Planning Nightmare Due to Covid

I threw the towel in and I'm deciding to marry outside with only three guests.

You're getting married in October and who knows what will happen by then, keep planning as is until you get closer. I say this because anything can happen & I wouldn't keep pushing things off because you're too worried about what may or may not happen in the next 10 months. If it comes down to it, elope & then plan for the party at a later date.

View Quoted Comment Governor has said 6 more months assuming there’s a vaccine that myself not my fiancé will take and are considering repeated rapid tests to get a positive result to avoid any possible requirements. The health commissioner has already said masks and social distancing will be in place for at least a year. Masks are a deal breaker any contract I sign would have to say masks will not be required. I know this site and may others are advertising weddings with masks. If We have to wear masks there won’t be a wedding.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. The pandemic isn’t going anywhere and if you’re going to let a mask keep your love from joining and celebrating a magical moment, then time for you to cancel. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Planning October 2021 wedding as well! We’re in PA, wedding in FL... and we’re not wearing masks🙄 family coming from Europe (if no travel restrictions..) I hope we all be back to normal by then...🤦‍♀️🤞

You are 11 months out, it is entirely too early to know what the world will look like then.

Masks are vital to keeping us all safe, so if you want something without masks, your only option is to wait it out.

There are quite a few couples on here who have had lovely masked events, you can see them in the "Married Life" forum.

So much for “classic and timeless” huh people?! Masks will TOTALLY date these weddings... i am with the original poster i dont want masks in MY wedding photos either let alone me and groom wearing them during ceremony 🤪 there is no real evidence they are being used correctly/effectively... i know people who were wearing masks and got sick anyway.. people are certainly not wearing gloves effectively either..

We got married at Once upon a time gardens in clayton NJ. Look on their facebook and website. They are in south jersey. We got married in May and had 7 guests outside along with our officiant in an outdoor garden ceremony for $250. Nobody wore a mask. We had a reception at our apartment. The outdoor garden you can have up to 50 people, cut cake & have a first dance for about $600. Good luck to you! Maybe even having a friend officiate in a park and you do a mini reception at a gazebo or something.

I’m getting married in May and I do not plan on wearing a mask. My venue has not said anything about us having to wear a mask either . I would just plan as normal. Things can change .

I honestly see masks in public and indoors being a required thing well into 2022/2023. If you go to Mexico and the Caribbean the resorts are significantly less strict about the mask usage, they are still recommended in small indoor spaces but not outdoors. We were in Cancun in August and my parents were just there last week and the precautions were pretty much the same at both resorts. I hope you can find a solution for your wedding! A Caribbean is beautiful wedding location for sure but also be prepared for people not wanting to travel for your wedding due to Covid either. It's just kind of a horrible situation all around.

Getting married somewhere that isn't NJ is probably your best bet. But I'd wait it out a bit. I have another suggestion I'll PM you.

I'm with PP, I don't want masks at my wedding either. People can wear them if they want, but it'd be a cold day in hell before I did.

View Quoted Comment I 100% am with you on that. I wear my mask when I have to, I don't have a problem with that but the biggest part of canceling my wedding in May were of course the restrictions, 25 people from 175 and the fact no dance floor no dancing no socializing at a bar no appetizers being passed around, No live music etc etc etc. I will not spend all that money I have waited too long but the wedding I deserve, so I will just keep on postponing if I have to. I just don't want the reminder of a wedding with masks! Sorry if that sounds bad but that's how I feel.

Honestly I was just like you in August. I was saying how I'm not wearing a mask no matter what and my guest won't be forced to wear one. But now I'm singing a different tune. Why because in upstate new york our governor is only allowing 10 people at private gatherings. Now I'm like I don't care about having to wear a mask as long as I can have at least all my family there. You shouldn't let a little thing like a mask get in the way of your wedding. I'm sorry to say but the mask rules aren't going anywhere for a long time.

If you don't want people wearing masks, don't get married during a pandemic. Change the date or elope.

Haha NJ Bridezilla grabbed my attention. I grew up in New Jersey (hate it there and got out, thank goodness), and it seems like it could easily be a Bridezilla capital.

I personally would not want to risk the health and safety of anyone to have a party. A 62 person wedding in Maine was linked to 170 Covid cases and 8 Covid deaths. Who wants that to be the legacy of their wedding day?

I do understand wanting a "normal" wedding event though, one where people can dance and hug and interact freely without masks. We did a super small elopement with just 8 guests this May, just our vows, some cake and champagne, and a first dance, all outdoors and socially distant, and then postponed our bigger party until post-Covid (so who really knows when). I'll be honest - it's not what we wanted at all and was disappointing and stressful in a lot of ways, but there was no "winning" - it was the best we could do in a really bad situation. I'm still glad we got married in spite of it all though.

If you want to have a smaller event without restrictions like those that would be placed on businesses, I'd consider renting an AirBnB and hosting your own event. You could have catering brought to the house and self-serve, or hire a food truck or something for meals, as any catering service would likely be bound to whatever business regulations exist on the federal, local, and state levels. I would caution against just doing a free-for-all party though with no precautions, guests from all over, and a "this pandemic isn't real" or "we are invincible" attitude - in many areas, most cases of Covid are now being linked to community transmission from private, personal gatherings, not businesses or public events where masking requirements and other precautions are in place.

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Yeah, I recently postponed my wedding to June 26th, 2021, and have decided to get married outside with no more than 30 guests. I'm hoping restrictions are not as tight as the summer rolls out. Praying for everyone who is planning on getting married in the midst of all this COVID uncertainty!

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Yeah, I'm getting married in June 2021 and my venue told us that wearing masks is up to us. The staff will all be wearing a mask but for guests and what not we can enforce it or not.

View Quoted Comment Thank you a lot for your prayers.

View Quoted Comment I agree with you. Nobody wants to have a wedding with all these restrictions and rules and with them constantly changing. But if you want to get married sooner rather than later, you have to follow the guidelines in your state not just because most businesses will be enforcing them, but because you should want to make sure your family and friends aren't going to get sick and possibly die or infected someone who will die from the virus all because you refused to follow guidelines that are put in place to protect you and your family. It's one day, yes it's an expensive special day for all the people who are getting married but again it is still one day. One day that could change your family, yours or friends life in a tragic way. Deaths that didn't need to happen if people followed guidelines and took precautions.


It sucks I'm with you on that. A covid wedding with all these restrictions is definitely not what I wanted for my wedding. But at the end of the day I am going to follow the guidelines because I don't want the people I love getting sick, I don't want my wedding to be known as the wedding that caused a rise in cases and deaths. I don't want to look back one day at my wedding photos with regret because I lost a family member or friend to covid because of my wedding and that I refused to follow guidelines because it would ruin my wedding day.

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I like your reasoning! It seems like a lot of us brides are feeling very fearful and even possibly regretful in the midst of planning a wedding during COVID. We all have immense fears such as the fear of looking back at photos with masks, guests with masks on, etc, and reminding us all of this tough period of time.

Of course, every bride deserves to have the best day ever and everything they have dreamed of, but I indeed would also be regretful if a family member of mine died because of my wedding.