Are you considering canceling your wedding in light of an unpredictable future we are facing? You are not alone. This is the reality for some couples and it is an unfortunate situation.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, there has been drastic changes to society as we know it. This has effected every industry and every individual.
CNN has reported how the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has ruined the wedding industry. Venues, churches and parks are forced to close to the public. It is very sad and depressing to see future brides react to this in Facebook groups and other wedding forums.
There were some women that left the wedding forums entirely because they saw so many heart breaking stories from future brides that had to cancel their weddings. It seems to be an upward trend for weddings happening this year.
What if this happens to you? What happens when the best day of your life has to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances? How do you let everyone know your wedding will be canceled? When should you notify guests, vendors, photographers, pastors, djs and the wedding party? Lastly, how do you cope with the situation?
In this blog post, I will guide you through canceling your wedding. I will take down a road that will hopefully lead to some comfort during this difficult process.
How to cancel your wedding
Please seek help in this unfortunate time. Reach out to close family and friends for support. You will find that having people their for you will make this process a lot easier. There are resources at the end for further assistance in canceling your wedding.
Here are the 7 Steps to Cancel Your Wedding:
- Recognize your emotions
- Consider your options
- Contact Wedding Participants and Venue
- Close Wedding Website
- Send Wedding Cancelation Cards
- Practice “Social Distancing”
- Self Love Appointments
Step 1: Recognize your emotions
Be one with your emotions and understand how you are feeling. Once you know, calm down and take a deep breath. Remember that your wedding day is special. If there is anything upsetting you and making you feel bad about having a wedding, then you should cancel it. You do not want to have those feelings of fear or doubt on your wedding day.
Step 2 : Consider your Options
If there is a discrepancy with the venue, guests or other logistical problems, see if there are other options. You could consider postponing or rescheduling as well so that it is not a permanent thing. If it is a bigger problem like, illness, finances or your spouse, definitely cancel and get the stress of a wedding off your plate.
Step 3: Contact Wedding Participants and Venue
Finalize the cancelation with the wedding participants such as the person performing the marriage, wedding planners, DJ, caterer, florist and the venue. Cancel any appointments you may have regarding your wedding. Be sure to review the refund policies on each vendor you do business with. It could be a chance you could get some of your deposits back for some services.
There may be some postponing and cancelation fees with some vendors. If you are postponing or rescheduling be sure to ask the vendors or their available dates. See if you are able to apply your deposit to a new date if applicable.
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Step 4: Close Wedding Website
You should close wedding website and registry. Doing this will cause less confusion to others.
Step 5: Send Wedding Cancelation Cards
This is a the major step of canceling your wedding. Send everyone a wedding cancelation card. You want to send to the same people on your invitation list. You DO NOT have to specify why you are canceling your wedding. There are so many wedding cancelation cards examples to choose from on Zazzle.
Tip: On the wedding cancelation cards, put someone else as the contact. This is for people that may have questions about the cancelation. A mother or friend may be a better person than speaking directly to you because it is a sensitive matter. Make sure that this contact person says a vague reasoning and doesn’t say too much about why. Just enough to ease any concerns.
Step 6: Practice “Social Distancing”
When I say social distancing, I mean to distance yourself from the being bombarded with questions from guests once they receive the cancelation cards. Take as much time as you need before talking to others about why you canceled your wedding.
That is why the tip in step 4 is crucial in this process. Instead on staying 6 feet way from a person, give a few weeks to let the news settle in and then when you want to talk about it, do so. It’s all on your terms. You call the shots.
Step 7: Self Love Appointments
Take care of yourself. Wedding planning is hard enough and to have to cancel everything is like a stab through the heart. But think of it like this. Things happen for a reason and everything works out for the good in the end. Find something positive in your life and dwell on that.
Some of my favorite self love activites are:
- Listening to my favorite album
- Taking a hot bath.
- Zumba
- Yoga
- Shoe shopping
Conclusion
The Knot and WeddingWire partnered to launch a free 24/7 hotline to help couples during this unfortunate time. If you have wedding questions for The Knot, their hotline number is (833) 998-2865—or you can send an email to help@theknot.com.
There is really no wrong decision here. Do not get overwhelmed by logistics. You are not the first person to cancel your wedding and you certainly aren’t the last. Do not be afraid to ask for help. I would like to end this article by saying that you will survive this.
-Tyshawna
Featured Image by Christophe Guidemann