Exquisite Guide for Couples during COVID-19

First and foremost hope you all are staying safe and healthy in these unprecedented times. For more than nineteen years, our company has lived by a core value “to take care of our couples and their families." Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by COVID-19 which has shutdown cities and sheltered people indoors. Since the onset of this virus and subsequent lockdown, the desire to remain connected with our couples and their families has intensified.

We understand many of our couples are going through difficult times and feeling vulnerable amidst all the uncertainty. Having to postpone your wedding that most of you have been actively planning with us has caused enormous stress. Because we are a mother/daughter team, the family concept is really important to us. We think of our couples as extended family. A sense of shared purpose and experience, especially in these unprecedented times is central to everything we do. Our first wedding of the year which we had been planning for months with the couple and bride’s family was recently postponed. During the planning period, we became very connected with the bride and her family and the postponement process was difficult and heart wrenching. We were not only planning all the multi day events but the family invited us to be guests at the wedding too. Witnessing our couple’s pain and the challenge that comes with postponing their wedding has been very difficult. Needless to say, we are very much looking forward to celebrating with the couple and their families on the new date.

In order to help navigate these complicated times, we wanted to put together a guide for couples who have had to reschedule their big day.

• Notifying the guests: Once the decision has been made to postpone the wedding, communicate this to the invited guests notifying them of the postponement. This can be done via an email. You do not need to share a new date if you do not have one confirmed yet.

• Rescheduled date: Discuss a few alternate dates for your wedding with your wedding planner.

• Venue Deposits: Have the planner reach out to the venue and check availability for the new dates. Most venues are very compassionate and understanding about moving the date and honoring the deposits.

• Vendor Cancellations/Rescheduling: Have the planner reach out to the vendors and check availability for the new dates. Your planner will let you know the dates on which all the vendors are available.

• Airline Tickets/Guest Rooms: Make sure the room block that was created for the couple gets moved to the new date. As soon as guests are notified of postponement, they will hopefully be able to purchase tickets for the new date without having to incur any penalties.

Exquisite Events is here to guide our couples through these challenging times. We truly find the more we communicate with our couples and their immediate families, the better everyone is going to feel. Keeping lines of communication open at this vulnerable time is of paramount importance. That’s why we check in with our couples regularly in order to make sure everyone is on the same page. We have found that if you continue to remind our brides and grooms that they will still have the beautiful wedding and everyone will be able to partake in the celebration, it brings some solace and comfort to our couples/families.

One thing we have witnessed time and again is that challenging times like these bring out the best in people. I am inspired everyday to see kind gestures, remarks and most importantly how resilient our couples are. Remember, we are all in this together and we will come out of this stronger. “This too shall pass“ and we will still be able to celebrate our couples on their big day.