Rescheduling your BIG FAT SOUTH-ASIAN wedding due to the Pandemic.
You’re set to get married this summer but the government has limited the gatherings of no more than 5 people. Maybe half your guests were flying in from Indian, Pakistan or elsewhere and the travel ban isn’t really helping. You may have had 3-5 wedding events lined up with different venues and vendors. It’s stressful as it is to be worried about postponing but you now have to deal with ALL the events. With all the Covid-19 restrictions, social distancing guidelines, it's inevitable that your wedding/event will be either postponed or cancelled.
Let’s face it, its a difficult decision and a challenging situation both emotionally and logistically. But at least you are not putting the health and safety of your loved ones at risk.
How DO you go about postponing your BIG FAT south Asian wedding you ask?
We’ve asked event planners and coordinators to share their advice for brides and grooms considering postponing their weddings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reschedule, Don’t Cancel
When you’re excited, you might be enticed to just throw in the towel on the wedding altogether. But if you cancel, you have the risk of losing all or most of the $$$ you’ve already shelled out and may still be required to make future payments. Instead, try to reschedule to a later date if you can. When all of this is over, you and your guests will have a lot of a reason to celebrate.
Check-in with Vendors and Coordinator
If you’ve already made the call to reschedule or are thinking about doing so, it’s wise to look at all of your vendor agreements and then check in with each one so you’re prepared either way.
If we decide to postpone and reschedule, what is your cancellation policy, including loss of deposit and payment of the balance? Are you going to make any exceptions given the government is limiting the gatherings and promoting self-distancing practices?
Pro-Tip: Most vendors are very flexible with applying the deposit to the new date but as a business, everyone is taking a hit so it may not be a possibility to refund your deposit completely. Take a look at your contract with the vendor and see what cancellation and refund terms are present.
Will you be willing to work on a certain event like only a few people in attendance, knowing if we’re following the original list, it could potentially expose guests and vendors to the virus?
Pro-Tip: Certain vendors charge for the event based on the guest count. It is possible that the charges incurred by the vendor may not be favourable to produce the same service for a reduced number of people. In that case your vendor may cancel. However, the best way to approach this would be to speak to your vendor and see if you are able to rework the entire package to suit your budget as well as that vendor’s.
Do you have a backup plan in case you or someone on your team is quarantined?
Pro-Tip: This is very applicable if you have a day of coordinator or a photographer that you have hired based on their personality alone. If you hired someone and paid premium, it would be a dissapointment to have them send an assistant. However, its possible that your vendor may be quarantined and therefore you may want to discuss and explore the work of their assistants. Remember to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
If we decide to reschedule to a later date, can we apply the deposit in full to a new mutually agreed-upon date? And would the original payment schedule laid out in the contract still apply?
Pro-Tip: Once your vendor has reworked the contract with new details, your price should adjust accordingly. Some vendors are more lenient that others. For example, your photographer may or may not be ok with reducing the number of days and hours required to cover the event because the editing will require a similar process as the original contract.
What happens if we only proceed with one event rather than all the pre-wedding events? (E.g. you might have to cancel that ladies sangeet or Mehndi function)
Pro-Tip: It is important to note that most vendors will give a better deal when you have booked multiple events with them. Some vendors may even pay out of pocket for one element of the service in order to make more on another aspect. It is a very known strategy in the event industry. Therefore, some vendors may or may not be ok with reducing the price for the main event at the expense of cancelling the pre-events. It may not be worth providing a service that would require the same amount of labour, transport and time.
What dates do you have open in the next year so we can compare the availability of the venue and other vendors?
Pro-tip: It is possible that the venue that you have booked may downsize or completely go out of business. Banquet halls thrive on large parties but with the government limitations in place, it may be a long time before banquet halls are at full capacity again. Most businesses have up to 6 months of security in place but with venues having such large overhead, it is very challenging to survive losing 100% of revenue for several continuous months. Especially if your venue is not backed by a large company. Keep that in mind and ask the right questions when you are discussing date changes with your venue. You may want to discuss how they are planning on staying operational during the closures.
If we have paid a premium price for dates that are very popular and we can only reschedule to weekdays then will we be compensated for the difference?
Pro-tip: It is important to consider that you may be at the losing end when it comes to venue date changes. If you booked a prime Saturday night spot in July, chances are, you may not find that same date in the following year because it was booked well in advance. Good venues are normally booked up to 2 years in advance. Its a hard pill to swallow but it is not much you can do about it.
Be Flexible When You Reschedule
Wedding vendors often book up a year or more in advance, the new date options may be limited. There’s a possibility that you’ll have to forgo a Saturday wedding for a Friday, Sunday or weekday.
Don’t wait for too long to choose a new date. Some couples are in the same situation right now, finding ways to reschedule their big day.
There might not be available dates that work for your whole team of vendors, that is why you’ll need to prioritize which are most important to you as a couple and then pick a date that works with those vendors’ availability. They may prefer for you to choose another date this year rather than reschedule for next year as that could make them devastated financially.
Expect to Lose Money
The quality of flexibility will also vary depending on how soon your wedding is and if the vendor has invested a good deal of time and/or money preparing for your big day. For example, if your caterer already ordered the food or any perishable goods for your wedding, it’s going to be difficult to regain the costs. Or if your wedding favours vendor has already ordered and assembled your order or your stationary and printing has already been produced.
If one of your vendors will not be available on your new wedding date, you may still be held to the cancellation terms laid out in your original agreement.
If that happens, reach out to them if there’s anything else the vendor can do. Perhaps you could use their services for a birthday party or another large family celebration or see if they can advise and connect you with some other quality wedding vendors in the same space.
Update your Guest for the New Date
It’s very significant to inform all guests that you’re rescheduling so they can cancel or rebook their flights and hotel accommodations. Consider calling your VIPs yourself and ask your family or bridal party members to let other guests know either by phone or via an email.
Announce your New Wedding Date
In sharing the information on your wedding announcement, you may want to send another save-the-date, and later, an invitation to consider the new details. You could do this via Social Media Post or send another paper invitation in the mail.
You might feel upset about postponing your big day but you shouldn’t because a wedding is a major life event and something that is really planned and looking forward to.
When the day Finally Comes
You may be a little sad now, but by the time your new date comes, these unpleasant emotions will be a distant memory, and you'll thank yourself that you have rescheduled it for the safety of everyone. And when time comes, it’ll be more memorable and special.