Choosing to postpone a wedding is never easy. The pandemic is putting many couples in just that situation. This impacts our clients, but also wedding's industry wide. As a company, we pride ourselves on acting with speed and putting our customers first. Let us share how our approach during the coronavirus tragedy.
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Timeline recommendations
- If your event is in May 2020, we recommend postponing your event.
- If your event is in June or July 2020, you have the option to postpone if you wish although our team is actively preparing distancing procedures for your event that will allow you to have fun with friends and family while remaining safe.
- If your event is in August 2020 or later in the year, we remain hopeful that your wedding can continue as planned.
Here are the steps we've taken at Wedgewood Weddings to support everyone with an original wedding date in Spring 2020. By and large, our process has been received with love and support as we all recognize that this is an unprecedented situation. We will be forever grateful to all our clients and can't wait to help them celebrate their special day when the time comes.
PROACTIVE, PERSONALIZED COMMUNICATION
From the very beginning, we've made a point to call every couple with a Spring 2020 wedding to candidly discuss the situation. Our goal, first and foremost, is to be as transparent and responsive as possible with all of our cherished clients.
Our team members are currently working tirelessly to contact all couples with early summer weddings to make sure they're supported and aware of the options. We're so grateful to every customer as we navigate the crisis together. There have been so many moments of extraordinary grace and kindness.
"One of my most heart-warming recent experiences with a client was for a wedding that was supposed to take place on March 19, 2020. Even though they had to postpone their wedding two days beforehand, they were so sweet and appreciative. They brought us a bunny basket with homemade cookies, lollipops, and candy to say thank you! It was a much-needed morale boost!"
- Colleen, General Manager at Ken Caryl Vista
THE SOCIAL GATHERING RESTRICTION TIMELINE
We began preparing contingency plans as soon as federal/global guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) limited travel and recommended social distancing. On March 12, we remained upbeat and began to adjust floor plans and guest counts to ensure everyone's safety. Then on March 15, the CDC recommended restricting gatherings to 50 people. Only one day later, President Trump announced at his press conference that gatherings should be restricted to ten.
On March 17, it was apparent that traditional wedding celebrations where couples gather with all their family and friends were no longer feasible if we wished to protect our communities. After taking advice and speaking with couples to understand their viewpoint, we made the heartbreaking decision to postpone all weddings through to the end of April. As a token of our heartfelt compassion to all who had to suddenly postpone their event, we offered each affected couple a small discount to make up for the extreme short notice and hardship of moving their event among all the confusion and dismay.
As we have navigated this crisis hand-in-hand with our clients, we have continued to move fast. In April, we recommended that May 2020 events should be postponed. And we're working with all couples with weddings this summer - if they wish to move their wedding date, our team is working with them on a new date. For couples with events in August and beyond, we remain hopeful they can celebrate on their original wedding date while abiding by local safety regulations.
FLEXIBLE POSTPONEMENT POLICY For SpRing & Summer Weddings
We are doing all we can to make the rescheduling process pain-free and straightforward. Our team members have been working around the clock: contacting and comforting every affected client on a personal level. We felt that the fairest way to communicate with clients was to call them systematically, starting with those with the earliest event dates.
Our team is continuing to work methodically to navigate the needs of each client. For couples with an original event date between March and July 2020, we do not have any rescheduling or administrative fees if they choose to postpone their wedding due to the COVID-19 crisis. Those same couples who are impacted by the pandemic gathering restrictions have the choice of any available date at any Wedgewood Weddings venue. They can select any day of the week, season, or year.
Plan for Fall & Winter Events
As weddings are private events and the couple celebrating is often in sole control of the guest list, the risk is significantly lower than mingling at a crowded movie theater or concert. The couple can select exactly who to invite and, as they're friends and family, they will likely already be interacting in wider social bubbles ahead of a fall or winter 2020 wedding.
To support the needs of all of clients, we have deep cleaned all our venues and applied meaningful measures to keep all visitors safe. We will continue these cleaning protocols into the foreseeable future, even as the risk in our community reduces. We are also implementing physical distancing practices as an extra safety precaution. Fortunately, the nature of our venues allows us to accommodate many distancing requirements. We will continue to monitor all gathering restrictions to pre-empt or meet all stipulations in advance of every wedding.
Understandably, a few couples are concerned about choosing a 2020 date and then needing to postpone again. We understand that this is a real concern as social gathering regulations in the U.S. and globally change frequently. We have made another commitment to our clients: if they discover they need to reschedule their wedding a second time, our team will continue to help find a replacement date and 100% of payments will go to the event with no additional fees incurred.
"We have a couple who have had to reschedule twice now. Their original date was March 20, 2020, so we had to call them only a few days before their wedding to reschedule. They are now rescheduling their May date for one further out this summer. This couple has been so kind throughout the whole process. It was truly a pleasure to work together to find the solutions they need."
- Chloe, General Manager at Tapestry House
DATE AVAILABILITY
By offering March - July couples who postpone any available date, we're able to see our nation's hope firsthand, and it's inspiring. Weddings are a testament to love, and, throughout the crisis, our entire team has been happy to see that relationships are becoming even stronger. As the saying goes 'love shines through!'
Deciding to postpone is difficult and sometimes selecting a new wedding date feels just as hard. All our team members are giving March-July clients space to decide on the right course for them. For some, pausing is creating a sense of calm. For others, choosing a new date feels like taking back control.
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We're committed to helping every client celebrate their special occasion easily, safely, and as soon as possible. We continue to gather feedback, listen to suggestions, and improve our process in this commitment. Thank you to everyone who is providing support and encouragement as we strive to protect our communities while helping our clients. They have our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation.
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DURING THE PANDEMIC, ALL INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. THE STATEMENTS IN THIS ARTICLE ARE CORRECT AS OF April 27, 2020.
Wedgewood Weddings & Events
