How To Reschedule Your COVID Affected Wedding

It feels a bit surreal to be sitting here 16 months into a pandemic and writing about how to reschedule a wedding. Alas, we’re all well under way for lockdown V2.0 in Sydney, so a timely post about our top tips for rescheduling seems appropriate!

If you’re reading this, then chances are your wedding has been, or may need to be rescheduled. We’ve been helping couples reschedule their weddings since March 2020, and I tell you, it still breaks out hearts. Some couples have had to reschedule multiple times now, and it just doesn’t get any easier.

So from the bottom of our hearts, we are so sorry that this pandemic has affected your wedding day. We want you to know that we are here for you, we are with you, and we firmly believe that when your wedding day comes, it is going to be that much sweeter because of the hardship you’ve had to go through to get there.

Since those early 2020 reschedules till now, we’ve also learned A LOT about how to successfully navigate a wedding reschedule with the least confusion, stress, and hassle. 

Make the decision early and be decisive

Rescheduling is a tough decision, but we’ve found couples who do it with a realistic schedule in mind really reduce their stress levels going forward. We’re currently in week three of a lockdown which doesn’t yet have an end in sight. If you opt to postpone your wedding just a few weeks, you may end up having to postpone a second time, or even a third. Holding out hope week to week is a really tough thing to live with, especially when its something that is meant to be so joyful! 

We recommend rescheduling in months, not weeks. It will give you time to let things settle down not just on the COVID front, but also emotionally.

Always check with your vendors before locking in a new date

This is a big one. The first vendor you should be talking to about dates first is your venue (reception AND ceremony). They will provide you with a list of available dates to reschedule to. When they provide those dates, resist the urge to lock one in on the spot. 

A stress saving tool for rescheduling multiple vendors

We have made a special spreadsheet to send available dates out to your vendors to confirm availability quickly, easily, and without a million emails back and forth.

Take the dates your venues gave you, add them to our nifty spreadsheet, upload to Google Docs, and send it out to your vendors. You’ll be able to see, in real time, your other vendors add their availability for the dates provided by the venue. 

You’ll find that many vendors have a lot more leeway when it comes to rescheduling, and the key part of that is their availability. If you need to cancel a vendor because they’re not available, it’s possible you may lose your deposit with them. No one wants that to happen. Not you, and certainly not the vendor. 

Be open to alternate weekdays

Everyone wants to get married on a Saturday. There is a reason.. Saturdays are not only work friendly, but also hangover friendly! When you need to reschedule your wedding, holding out for a Saturday may give you very limited dates and seasons to book. We’ve had lots of couples reschedule their weddings for alternate days, with Friday and Sunday being the most popular. If you include these days as options with your venue, you’ll notice that you have A LOT more choice. We understand this isn’t possible for all couples, but definitely do consider it if you can.

Above all, just know that everyone at Russell Stafford Photography and The Pepper June Wedding Co. are here for you during this tough time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any other advice, guidance, or just to have a chat about the situation in general. We will do everything in our power to help make your wedding the amazing celebration that we know it will be, and can’t wait to party down with you all on the dancefloor soon!