We were waiting for yesterday when the reopening plan for our state (MA) was scheduled to be announced. The plan was released, but it didn't have any details that would help us make a decision about our August wedding. Today our venue coordinator gave us the choice to postpone now or to continue on as planned with the opportunity to postpone later if needed. We had already decided to get married on our original date, but we weren't sure what we were going to do about the reception.
Here's why we decided to postpone now:
We can’t safely put all of these people together in one space. Even if we wanted to, we would have to do a lot of things differently than we’d planned. Everyone would have to be spaced out more, there would be no dancing, hugging, or group pictures and we’d have to figure out how to prevent lines at the bar and I don’t even know how hors d'oeuvres would work. People would have to wear masks when they weren’t eating or drinking. Right now the idea of all of that seems kind of scary and sad, and no one wants their wedding to be associated with fear and sadness. In my head a socially distanced wedding was all color coordinated face masks and an excuse to use flowers more creatively, but it became more depressing as I started to really visualize it.
Realistically, there might be another wave of the coronavirus next year, meaning we would have to make changes again. There could be a lot of the same restrictions in place. There probably won’t be as many and they probably won’t be as restrictive, but even if they are, none of this will be new. The COVID wedding I imagine is depressing because uncertainty is incredibly unsettling. No one knows what’s going to happen and seeing people wear masks and dodge each other like they’re playing tag is a reminder of that.
When a plane takes off, it makes a rather alarming sound that doesn’t stop until after you land. It’s possible to ignore the sound enough to enjoy a movie or a podcast, or go to sleep for the duration of the flight. If we’re in a similar place next year, the masks, ubiquitous hand sanitizing, and lack of physical contact will be like background noise. People will be able to ignore it enough to actually be happy and not just try to act happy because they feel bad for us, silently acknowledging that we were forced to make the best of a bad situation.
Note: everyone is different. I'm not judging anyone else who makes a different decision, but given the number of "what are other brides doing?" posts, I thought it might be helpful to share my thought process.
