Weddings shall never be the same again as the effects of the Coronavirus take a toll on social gatherings and celebrations. However, this does not mean couples cannot tie the knot anymore. Love has to go on, but aspiring couples now have to change strategy in line with social distancing restrictions and other safety guidelines.
Here are ten practical social distancing wedding tips to help you make the most of your nuptial celebration post-COVID-19.
- Request all guests to wear facemasks and offer masks to those who did not remember to wear one. If you like, you can create personalized facemasks for all your guests to match your wedding theme.
- Set up hand sanitizer stations and dispensers in strategic points, including the reception to help keep you and your guests safe, and minimize the spread of germs.
- Allow considerable space between chairs and create a socially distanced room for standing guests in line with safety restrictions and guidelines in place.
- Your reception tables should be spaced between each other, and you should consider reducing the number of available chairs per table.
- Avoid shared platters and buffets by changing your catering style and opting for alternate reception drop menus. In addition, consider offering personal boxed snacks for pre-dinner canapés.
- The dance floor should be reserved for the bride and bridegroom. And after the first dance, offer some memorable after-dinner entertainment.
- Some guests may want to be part of the ceremony but don’t feel comfortable attending the wedding in person. In this case, consider live streaming your wedding to allow them to follow proceeding and be a part of the celebration.
- Ask your guests to send virtual messages of love instead of signing a physical guestbook. You can print the virtual messages to create your own guestbook later. This will prevent sharing of pens and minimize touching of surfaces.
- Remember to sanitize all microphones between speakers.
- Most importantly, ask any guest not to attend your wedding if they feel sick, have a cough, cold or they are sneezing. Also, ask your vendors for a backup plan if they are unable to attend due to sickness.
As the world grapples with the effects of COVID-19, you have the option to look at different creative wedding formats to keep you and your guest safe during this period. Some of the most popular formats at this time include micro-weddings, elopements, multi-weddings and shift-weddings.
