I never thought I would be typing out a title such as this, but here we are, smack dab in the middle of a nasty, world-wide virus strain that has us all feeling a little weary.
I would be remiss if I didn’t address or document this moment in history and I would like to approach this blog from a professional standpoint as well as a personal one. I feel it is important to address what is happening with my clients as it pertains to their wedding invitations and how I am personally dealing with the situation at hand.
It has been roughly four weeks since the Governor or Minnesota (and another 42 states) has declared a no gathering policy, ultimately shutting down the wedding industry. With uncertainty looming when this policy will be lifted, many couples are finding themselves in a spiral of doubt and worry.
To all of my clients, and all couples around the world who are being or have been affected by Covid-19 and all of its nastiness, I feel for you deeply. What is normally a whirlwind of excitement and calculated planning, is now a sea of uncertainty. I have clients who are holding out on summer dates, hoping things turn for the better, those who have a planned out back-up plan and date, and those who have postponed their celebration until 2021.
At each of these stages I have made my support very clear. Ultimately, it is the decision of each couple on how they wish to proceed with their wedding. By providing options such as free digital files to alert their guests of any changes, deeply discounted inserts to their invitations addressing the potential Covid-19 interruption, as well as discounted postponement announcements I hope to ease the stress they are feeling as much as possible.
There are many ways to approach the wording and language used on a postponement or announcement card. Keep things light-hearted with a, “Let’s try this again” and “Oh Snap/(Sh*t)” tagline or a calm, “New Plan” and “Save our new date” or maintain a casual, “Change of date.” Your guests will understand the circumstances, but it is necessary to inform them of any updates and/or changes as soon as possible. From free digital files to include in an email to a postcard to a traditional card and envelope, there is an option to suit you and your budget.
Along with a mailed or e-announcement, I highly recommend updating your wedding website with the utmost up-to-date decision at the time. If you do not have a wedding website, I believe one to be a crucial asset in quickly alerting guests to changes and announcements. Sites like The Knot, Zola, and Minted are great resources for setting up a wedding website with relative ease.
All of us in the wedding industry are doing whatever we can to assist clients and future clients during this time. From hours of personal time spent researching a couple’s options to discounts to free tutorials, spreadsheets, and checklists. We are here for you! You are most certainly not alone.
So how is one supposed to handle all of this madness? And to this I answer: be flexible, thrive in your environment, welcome happy distractions, and remember you cannot control what is out of your hands. That last one’s a biggie! Trust in your vendors, your family and your partner that all will be all right in the end. More than all right, in fact, my hope is for each and every one of you to be Happy and Healthy! We will get through this together. Contact me here for any questions, guidance or a simple pep talk!
Personally, I’ve found this new, slower pace of life to be welcoming. Not 100% of the time, of course, because I miss my ‘normal’ life just as much as you. Seeing my friends, going out to dinner, traveling, little excursions and the like I am definitely mourning but, time spent with my family (sometimes, too much time!), cooking, baking, walks, bike rides, working out, Netflix bingeing, reading, puzzling, all things that were part of our normal routine before, but on a much smaller scale, are all part of our daily activities now. We’ve written letters to friends and family, we’ve made artwork that we are sending to hospitals, we are FaceTiming and Zoom calling all the people! I can almost say we’re more connected now than we were before.
And when this all over with we will look to the future differently than we had before and rejoice once more.