Planners dealing with weddings on hold, postponed during pandemic

If it was any other wedding season, Amanda Delparte would be going full tilt making phone calls and putting brides at ease.

The event designer for A Tymeless Event now is doing things in a much different way.

“Anybody in the wedding industry is definitely feeling a little stir crazy at this point because we’re used to long hours, lots of prep work (and) constantly meeting with clients,” Delparte said.

“Right now, it’s a complete 180. It’s trying to figure out how to maybe move an event of 200 (people) to 30.”

While wedding planners, of all people, know how to roll with the punches, Delparte has never had to deal with anything like this wedding season before.

“This is completely different,” Delparte said. “This is a very different type of stress.”

Much like the brides she works for, Delparte said this time has been one of high emotion for herself, her staff and her family.

“This is what we do. My entire life revolves around events,” she said.

Financially, Delparte said COVID-19 has significantly affected her business. Most of the couples Delparte is working with are choosing to postpone their special day to 2021.

“Everything’s kind of a year ahead now … We’re not only taking a little bit of a hit in our later months but also the next year, because some people are still a little leery of what it’s going to look like next year,” she said. “All of a sudden, we have this big group of people who were planning on getting married this year which has turned into next year.

“Couples are just trying to figure out what planning they can do right now with the guidelines that are out and then they’re just hopeful right now. Most of (the brides) have been pretty decisive. A lot of them have just decided to postpone.”

One significant source of uncertainty and the main reason behind so many postponed events is the limits on and uncertainty surrounding the size of gatherings.

Due to COVID-19, gatherings across the country have been limited to smaller sizes. In Saskatchewan, an outdoor gathering currently can only have up to 30 people in attendance.

For couples trying to say “I do,” this means many have to decide between when to have their wedding and how few guests they’re willing to have in attendance.

But postponing has its own problems, Delparte said. For one, there is no assurance governments will be allowing large gatherings by 2021, due to the unpredictability of COVID-19 and its possible second wave.

More immediately, weddings that were supposed to take place in 2020 being postponed to 2021 means fewer wedding opportunities with certain vendors and venues during next year’s season and more couples having to postpone tying the knot even longer.

“You have to really think about it,” Delparte said. “Some people are just doing a small little gathering and just doing the ceremony part and are going to do the whole celebration next year, which I think is a great option if you don’t want to have to follow all the guidelines that have been put in place.

“People that really want to have their wedding next year, I think they might have to look at other options, other dates.”

As an event planner during COVID-19, Delparte has had to get creative with planning for smaller groups. She said venues like backyards, patios and restaurants are great options for wedding celebrations in pandemic times.

With all the constantly changing requirements and couples weighing whether to postpone or continue as planned on their journey to the altar, Delparte said she and others in the wedding industry are still unsure how the pandemic will impact weddings as time goes on.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people within my little circle in the industry and some of us are very much like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be running our butts off next year, big time.’ And then others are still like, ‘I don’t know what it’s going to look like,’ ” she said.

“It’s still so unknown and we’re in that one little strange area in this whole thing where things are opening up and things are happening and things are slowly getting back to normal, but with gatherings, we’re still kind of held back.”

Delparte has not seen masks making their way into 2020 coronavirus wedding trends, but said adding a virtual component to the special day has become quite popular.

“Even the people who are doing the small weddings are still setting up the virtual livestream for other friends and family to be a part of it, which is kind of cool,” Delparte said. “Going forward, I think that might just be something that sticks for a while for those guests who can’t maybe travel.”

As for couples making the hard decision to lower their number of guests, Delparte said it’s a hard process for everyone.

“I think everyone just has to be very understanding and realize it’s nothing personal,” she said. “You have to get creative but as a guest, you also have to look at it and not take it personally.”

Delparte offered a few pieces of advice to couples navigating this time of uncertainty.

“Try not to stress, it’s totally out of your control,” she said. “Talk to your vendors. Talk to your family. Realize that there are options out there to postpone or do a smaller gathering and then maybe do a larger event next year.”

Most importantly, Delparte encouraged couples to communicate with each other.

“Just really take a step back and try and figure out what’s important to you,” she said.