Let’s face it. Getting married during a global pandemic was never in your wedding contingency plan. It can be hard not to feel disappointed and cheated by Coronavirus hijacking your big day. However, it’s still possible to make your wedding day feel incredibly special, even if it may not be quite how you envisioned. If you don’t want to postpone, here are tips on how to plan a wedding during COVID-19.

Imagine an intimate outdoor wedding at sunset with your immediate family and a handful of close friends. Southern California has great weather year-round and tons of outdoor spaces for “micro weddings” (socially-distanced weddings under 50 people).

You may still be able to book an outdoor wedding venue, or you can consider a local park, nearby beach, or a backyard. Just be sure to pay attention to local COVID-19 rules about parks and beaches.

Unfortunately, you may need to reduce the number of guests you planned on having at your wedding in order to ensure a safer, more socially-distanced experience for everyone. Start by thinking about who you can’t bear the thought of having your special day without (your closest family members, best friends, etc).

This probably won’t be an easy thing to do without feeling conflicted, but it will make reducing your guest list a lot easier if you rank guests by those you’ll miss the most on your wedding day.

It may also help to sort people into categories like “immediate family,” “extended family,” “closest friends,” “good friends,” and “co-workers.” Reducing your guest list by group categories may help people be more accepting of their omittance from your wedding day if they know that someone else who plays a similar role in your life has also been omitted.

Some people may be hurt about being uninvited to your wedding, but unfortunately it's a situation many soon-to-be-married couples are finding themselves in because of COVID-19 and the best you can do is offer your explanation, apologies, and alternative ways they can celebrate with you (see below for some ideas on that).

At this time, it’s recommended that everyone wear a mask at your wedding, so be sure to mention that in the wedding attire section on your wedding website.

You can work the masks into your wedding design by coordinating them with your wedding color palette. Instead of buying your wedding party matching robes or other gifts, you could give them custom-designed masks.

It’s also a good idea to offer facemasks for all of your guests. Do a quick search on Etsy and you’ll find a ton of adorable wedding masks made with lace, satin, beads and even customized masks with your names and wedding date. They make for a great photo opp to commemorate this wild time in history in which you tied the knot.

At your wedding ceremony, allow more space between chairs and offer socially-distanced standing room. You may consider assigned seating at the ceremony. People can sit with everyone in their household and those they’ve been “social bubbling” with (which usually means close family members like parents and siblings).

During the reception, spread the tables further apart than you normally would and consider reducing the number of guests per table. You may consider going with smaller tables of four and seat guests by household (like families, couples, or roommates). Now is also the time to embrace the sweetheart table. Be sure to have hand sanitizer available throughout your venue as well as on every reception table.

You’ll probably want to avoid hors d’oeuvre trays, self-serve buffets, “family style” meals, and dessert displays during COVID-19. You can opt instead for plated dinners, a staffed food station with a plexiglass barrier, or a hip food truck. People tend to congregate around the bar, so you may want to consider having more than one bar area. Your caterer should be willing to work with you on the safest and best way to serve your guests.

Music and dancing can be one of the most fun aspects of your wedding day, and you shouldn’t have to scrap the dance floor just because of social distancing. Instead of having one big dancefloor, you could install multiple smaller dance floors throughout the space to keep your guests spread out. If you want to have one big dance floor, you could encourage social distancing by marking the floor with tape to show how far people should be apart while dancing. People from the same households can still dance close together.

Another option is to use the dance floor for after-dinner entertainment after your first dance as a couple. Dazzle your guests with professional dancers or specialty vocalists – get creative! In addition to live bands, big band dance orchestras, a cappella singers, DJs, and Masters of Ceremonies, Bonnie Foster Productions offers a wide array of wedding entertainment , including dance productions in a variety of styles; flash mobs; aerialists; and much more. If you can dream it, our event production team can create it for you (while ensuring social distance is maintained).

In place of a physical guestbook where people will be sharing the same pens, ask your guests to instead send you virtual messages of love. One option is to ask them to record their well wishes on their smartphone and email them to you or someone who can compile them into a video. Another option is to ask your guests to use WeddingWire’s WedShoots app to build a collective wedding album and use the comments to express their well-wishes. Eventually, you can print out a photo guestbook for a physical keepsake.

You can still have a photo booth at your wedding, but we recommend skipping the props to avoid a lot of people touching and wearing them. In lieu of photo booth props, consider investing in an unique photo booth backdrop.

Bonnie Foster Productions offers full-service photo booths and we can work with you to come up with a customized photo booth backdrop for your wedding.

Live-streaming your wedding ceremony is a great way to allow friends and family who can’t be there in person to experience your special day in real-time. One DIY way to do this is to livestream through one of the platforms below:

You’ll want to designate someone to set up a camera, phone, or iPad on a tripod in an unobtrusive spot. Make sure that you test the Internet connection at the venue beforehand. You can stream via a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or a newer GoPro. Select a device with a good camera and make sure to clean the lens before you live stream.

If you’re live streaming outdoors, consider investing in an external microphone with a sound baffle (also known as a windshield). You can buy a low-cost baffle that plugs directly into a smartphone for under $50. This will reduce background noises like wind and chatter.

If DIY live-streaming feels too intimidating, you may want to consider hiring a professional videographer to help you live stream your wedding. Bonnie Foster Productions has a team of experienced videographers with high-quality cameras and microphones to help you stream your wedding online. Contact us to learn more about our live-streaming services.

Wedding planning is overwhelming in the best of circumstances, so it’s understandable to feel stress, anxiety, and uncertainty about planning a wedding during COVID-19. Ask your loved ones for help if you need it and work with experienced, professional, highly-rated vendors so you know you’ll be in good hands.

Bonnie Foster Productions is based in Southern California, services clients globally, and offers award-winning event production for weddings and special events, including:

If you have any questions about how we may be able to help you make your socially-distanced wedding extra special, please contact us at info@bonniefosterproductions.com or at the button below.

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