What do if you need to cancel your wedding?
With the enormous number of weddings cancelled in 2020, it’s no doubt 2021 is going to be a BIG year for the wedding and events industry Australia-wide. The Australian wedding and events industry which grows by almost $3b each year will begin to slowly pick up again, this time with many vendors discovering that their smaller industry competitors have been completely ‘knocked out’. And it’s no surprise.
The largest number of weddings in Australia occur in the summer months starting from around October all the way March and April. The recent pandemic has meant that make February – April weddings have been completely cancelled and most of the weddings for the remainder of 2020 left on the brinks.
Brides, grooms and parents of the couple are now tossing up between losing several deposits, getting partial refunds or re-scheduling a wedding which they have spent the last 12 – 18 months planning and preparing for.
If you are considering cancelling your wedding in 2020, be sure to read the ‘fine print’ in all your contracts and negotiate with your vendors to have it all ‘rescheduled’ as oppose to simply losing thousands of dollars in an emotionally fueled decision.
Many vendors have already lost thousands of dollars due to COVID and little to none of them would have any clause in their contracts pertaining to a ‘global pandemic’ situation. Most businesses are on the verge on breaking down and certainly won’t be quick to give you that refund if they can help it.
Your best option is to consider rescheduling your wedding as not only will you deal be able to you’re your full guestlist attending, but you’re vendor will also be more understanding and more likely to accommodate you when it is actually time for your wedding. Everyone is going through a rough patch right now so remember to be kind.
The effects of COVID-19 are likely to have a long-lasting impression on the entire Australian economy in years to come, this includes your wedding guests who will think twice about RSVPing ‘yes’ to a huge wedding, especially if it’s a destination where virus outbursts have been non-stop.
Think about your location, your venue, your caterers and your guests. What hygienic practices has your venue implemented? How will you ensure the safety and wellbeing of each of your guests? Most venues won’t be having buffet dinners any time soon – think about what’s really important to you about your BIG day. If you can wait, there is surely a greater likelihood that you can pick up where you left off in another 12 – 18 months time. Be considerate of others.
What does a post covid 19 wedding look like?
The wedding landscape has changed permanently for Australians and many soon-to-be-wedded couples across the globe. The $70 billion industry has almost come to a stand-still with weddings across the country limited to 10 – 20 people and thousands of weddings just cancelled.
In Australia, each state government has its own legal regulations in relation to the number of people allowing at a wedding, we recommend you check with your state body to find out the correct number in your state. However, we can confirm in Victoria the current limitation at the time this article was published is 20 people including the celebrant, the wedding couple and any children. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services have also stated that if your wedding is held in a home, the rules for private gatherings still apply which means a maximum of 20 people is allowed – so you better choose wisely!
Keep in mind that if your wedding has a religious ceremony involved, there is still a 20-person restriction on all places of worship in Victoria. If you are considering breaching these restrictions do keep in mind the hefty fines which will be involved not only for you but also for your guests that attend the wedding. It’s better to play it safe. And it is still necessary to apply the one person per four-square metres rule.
Please remember that whilst the people limit for funerals and religious ceremonies will increase to 50 after June 21st, it is still uncertain when this will increase for weddings as weddings have a higher risk of transmission due to the more touchy nature of various cultural wedding ceremonies.
If you are planning of having a 2020 wedding think about how Australian wildlife legend, Bindi Irwin, had hers just prior to the coronavirus restrictions with no guests – just the couple, their celebrant, her brother mother, musicians and the camera crew.
“We’ve planned this beautiful day for nearly a year and had to change everything, as we didn’t have guests at our wedding. This was a very difficult decision but important to keep everyone safe” Bindi said. “We wish all of our friends and family could have been there with us, however it’s lovely that we will be able to share photos and videos,” Bindi shared in a recent media interview.
Luckily due to social media, her guests were able to get the photographs and videos from the wedding very soon after. If you really need to have a wedding in 2020 think about others, put your guests’ safety first – We can all learn a thing or two from Bindi.
Are you attending a post-covid wedding?
If you are showing up at a wedding in 2020, some of the ways you can protect yourself and your family is by:
- Limiting the number of large social events you attend in the next few months
- Avoiding human contact with anyone at any events you attend
- Washing your hands with soap and water regularly
- Not shaking hands with other guests at the wedding
- Maintaining your distance and following the 1.5m rule
- Going in for a check-up early if you are feeling sick or have any COVID symptoms post a big event
- Avoid attending multiple large events back to back as you risk infecting plenty of people
- Trying to stay relatively dry during the events to make sure you don’t follow social distancing practices.
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