2021 Brides - Has anyone considered altering plans/limiting guests this far out?

My wedding is March 2021 and I have continued planning as if everything will happen. If I have to postpone or cancel closer when the time comes, then I will deal with it then. But I’d rather continue to plan now than to stress and possibly rush things next year as the date approaches

Definitely keep planning for your current date, though I recommend holding off on putting the date on anything until time gets closer. Before you book your vendors, first check to make sure your vendors would let you postpone without penalty if COVID forces you to postpone. A lot can change in a year, hopefully the COVID situation is a lot better by next spring.

I hear you! I am definitely having second thoughts on our wedding size especially because our venue is indoors. I am also planning for a backup plan. We are optimistic that things will be better by next year for our July 2021 wedding but realistically we also know that this is a day by day thing. That's why we are leaning more towards planning our "plan B" ceremony. We made the decision that we will still get married on our wedding date of July 9th 2021.

My friend is getting married next June and planning for a best case scenario. She’s opting not to send save the dates though so she’ll be able to cut the guest list with no hard feelings closer to the date if necessary.

Our wedding is June 5, 2021! I felt exactly how you are feeling a few months ago... people kept saying how being in lock-down must make it so nice to have time to plan, but everything felt too uncertain to plan for, and also too sad to be excited about something happy. Having said that, we've been planning a lot more lately. We're hoping that, worse case scenario, some people won't feel comfortable coming or some people will wear masks. I think if you don't feel comfortable planning now, and things do end up being okay, you will still have time to pull off the wedding you want without having begun now.

Mine is late January 2021 and I'm planning as usual. I think we'll end up with a lot of mandatory mask orders by then (hopefully) and things can start to settle down.

I have been checking with vendors about their cancellation/postponement policies regarding another COVID outbreak before booking with them.

Hey, I’m also getting married June 4, 2021(date twins)! At the moment FH and I are planning as usual. All vendors are booked except officiant but we have created alternate versions of the guest list.we have one with the 50 persons we would invite if we are still in phase 4 with the 50 person limit then we have one with 60 guests which is the venue minimum and then we have one with 80 which is the entire guests list and the last 20 are those that live out of state. We did it this way because of the travel bans from certain states. We do need to create one with 25 guests and possibly 10 guests just in case things get bad again fingers crossed they won’t and will only improve. We also have an all inclusive venue and our next two payments aren’t until next March and May so we have plenty of time to make adjustments to the bill if restrictions persist and we discussed this with the venue. But all in all we are keeping the date no matter the guest list as long as both of our immediate family members are with us that’s all that truly matters to us and we just want to start our lives as a married couple and leave the Covid wedding planning stress alone.


I would suggest discussing your concerns with your venue in terms of guest count and having the bill readjusted to fit a smaller wedding if Covid restrictions and limitations continue, make sure to get it in writing. Maybe that will give you and your FH some peace of mind to know you won’t be wasting money if you can’t have the head count you intended on. I do hope things work out for us all though.

Our wedding is August 2021 and we’re still planning. I do have concerns about things not being able to go as planned, but we’ve already talked to our venue about it so we know what our options are. We’re willing to cut our guest list from 150 to 100 if required, but if we have to cut more than that we may reschedule for 2022. Our venue said we can reschedule anytime without additional charges. I still need to discuss this with our other vendors though. But we are staying hopeful and won’t make any decisions until probably spring of next year. In the meantime, we’re moving forward with everything, payments to vendors and all, because we still want everything to be paid off.

Just, fair warning. We postponed from April 2020 to August 2020, and a lot of our vendors are being impossible about us moving the date again. It may very well be the case that a large group of 200 people shouldn't gather for a year or more. So weigh those options. Things may very well clear up by 2021, but who knows? Just please don't be like us and put in a lot of money to vendors that won't let you move it if you do feel uncomfortable. It might be a time of smaller weddings - 50-100 - and careful guidelines.

View Quoted Comment

I totally understand this! Which is why I'm also so conflicted, I don't know what direction to take. And this was us the last couple months, wanting to secure as many vendors as possible. We booked the venue back in January, and had already started researching photo/video in February. We currently have venue (which does all the food, bar, cake, ceremony, etc.), DJ, photographer/videographer, and harpist. We had started to look into a decorate company but have since paused to just see how things ride out in the coming months.

View Quoted Comment

This is what we've been doing. We are still planning on the date and the venue (Plan A) and we have secured all the main vendors (some that will give refunds, some that probably won't, but were willing to postpone if needed without extra fees). We truly just don't want to plan a large gathering with the thought in the back of our mind that we could postpone. We feel we are at a spot now where we can pause at least for a couple months and weigh the current climate in the U.S. before making any further payments. I definitely agree a lot can change in a year - I think I really had this mentality back in March and April but now that we are in July (less than a year out), I've been struggling. But we are taking it month by month! Thanks

View Quoted Comment I think that you have more than enough booked right now to relax for the next few months. We are the same and booked all of our vendors, I have my dress and my bridesmaids have theirs. My fiancé is going to look for him suit next weekend and then I think I will also relax for a little.

View Quoted Comment

I feel like a backup plan is just nice to have in our minds in case things don't look up by next year! We still plan on June 4, 2021 and we will definitely have to have a decision probably by January before payments are due, but we could also quickly pull together a beautiful backyard wedding in that time. Things can very well be in a different spot though, but I also think COVID has put new things into perspective for me... financially and the people we really want to be there. I think also seeing some of these smaller 2020 weddings happen in place of original large celebrations has made me think... maybe that IS what I want. COVID has really made us think in different ways. Either way, you have a beautiful wedding!

View Quoted Comment

Yay! That is so exciting! I am going dress shopping at the end of this month, and I'm hoping that will put me back into the wedding spirit. My mom asked that if I was thinking about a Plan B if I was still going to go wedding dress shopping in a few weeks, and I said OF COURSE! Whatever the day ends up looking like, I still need that dress! Good luck suit shopping!

View Quoted Comment

That's exactly why we are thinking about the Plan B, but don't want to make any decisions... yet. We are thinking somewhere between October and January, if things are still not looking up, we may choose to go the smaller route like a backyard wedding. We don't have to send STDs until December and payments aren't due until February, so we have time to make the decision but unfortunately, a lot of the 2020 scenarios have opened my eyes and made me worried spending a ton of money toward a day that just may not happen or a day that we have to keep kicking down the line, when we just went to move on and be married. If we did a backyard wedding, it would be 40-50 people, we also could do a barn option locally with anywhere from 50-70. We have our options, I've just always been so Type A, I like to know what the wedding will look like. Hoping your August 2020 wedding works out - I'm sure it will be a beautiful day!

Our wedding is October 2021, and our guest list is just shy of 100. We are proceeding as normal but talking with each vendor about how things will be handled in the event of postponing or cancelling due to Covid. We also ensure that there is wording for this in our contracts so we cannot be surprised should anything need to change. I'm actually trying to book everything ASAP because so many vendors are filling up for next year due to so many 2020 weddings being postponed. I want my favorites booked before someone else gets to them.

View Quoted Comment We're already married, but it looks like we're going to have a more official elopement. 😎 And hopefully we won't be out TOO much money. I know it's hard on vendors, but it's hard on us too. The emotional toll alone of a huge wedding we've had to postpone twice is just...phew. We're still going to be out thousands and possibly on the hook for catering that no one will even eat because we're going to safely have five people. Just plan smartly like I'm sure you are! I still kick past me who was like "why would we need wedding insurance- that's only for if we split up." And for pandemics obviously. If I had to go back I would plan for smaller and on our dating anniversary in February, which would've gone on as planned and been done with. Who knows when people will be able to relax again? Good luck with planning - enjoy it and try to savor some of the fun parts.

View Quoted Comment Yes it’ll definitely keep you in the spirit. Good luck finding your dream dress, once you find it you’ll immediately know . & thank you!

We postponed from this July to next May. Everything is planned for the most part and it is just basically all being moved to a new day. We haven't made any changes yet but I imagine over the next several months we will see what works and what doesn't with weddings and will change accordingly. Our wedding wasn't huge to begin with, maybe 100 people at the very most and even that is optimistic... but I can see that as being too big going forward. I'm just choosing to think about it closer to the new wedding date. I was so anxious and stressed out before making the decision to postpone for July so I just need a breather, haha. Good luck!

We just postponed our Sept wedding which people thought would happen to next spring and now there is no telling if next year will be any better. Praying there will be a vaccine. All my vendors thankfully moved but if you haven’t booked or put some money down I would make sure your concerns are in the contract to protect yourself and talk with vendors to see what their postponement/cancellation policies are which is sad it has come to this. Good luck!