As our 2019 wedding flowers season ended and our 2020 season began, I believe as wedding florists Maryland, it’s safe to say none of us (or at least very, very few) expected the landscape of our country to change so drastically in a matter of a few months due to the coronavirus. From our point of view as we embrace May, a month that is typically one of our busiest for weddings, we are continuing to shift our mindsets and make plans for an entire year of celebrations that will look different.
From the moment this began, we have been carefully working with our couples and their teams of wedding professionals to postpone initial plans and create new ones. We have had conversations about elopements, and we have talked through creating wedding flowers for celebrations with smaller guest counts. We have encouraged pressing pause over canceling. And, now, as we embrace a longer than we expected timeline of large gatherings being placed on hold, we are turning to another type of celebration: intimate weddings.
Because celebrating will always be very much in vogue, we thought we would share five steps about how to start the conversation about altering your wedding plans, what you should do, and why you might want to embrace intimate weddings with us.
- Check with Your Wedding Professional Team:
At first, wedding professionals were largely working with couples to reschedule and rework celebrations scheduled to occur until the beginning of May. Now, couples intending to celebrate throughout 2020 have questions. The most important piece to note is this: Your wedding professionals are here for you.
If you have questions about your wedding or you want to talk about potentially making alternate plans, reach out to the members of your team. We want to help! Consider starting with your wedding planner and venue. Then reach out to your photographer and your wedding florists in Maryland. Together, we can share our ideas and create a new plan if that’s what you and your partner want to do. Of course, it’s also okay to decide to wait a few weeks or even a few months to create a new plan if your wedding is happening later in the year. The important thing is to start the conversation in the first place to learn about the options available to you, like our intimate floral collection.
- Create a Plan:
We do not yet know what weddings will look like for the rest of the year. The summer may look different than the fall, and the fall may look different than the winter. As a result, if you decide you want to wait to create a new plan for your celebration, that’s completely fine. However, it’s important to consider a date when you will make a final decision. You want to make sure you have plenty of time to notify guests, and you want to make sure your wedding professional team is available and has a chance to (potentially!) redesign your wedding.
Additionally, when considering new plans for your wedding, think about this:
- Social distancing will likely be in place for the foreseeable future. Are you willing to embrace masks on your wedding day?
- Travel restrictions will likely be in place. Guests from other states, let alone other countries, may not be able to celebrate with you.
- Would you like to embrace an intimate wedding, or would you rather postpone until you can experience the wedding you have planned?
If you can’t imagine celebrating your wedding day with any of the above occurring, it might be best to postpone your event until 2021.
- Revise Your Guest List:
If you definitely want to host your wedding this year, the key thing you and your partner will need to do is revise your guest list. Per the government’s guidelines, we’re expecting to see celebrations start with 25 people, grow to 50 people, and likely stop at 100 people. Of course, those can increase or decrease at any time! Plan to have conversations about the guests you definitely want to ensure are by your side within each allocation. Talking with family now and weighing options is key so you can put your plan into action far faster as your date nears.
Note: We believe the guidelines for 25, 50, and 100 people include staff. So, plan to keep your counts lower in order to accommodate the professionals who will need to be onsite with you.
- Ceremony Now, Reception Later:
Beyond your wedding flowers, your marriage is the most important piece to us. If you feel as though you would like to experience your reception with all of your guests, another option is to consider hosting your ceremony on or close to your original wedding date while postponing your larger party. Contact your officiant and invite immediate family to witness the first part of your celebration. And, let extended family and friends know too! You may be surprised by a car parade of well-wishers just after you say, “We do.”
- Embrace Intimate Weddings:
If you would like to experience your ceremony and reception in 2020, consider fully embracing an intimate wedding. This will involve altering your guest list, but a smaller wedding filled with the very closest people to you is still equally as special. In our case, we’re creating an intimate wedding floral collection that will allow us to continue to create arrangements for our couples throughout the year.
We can still create a beautiful wedding backdrop for your ceremony. You can still carry a bouquet down the aisle (perhaps the one we’ve already planned!), and your groom can still wear a boutonniere. We can create centerpieces for fewer tables, and we can bring the space to life in a way that’s different but still equally as beautiful. An intimate wedding will look and feel different, but it’s definitely very worthwhile!
The coronavirus has asked all of us to change our plans and revise our expectations as we all experience an event that’s continuously evolving. But, this pandemic has also required that we infuse new creativity into weddings. Instead of dwelling on what could have been, let’s embrace what could still be through our intimate floral collection. It’s still the beginning of 2020, and I believe there are still weddings to celebrate throughout the year. I hope yours is one of them.
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