Hand sanitizer at weddings

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/26529085283831120/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/26529085283831120/

here are a few ideas from Pinterest!

You can take cute dispensers like glass or ceramic dispensers with pumps and just pour it in there

The New York City hospitals are out of hand sanitizer already. I’d say the cutest thing to do with your hand sanitizer is to donate it to the healthcare workers in your community, not to use it as party favors.

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Hospitals have an abundance of sinks with soap and water, and thorough hand washing is far more effective than using hand sanitizer. Many outdoor venues have limited bathroom facilities and access to running water and hand washing stations for guests. I have been to a number of outdoor weddings with just porta potties, and most local venues in my area don't even have group bathrooms with lines of sinks, just a couple of individual rooms. I hope that anytime people have access to soap and water they are washing their hands and not using up hand sanitizer, which should really be reserved for when soap and water are not available.

I imagine there are many couples who live no where near NYC and are making decisions about whether or not to hold their weddings on the date they originally planned (perhaps you haven't been reading these forums, but many are continuing to have weddings and larger gatherings despite current guidelines). Hopefully anyone considering a wedding within the 2020 wedding season is actively exploring ways in which they can still gather their loved ones to celebrate while keeping people safe and the risk of transmission low.

I love this idea! Even if you can't find mini hand sanitizers online, you can find a recipe for a DIY version. Make a big batch of it, and pour it into a bunch of those little travel/airport liquid sized bottles. You can decorate them any way you want!
Examples:
*ribbons in your wedding colors*stickers with your names and wedding date (these are disposable, so people won't hate that)
*stickers that say, "we love you, please use this so you don't die," or something nicer

View Quoted Comment I have been reading these forums. I have also been reading the news. Large gatherings are not safe, and any gathering over 10 people within an 8 week period should be postponed. Attempting to mitigate risk by suggesting people dispense hand sanitizer in cute ceramic bottles you saw on Pinterest is irresponsible.

I absolutely agree that soap and water is preferable, but having ready access to hand sanitizer in hospitals has been shown to increase adherence to hand sanitation protocols. Suggesting that hand sanitizer should be preferentially allocated to large social gatherings held at spaces with no running water rather than to hospitals is absurd.

New York is affected right now, but it isn’t the only community that will be affected. In the city where I live, there are multiple critically ill patients under 50.

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This is likely to go on for far longer than the next 8 weeks. Transmission may slow, but until there is adequate herd immunity, a vaccine in developed, or every single person on the planet goes into quarantine in their homes for the next month and doesn't come out allowing whoever is infected to either recover or die (preventing the virus from spreading), this virus will continue to find new hosts and pass from person to person. Perhaps at a slower rate, but it will be there.

Many people with weddings in the near future are pushing weddings back to later in the summer. I do hope that things will be more under control in the coming months, but good hygiene practices and extra precautions to keep guests safe will still be relevant in July or August. By no means do I think people should treat accessible hand sanitizer as an excuse to hold large group events when they are ill advised by infectious disease specialists, and I am not suggesting that having hand sanitizer at your wedding suddenly fixes things. As this virus persists (because it will) there will be a point where people slowly move back towards normal and during that transition I hope people continue to take precautions and don't just expect life to go on as it did before, as if we suddenly flip a switch in 8 weeks and all of this is over. Additionally, I hope that anyone who is continuing to host events, even if they choose to have a small intimate wedding with only immediate family, is still using good sense and taking precautions where they can. Hand sanitizer works just as well when used by an officiant and a couple and their parents as it does at a wedding of a hundred people or more.

View Quoted Comment 100% this.


Plus I would imagine this would be way more expensive than it needs to be due to the extreme shortage.

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The CDC is currently recommending that all group gatherings take proper precautions, and where running water and soap is unavailable, advises the use of hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content. Knowing that many outdoor wedding venues (where guests can be more easily spread out, as recommended) have limited sinks, having hand sanitizer available would actually be the responsible thing to do. This could be presented as having it available at each table, having stations in different locations at the venue, or by giving individual travel size dispensers to guests.

Many couples are making tough decisions during this time, and the purpose of this thread it to give couples options for making their events safer for guests NOT to tell couples what they should or should be doing, as every situation is different. I really wish people would read the whole post and not just nitpick parts they feel like critiquing. Telling people they should donate their hand sanitizer to a local hospital that may not be experiencing a shortage (our local hospital needs masks and gloves, not hand sanitizer) is not going to help couples planning weddings this summer or fall or possibly even next year who are very much going to be balancing the health and economic concerns of their guests and communities.

Also the price of hand sanitizer is SUPER jacked up right now, but if Trump's "state of war" declarations enable the US to produce more necessary medical supplies and products hopefully there will be sufficient supply by the time some of these larger events start happening again.

View Quoted Comment Whatever you need to tell yourself 🤷🏼‍♀️


Best of luck. I really hope this doesnt turn into a tragedy for you and your guests. I couldn't imagine having that on my head. I know you mentioned reconsidering, I truly, TRULY hope you do.

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This post literally has nothing to do with me or my wedding. It is about aesthetically pleasing ways to include hand sanitizer at events. Believe it or not, people have included hand sanitizer at weddings before Covid-19 and will after.

Additionally, there are currently no guidelines from WHO, the CDC, or our state or local governments about our wedding date, which is three weeks beyond any current restrictions or recommendations that have been made thus far. Should any of the existing guidelines be extended we would absolutely consider them, but we feel it is premature to make a decision at this time. We are not ignoring expert advice, just waiting until closer to our wedding before making any changes, as we expect the situation will continue to evolve and prefer not to make changes now that will only need to be changed again later. To us it makes little sense to come up with a Plan B now only to have to come up with a Plan C in another month.