Should I postpone my 2020 wedding due to Coronavirus?

Should I postpone my August 2020 wedding?

Should I postpone my September 2020 wedding?

Should I postpone my October 2020 wedding?

When the Coronavirus outbreak began restricting gatherings, we saw many Spring 2020 wedding couples moving their dates into the summer and fall. With current orders to shelter in place affecting 95% of Americans, and no clear end in sight, many questions remain in the hearts and minds of couples planning summer and fall 2020 weddings.  If you’re up in the air about keeping a summer or fall 2020 wedding, we can sympathize. Nothing is certain. We’ve collected the hard questions for you to consider, so you can sit down with your beloved and try to make some decisions.

When will gatherings finally be allowed?

At present, shelter-in-place restrictions are likely to extend through the month of June. If the number of cases hasn’t been declining steadily at that time, it may continue into the summer. Once shelter-in-place is lifted, certain other restrictions may continue, like the limits on the number of people that can gather. So the educated guess on lifting of social distancing, and weddings as we know them, is the end of the 2020 calendar year.

After shelter-in-place orders are lifted, will there be a resurgence of the Coronavirus leading to another shut-down? When could that come?

Short answer: Probably. There is tremendous economic and political pressure to get people back to work, back to restaurants, stores and travel. In the scenario where the country re-opens this summer, most experts are predicting a second wave of infections in the fall.

Can my wedding guests travel to my wedding this year?

If your wedding happens to fall in a month when shelter-in-place orders are lifted AND a second wave of infections hasn’t materialized, your wedding guests may still be leery of travel and/or gathering. Also, consider the financial hardship of your guests, and how many of them work in essential industries like health care, food, law enforcement, utilities, manufacturing etc. They may be unable to attend due to the strain.

Will it be safe for guests to attend my wedding?

As long as cases of Coronavirus are still being reported around the world, and without vaccines or treatments, travel and gathering in groups will pose a risk of infection.

Will my wedding even be fun with all this uncertainty?

This answer is highly personal. On the one hand, many people will be ready to get back to joy and celebration – so what better way to jump back in than a wedding! On the other hand, risk of illness and lingering stress from the economic impacts of the pandemic will be real for many. Can you live with this hanging over your event? One couple on Reddit decided they just couldn’t. Read their story.

Once you’ve decided whether to keep or postpone your 2020 wedding, be sure to inform your wedding guests right away. Some couples are repurposing save the dates by simply crossing out the old date and writing in the new one. Invitations can be similarly altered, becoming a cherished souvenir of unprecedented event in history.

Have your heart set on being legally married this year? Read Can I still get married during the Coronavirus Pandemic?