August Weddings, are you requiring people to wear masks to your reception?

Our wedding is scheduled for August 22nd and will be an outdoor ceremony with an indoor/outdoor reception. I felt the same way at first but now I don’t care so much about the masks. I just want everyone to be safe. I know I will have good pictures with my fiancé and family without masks which are the ones I really care about! I don’t think it will be possible to erase the COVID memories even without the masks! Good luck! This has been so hard!

I am not requiring anyone to wear masks but they can if they would like. August 15th is our day. I’ve just come to terms with we get to look back and say we got married during a global pandemic. At the end of the day, this about you and your husband getting married. Nothing else. I’m sure you will have tons of pictures without everyone wearing masks.

I think whether or not you make it mandatory should be based on the cases in your area. In my area I would make it optional, but in some other states I wouldn't risk it.

I’m not going to require it for our ceremony if we can have it outdoors. It’s going to be a small wedding so we’re going to try to come up with a plan to distance chairs for specific family units 6’ apart. This may be challenging and we may have to do assigned seating for the ceremony but at least people can feel safe and be comfortable. If they want to wear masks they’re more than welcome to and we will be providing them with masks.

However with the state of PA just passing a mask mandate requiring masks, they may be mandatory for the reception, etc, and we plan on wearing ours to the reception, which will be indoors.

We are putting up signs to encourage masks unless eating or drinking (it is our state law and we don’t want to cause an out break and be the leading story on CNN) but we aren’t going to be the mask police either. Venue has said the same.

We are not requiring it, but if people want to I am not going to stop them. We did cut our guest list down to just immediate family and our wedding party, so out numbers will be under 40 people including me and my FH.

I personally would not feel comfortable at a large wedding right now, even if they did require mask.

We are attending a wedding in August and have been told by the bride that masks are optional. Now they are in PA and this was before the mandate that we asked, but I get the impression they are not having it at a "wedding venue" so I am thinking it is still true. I would not attend a social event where I had to wear a mask, especially one we had to travel to like this one.

I'm like you, I don't want people wearing masks at my wedding (I want to see their smiles, and not really have the photos remind me of this awful year) so we are postponing our October wedding to April. Might not be enough time, but we'll see.

View Quoted Comment That’s exactly what my mom told me, we will still have plenty of pictures of people not wearing masks and the photographer might just have to get creative. My wedding is August 22 and I am not going to require people to wear masks, but if they show up with one then that’s totally fine to. My ceremony is outdoors and my venue is indoor/outdoor (huge wrap around covered porch that we will be putting tables/chairs so if people don’t feel comfortable inside they can sit outside)

You should require masks.
It's not selfish to want something you've been planning for months/years and possibly imagining for even longer than that to turn out the way it looks in your head. You didn't cause the pandemic and no one dreams about having a wedding where people have to cover their faces and avoid getting near each other. But in the future, when you look at your wedding pictures, you'll feel a lot better about people wearing masks than you would about realizing your wedding was the last time you saw someone you didn't require masks and they got coronavirus and died.
I made masks for all of our guests so at least everyone will match.

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Great post. I think it comes down to your location.

Love Susie x

It Should Be Optional I Think.

Honestly even if you didn’t require them, some people might wear them anyway.

Yes.


And since it's a small ceremony (just parents and siblings = 7 guests total) I bought everyone masks that match their outfits. If we have to wear masks, they'll at least be stylish! And my seamstress even surprised me with a mask to match my dress!
There will be opportunities to take pictures without a mask. Instead of focusing on things you can't change, focus your energy on the positives, especially starting your life together with your spouse. There will be so many good moments at your wedding and reception that will outweigh a few mask pictures. ❤

I was the same way at first. I said I do not want to look back on pictures and have everyone in masks, but then I had my first dress fitting and it changed everything for me. I just want to have this wedding already! We’ve been engaged for over two years and I’m tired of waiting.
I agree with what most others are saying, if people feel more comfortable wearing masks then they can. And when I look back on pictures it’ll just be a reminder that the pandemic didn’t stop our plans.
Planning a wedding during all this has been extremely stressful and taken a lot of the joy out of the planning process for me. So I’m kind if ready to just be done with it (even though I know that might sound horrible to say).

View Quoted Comment I feel the frustration! Our wedding is in PA and with this new mask mandate order is screwing everything up. This is absolutely no way I am going to tell my guests they have to wear masks. It can't even be enforced

View Quoted Comment I happen to agree with the mask mandate and we are planning to stick to the guidelines and protocol. From what I understand if you can physically distance 6’ it’s not required which is why we’re not requiring them for the ceremony but guests are more than welcome to wear them. This is why we’re providing masks.
The last thing I want is for people to get sick or die from being at my wedding.

We are asking guests to wear masks during the ceremony (which is brief and outdoors) and any time they get up from their assigned table. Is it ideal? No, but this is the new norm whether you have your wedding in 2020 and 2021. Until there is a vaccine/cure this is not going away and we need to learn to live with it responsibly.

I’m encouraging people to do whatever they need to do to be comfortable but advising everyone that masks are not required out of doors where the ceremony is or while people are eating therefore there will be people without masks at the wedding. I don’t want to require it of anyone honestly because I don’t know their circumstances. I do think people can make the best judgements they can for themselves. I am also offering colored bracelets for people to wear... I’ll see if I can attach a photo to this post as an example.

To be blunt, I wouldn't attend a wedding if I knew masks would be discouraged.

I'm high-risk, I lived through a hotspot, and we know masks are the best way to prevent the spread.

You could give out wedding themed masks as a favor!

We all know what happened in 2020. Even if you didn't have masks in your photos, you'd know.

View Quoted Comment I know I’d still know regardless, but the thought of looking back on my wedding pictures and not even being able to see people’s faces because they’re all wearing masks makes me sad. But you’re right, I wouldn’t want to put anyone at risk for contracting anything. Our venue is out in the middle of no wear in a barn that’s completely open to the outside which helps but I also don’t know how seriously any of our guests have been social distancing which is a huge concern.