Covid-19's Impact on Northern Ireland Weddings: Challenges & Adaptations
It has been a crazy few weeks. When news of the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic first broke in China we never could have imagined how quickly this would sweep across the world to the U.K and to ourselves in Northern Ireland. We think everyone including ourselves is still in shock about how this will impact on everyone’s lives going forward.
We have had lots of emails, telephone calls and messages from our couples with concerns about how this will affect their weddings. We have been photographing weddings for several years now and every year there are a few couples who need to postpone their wedding. This can be for various reasons, usually related to important people not being able to be there due to illness or happier news because they have fallen pregnant. We always treat this with the compassion it deserves as we understand being a married couple ourselves how stressful this can be for the couple.
There is so much good wedding planning advice around these days that most couples are well prepared for any eventuality when it comes to their wedding, but no one could have prepared for the impact that Coronavirus Covid-19 is having.
OUR NEW NORMAL - LIVING WITH CORONAVIRUS COVID-19
While of course it is completely understandable that couples have concerns about their wedding plans it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the very real concerns about the impact that the virus will have to our loved ones and on everyday life for all of us.
While the experts are telling us that Coronavirus Covid-19 will be deadly to the most vulnerable people in our society and that the majority of younger healthier people should suffer no long-term health concerns, there can’t be many people that don’t have parents, grandparents or other family and friends that will fall into the vulnerable category. Having lost a dad, grandparents and friends ourselves in recent years, we know just how devastating this can be. This is an issue that affects everyone regardless if you are at risk of serious health issues or not.
CONCERNS ABOUT WEDDING DATES DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS VIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC
This virus will affect your wedding date if you have planned to get married in the next few months, several of our couples have already changed their plans. We would advise every couple as soon as possible to contact your wedding venue and discuss postponing your date. Most venues are doing everything possible to help their couples deal with this issue but don’t delay. As more and more couples contact them to postpone, availability is going to become more of an issue.
Once your venue has confirmed dates that you can switch too with, get in touch with the rest of your suppliers as soon as possible to check their availability and also to check with them if any additional costs will apply if you change dates.
It is very likely that availability is going to be difficult, both with your venue and the rest of your wedding vendors so consider having your wedding on a weekday instead, most vendors will have better availability if you are able to avoid Friday’s and Saturday’s.
CONCERNS ABOUT BEING ABLE TO GO ON HONEYMOON AFTER YOUR WEDDING
We know that after your wedding, the honeymoon is going to be of huge concerns to most couples. Realistically until Coronavirus Ciorvid-19 is under control it isn’t sensible to travel due to not only concerns about the virus itself but also concerns around being quarantined when you return. Having just cancelled a planned holiday ourselves we would advise getting in touch with the company you booked your honeymoon with as soon as possible and consider moving the date to much later in the year. If you need to do a complete cancellation most travel companies will offer at least a partial refund depending on when you cancel this can be up to 90% of the full value. The longer you leave it to make any changes the less likely it will be that they change your date and if cancelling the more money, you will lose.
KEEP IN CONTACT WITH YOUR GUESTS
We now live in a changed world and nobody is unaware of the issues caused by Coronavirus Covid-19 and all of your invited guests will absolutely support your decision to postpone if you need too. It is much better to keep them informed though, especially if they need to change travel plans or booked accommodation of their own for your wedding. It is likely that your guest will have concerns of their own, they may be at risk themselves or have concerns around possibly catching and passing the virus to their own loved ones.
THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 ON NORTHERN IRELAND WEDDING VENDORS
The vast majority of wedding vendors in Northern Ireland are very small businesses, nobody out there is doing this sort of work because they think they can become a millionaire. The vast majority of wedding vendors do the job they do, simply because they absolutely love it. Very few if any of the wedding vendors in Northern Ireland will have any insurance that can protect them from lost earnings, many venues however will. Very few if any of your wedding vendors will have cash flow to fall back on to enable them to deal with postponements. While of course you will have concerns around your wedding plans, please try to be as considerate as possible when contacting your vendors and provide them with as much notice as possible if you are changing your date.
Many wedding vendors businesses will not survive this crisis. When you book a wedding vendor you are not booking with a large corporation you are booking in most cases an individual who has spent years building up a business which they have poured their heart and soul into and the future is looking very uncertain for all of them. The money you pay them goes directly to them supporting their families and putting food on the table. Everyone from your florist, your wedding cake designer, the company that designs your wedding invitations, the company you have ordered your wedding favours from, your wedding D.J or band, your videographer, your photographer and everything else in between will be affected.
DO YOU HAVE WEDDING INSURANCE?
Wedding insurance is surprisingly often overlooked by couples when planning their wedding. If you have insurance, now is the time to contact your insurance company and clarify if it will cover you if your wedding plans need to be changed due to the Coronavirus Corvis-19 pandemic.
WEDDINGS TAKING PLACE DURING THE PANDEMIC
Some couples who are getting married in the next few weeks have made the decision to proceed as planned although due to the recent lockdown of most wedding venues this will impact on their original plans for the day. We have listed a few tips below to help you if that is the decision you have made:
Cut down your guest list, everyone will completely understand, nobody is unaware that social distancing is an important part of trying to keep Coronavirus Corvid-19 at bay.
Consider postponing the reception part of your wedding day.
Discuss the issue with any of your older guests and those who have underlying health issues, all of them will support you even if it means that they can’t attend your wedding as originally planned.
Follow the advice given around regular hand washing etc, perhaps you can supply hand sanitiser, your venue may supply this too.
Consider having an outdoor wedding ceremony to make social distancing easier.
*UPDATE* - DUE TO STRICT NEW MEASURES INTRODUCED BY THE U.K GOVERNMENT ON THE 23RD OF MARCH 2020 THIS IS NO LONGER AN OPTION. NO WEDDING CEREMONIES CAN TAKE PLACE UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT MAKES A DECISION THAT THE CURRENT SAFETY MEASURES CAN BE REDUCED.
*NEW UPDATE 29/05/20* - THE CURRENT BAN ON WEDDINGS HAS NOW BEEN LIFTED TO ALLOW COUPLES TO HAVE AN OUTDOOR CEREMONY WITH UP TO 10 PEOPLE ATTENDING FROM THE 8TH OF JUNE.
*NEW UPDATE 29/06/20* - THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ALLOWED HAS NOW BEEN INCREASED FROM 10 TOO 30.
*NEW UPDATE 06/07/20* - NEW GUIDANCE HAS NOW BEEN ISSUED BY THE NORTHERN IRELAND GOVERNMENT. WEDDINGS CAN AGAIN TAKE PLACE INDOORS FROM THE 10TH OF JULY WITH NUMBERS AND POST CEREMONY CELEBRATIONS TO BE BASED AROUND A RISK ASSESSMENT FROM EACH WEDDING VENUE.
HOW CORNAVIRUS COVID-19 AFFECTS COUPLES WHO HAVE BOOKED WITH US
We absolutely will support our couples as best as we possibly can. If any of our couples need to postpone their 2020 wedding to later in 2020 or 2021 due to the U.K government lockdown, we will move them to a new available date with no additional cost at all to them.
If our couples need recommendations for other wedding vendors because the change of date means that they are no longer available we have a wide network of friends in the industry that we can recommend as alternatives.
We have also cancelled all of our own holiday plans for both this summer and later in the year so that we can free up more availability for couples who wish to change dates.
PROUD OF OUR COMMUNITY
While saying you are proud of where you are from can often be misconstrued or frowned upon, we have been absolutely impressed by how people are dealing with this crisis. While the media will have you believe that society is falling apart around us and that everyone is out for themselves and that society as a whole is too busy being concerned about themselves and buying as much toilet roll as possible, if you ignore the sensationalist news and posts on social media there are many stories out there about people helping other people. From the taxi drivers providing free transport to the elderly so they can get to the shops, to the people staying in touch by phone, social media etc. with their elderly neighbours or people infected by the virus to let them know that they are not on their own, there is a lot to be proud of. Even within the wedding photography community we are all supporting each other as best as we can.
While we are facing the biggest crisis of our generation, we feel that nowhere else considering our history is as well suited to dealing with adversity as we are. There are a thousand of examples of people around us coming together and supporting each other and long may that continue. We are proud of each and every one of you.
If you are in the middle of planning your wedding you might also find these articles helpful.
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MODERN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER NORTHERN IRELAND
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHS?
BENEFITS OF A FIRST LOOK ON THE WEDDING DAY
FAMILY & BRIDAL PARTY GROUP PHOTOS AT WEDDINGS
WHY WE DON’T PHOTOGRAPH THE GROOM GETTING READY
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY RESTRICTIONS DURING THE CEREMONY
TIPS FOR A STRESS FREE WEDDING DAY
WEDDING INSURANCE, DO YOU NEED IT?
HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER