Hey Gang,
It’s safe to say we never thought we’d be writing an article on templates to postpone weddings due to a pandemic, but here we are. Our thoughts are with you as we all navigate this difficult time.
We’ve been inspired by the positivity that so many of you guys are sharing right now, and we’re so proud of our industry – the way that we’re all coming together to manage this tricky situation is, quite frankly, bloody amazing.
Deciding whether to proceed with your wedding is a question on a lot of couple’s minds right now, especially since the newly required distancing rules and the restrictions on weddings having no more than five people (being the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses). Keep in mind, the 4 square metre rule still applies. Find more information via the Government’s website here.
Reasons you might consider postponing your wedding
- First and foremost, guest safety
- To protect the health of their wedding team (venue and vendors alike)
- The wedding doesn’t fit into the new gathering guidelines set by the Government, which you can find here
- Limitations on guest numbers being no more than five people (including the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses)
- Overseas guests can no longer attend
- Some invited guests are more vulnerable members of the community (elderly, immunocompromised or living with pre-existing health conditions)
- Concern that social distancing isn’t conducive to weddings (a large amount of personal space is required, no kissing, hugging, sharing food or close-quarters dancing)
- Concern that the day won’t be as originally planned and guests won’t be able to let their hair down
- No desire to put guests into the difficult position of deciding whether or not to attend
Some considerations
If you are sensibly weighing up the option of changing your wedding plans, we’d always strongly advise you postpone rather than cancel your big day. Not only will this decision mean you won’t be losing money that you’d put down on deposits to secure your wedding team, but you’ll be keeping your amazing suppliers in business. It’s a very tough landscape out there right now, with postponements due to COVID-19 meaning that much of the industry won’t see any income for months. And there’s no firm end in sight.
Also, we’d also encourage you to consider being open to rescheduling your wedding to a weekday or ‘off-peak’ day – basically, Monday to Thursday. With the volume of weddings from the first half of 2020 now being moved to late 2020 and into 2021, it means that many businesses simply won’t be able to keep the doors open if all their weekends are taken and they can’t book in new couples.
Even as we type this, we realise this is tricky for many. We completely recognise this isn’t a decision that you’re probably making voluntarily. You didn’t ask to be put in a position where you were forced to reschedule your wedding, so there may understandably be some resistance to this idea. But we wanted to share this with you, because we know for some venues and vendors, it’s the only thing they can offer right now in order to keep the lights on. We all need to be gentle with each other and work together to find compromise that will mean you get to have the best damn party ever.
Ways to tell your guests you’re postponing your wedding
On the topic of communication, there are a few quick and nifty ways of sending mass comms to your guests. We’ve outlined these here:
- Create a group in Facebook Messenger to update your contacts, and ask them to DM you back privately should they have any questions. You can use this as a way to get quick RSVP’s from guests if you’re proceeding and want to confirm numbers.
- MailChimp has been typically used in the past for marketing or mass communication for businesses, however in this case also makes for an awesome tool to send one email, that can be personalised with names to your whole guest list, and you can make it look schmicker than your typical email. All you need to do is join MailChimp here (for free for accounts with under 2,000 contacts), follow the prompts, upload your guest’s emails and their first names and create a campaign. Remember to send yourself a quick test first.
- Of course, good old email is a quick and easy alternative. Just remember to leave contacts in BCC so that your guests don’t start to receive any replies.
- Canva is a serious lifesaver in any situation and can be used for basically anything graphic design related, plus it’s free which we absolutely love. It’s pretty intuitive – once you’ve joined, just select the type of design you’d like to create. If you’re posting a message to your guests via social media, we’d recommend using a square format or selecting ‘Instagram Post’ on the homepage after signing up. Once you’ve opened a blank design, you can select from templates on the left-hand side to find what you’re looking for. Pop in your info (we’ve put a guide below), download and send out. We’ve seen a lot of couples utilise the pre-made designs Canva has to create a square tile for their social media to keep their guests up to date on their plans.
- You could use a wedding website and guest management tool (a free example is With Joy) to contact your guests.
Have any other suggestions? We’d love to hear from you and share them. Send us a DM on Instagram or pop them in the comments on the bottom of this article.
If you haven’t made the tricky decision whether to proceed or postpone your wedding, then take a read of our article answering a bunch of frequently answered questions on COVID-19 + weddings here.
OK, here are some templates and assets we hope may be helpful for you.
If you’re postponing your wedding:
Postponing Template – TO SEND TO YOUR VENUE/VENDORS
Hi {VENUE/VENDOR NAME},
I hope this email finds you well, and that you and your loved ones are safe during this difficult time. Due to the current situation surrounding the coronavirus, we’re concerned about proceeding with our wedding and putting our guests and wedding A-team (you guys) at risk. We’re sure this situation has put you under a lot of stress as we know it’s impacting many people right now and our thoughts are with you.
Due to the uncertainty of the next few weeks/months, we wanted to touch base to see what our options are when it comes to rescheduling our wedding with your team.
(IF UNSURE OF FUTURE DATE PREFERENCE:) Is it possible to postpone the date and reschedule once we’ve had an opportunity to speak to some of our guests and vendors?
(IF YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE ON DATES:) We’d very much appreciate if you could please share your availability for the months of X, X and X, 2020/2021.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Kindest,
{NAME + NAME}
Postponing Template – TO SEND TO YOUR GUESTS
To our lovely friends and family,
I hope this email finds you well, and that you and your loved ones are safe during this difficult time. Due to the current situation surrounding the coronavirus, we have been concerned about proceeding with our wedding and putting our loved ones at risk so we’ve decided to postpone our big day.
Not to worry though, once this has all calmed down and life has returned to normal, we’ll be putting on the best wedding yet. We can’t wait to hug you all.
(OPTIONAL IF DON’T HAVE DATE YET:) We’re still to reschedule the wedding and will let you know details once these have been confirmed.
(OPTIONAL IF HAVE DATE:) We’ve rescheduled the date for XX of Month, Year. We hope this date works for you and that you can join us to celebrate safely then.
We hope you and your families are well, and we’re sending lots of love your way. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Lots of love,
{NAME + NAME}
If you’re looking for some clever phrasing or headlines to have on your rescheduling note/invite v2, here are some ideas:
- Wedding so nice we planned it twice
- You can’t hurry love so we’ll just have to wait
- We’re rolling with it [optional for context: pic of toilet roll]
- Love is patient. And so are we
- When life gives you Corona, add lime and hold tight
- Take two
- Second/third/fourth [etc.] time’s a charm
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We’re all in this together. If there’s anything we can do to help you, just hit us up on socials and we’ll be there to assist.
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Join our community of like-minded couples going through this together here in our private, couples-only Facebook group, ‘Wedchat by WedShed’.
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