seeing, um, happening instead of canceling, which is great.

Jenn Warrington:   4:29
Absolutely. And first up, first, talk to your venue in your wedding planner. If you do not having wedding, do not have a wedding planner at all. Make sure that you contact your venue first. Your venue may still be going on with events at this point. Some of them are, and some of them are not. So Step one, contact your venue. Step two is contact the rest of your vendors. After that, um, you're vendors are talking to people all day long. I promise you, we have personally have been over here at Party Shots Orlando. So just have some patients, just in case you're trying to reach them and you can't get them on the first time around. Um, the keyword with all of this is have patients with everybody. Everyone is working hardcore to make sure that we can make these weddings happen at some point.

Amanda Schmidt:   5:24
Yeah, and that's really important. And we mentioned that on the last episode how we have a whole network of behind the scenes that couples never see and we can promise you vendors are talking to each other, working with each other, trying to make everything work for the couples, so just give them a little bit of grace because just like with everybody else, this is absolutely new territory. Nobody's experienced anything like this. This is not a hurricane. At least we have the luxury of knowing when they're gonna end. So in this case, you know, things are up in the air, so they're really trying to work really hard so try to have some grace with them as well.

Jenn Warrington:   5:58
Absolutely. And, you know, sometimes it's not as simple as just saying, you know? Okay, we have to move the date to this date. Your vendor might already be booked on that date. Um, make sure that when you are contacting your vendors that you do have your contract in hand. And I know it's very unfortunate the times that we're in right now, but a contract is still a contract. A lot of your vendors, especially if your wedding is within the next week, and it has to be postponed. A lot of those vendors, for example, a cake. You're bakeries. Your your cake, people. Um, your florist. They actually have to preorder your supplies for your items that they're making for you. And they already have it because your wedding was initially so close they are already out of money for your event. So those people, if it has to be a cancellation, you probably will not get your money or deposits back. But you have to understand that business is already out money. And, you know, unfortunately, it's just, you know, it's not good all the way around. But there's You have to have some patients and some understanding about these businesses as well.

Amanda Schmidt:   7:11
Yeah, it is important because we're, you know, as a whole, for the most part in the wedding industry. Local wedding industry were all small businesses. You have to keep that in mind as well. It's not like there's this huge, you know, emergency fund. If something like this happens, they in many cases they, you know, work event by event and they get the items as they need them. So if they've already gotten them, you know that is going to be a factor. So with that being said, the time frame is really important.

Jenn Warrington:   7:40
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, that's why you really need to be contacting everyone as soon as possible. And like I said, reaching out to the venue in your wedding planner firsthand will be the best step to take first.

Amanda Schmidt:   7:55
So the last thing we're gonna talk about is making the final decision to reschedule your wedding. And let's say the venue decides that it's not going to close and it's still open. So then you have to decide if you're going to proceed with your wedding. So what type of advice can we get for that?

Jenn Warrington:   8:13
Okay, so I actually have an example of this one of my weddings that is coming up fairly soon. They decided not to cancel, but what they did decide to do is lower their guest count. So if you are super close family to them, you're still coming to this wedding. They're keeping it very small, and they've asked all of those guests who are going to travel. They just simply told them we love you, but you're no longer invited. They they kept this down because they didn't have the option to reschedule because their venue is going to be open and all of their vendors have agreed toe working. So with that being said, they dropped it down to a small amount. They're gonna have an intimate wedding and go from there. I have heard from a lot of wedding planners that I read online on Facebook In a couple of different areas where they're like, what do we tell our couples? They're calling us going, asking us, Should we reschedule? First of all, I know you're wanting the advice, and earlier we sat there and told you that there's other people that you should be contacting first. But the truth iss the call either comes down to whether your venue is going to be open and you're gonna have catering and also down to Are you comfortable having this? And are you okay with this? No one is going to force you if everything is still open to cancel. We technically can't do that. So, you know, I know you want the advice, and opinions are just that they are opinions, and you should probably get some from multiple sources. But, you know, overall, do what is right for you And what is right for the safety of your guest and everyone else Who was there? Um, one of our weddings, that is, On April 1st, they decided to cancel because it was very important to them that will not cancel. Postpone but they decided to do so because they have family coming in from out of town. It was grand parents, and it was more important to them that they had that family there than it was to get married on April Fool's Day. So and as cool as this is of an April fool's joke for them for their wedding to have to be rescheduled. But, you know, they they did talk to multiple vendors. They really consulted with their venue and with themselves, and there was no call from a venue or anywhere. They just decided that that was what was right for them. So sit down, have the hard discussion and conversations and figure out what is right for you guys. What is right for your family and what is right for the public.

Amanda Schmidt:   10:45
Yeah, all very good advice. Because when you ask a vendor or, you know, vendors who are couples who are reaching out thio BB and asking us advice, it's really ah, hard call to give for somebody because you are putting their wedding in your hands. You know, your goal was to make their wedding wonderful. And then if you say oh, we think you should cancel then that all gets It's a personal decision, is what we're trying to say in really at the end of the day, that is what you need to make. And I think when you contact your venue and your vendors, they're going to give you more so advice of what the process is not necessarily. You can ask for it and they may give it to you, but not necessarily if you should cancel or postpone or not. So just keep that in mind.

Jenn Warrington:   11:30
Yes, I promise you, the brides have called me and said, What should I d'oh and every single time to all of them? All I have said was, Well, you should talk to your family. You should talk to your venue. You know, you should sit down and decide what is right for you. And hopefully that's what all your been your vendors were saying.

Amanda Schmidt:   11:47
Great, because at the end of the day, it is your day. So you wanna have it the best that you can in light of this situation so well, Jen, I wasn't expecting to have you back on the podcast for this topic, So we're gonna have to call you back for a more happy topic later on.

Jenn Warrington:   12:06
Yeah, eventually, I'm gonna be on this podcast, and we're gonna talk about photo booths. I mean, somewhere along the line, it's gonna happen.

Amanda Schmidt:   12:15
is, what I do? Ibut Jen is a very good person to talk to, because she is very positive. You are very comforting. So even though, you know, if you need a side gig besides photo boost, that might be around for you to take. All

Jenn Warrington:   12:32
right. Well, that's, uh oh, I'm just gonna say Okay,

Amanda Schmidt:   12:37
Well, thank you so much for stopping what you were doing today and talking to us real quick. Jen.

Jenn Warrington:   12:42
Well, you know what, thank you. Orange blossom bride for going out of your way to make this recording for everybody out there. Because I know vendors are wondering what to say, what to do. And I know that couples are just trying to figure all this out. But again, I'm gonna leave this the same way that we left the last one. Your wedding's gonna be okay. You are going to be okay. This is gonna be a story. You're gonna tell your grandchildren one day you're gonna look back on it and hopefully laugh at some point. I know it's not gonna be this year, but at some point you're gonna laugh about this. And, like, I can't believe that I dealt with this and it's going to be OK.

Amanda Schmidt:   13:20
It really will. And, you know, you're just adding to the wedding planning adventure here.

Jenn Warrington:   13:26
Absolutely nothing is better than a story. I mean, what kind of a story doesn't get? But

Amanda Schmidt:   13:30
it's true and maybe unbelievable for future generations, but it happened

Jenn Warrington:   13:35
100%.

Amanda Schmidt:   13:36
All right, well, thank you so much.  

Jenn Warrington:   13:37
Thank you.  

Amanda Schmidt:   13:39
I wanted to thank, Jen, one more time for jumping on this episode with us. I literally contacted her, probably about an hour before we started recording to see if she was available. Because I know she's been dealing with it. Ah, lot in talking to her couples about rescheduling, as have many other vendors in our local community. Andy from events by the Flower studio gave us several pointers to talk about in this episode as well. So thank you so much for that Andy. And the last thing I want to leave you with is, you know, just I know this is really hard times right now just for anybody. And planning your wedding and having to deal with this definitely compounds that effect. But please, everybody stay safe. And hopefully, we will be out of this and back to normal life a soon as possible. And like Jen said, just know your wedding is gonna be absolutely wonderful when the time comes. 

Amanda Schmidt:   14:32
Thank you so much for listening to this episode and I'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much for listening at this episode of the plane, your Central Florida wedding podcast. For more Orlando wedding inspiration and tips, head on over to orange blossom bride dot com. And if you're looking for amazing wedding pros to help bring your wedding day together, make sure to check out our wedding vendor directory until next time. Happy Planning