Covid-19 + your wedding day
We hope you are doing well during this very overwhelming time. For a lot of you the coronavirus pandemic may have altered some wedding plans and we wanted to check in and let you know of a few things to consider as we move forward.
CANCELLATIONS/
POSTPONEMENT
What a weird and wild time! Everything is a bit up in the air right now when it comes to events and figuring out when certain restrictions may be lifted. Some venues may be cancelling events due to the number of people attending or putting restrictions on the amount of guests allowed. In the case that your wedding is cancelled or postponed please note that all deposits are non-refundable. As much as I wish this wasn't the case, as a small business owner who relies on this income to support myself and my employees, refunds will not be given per your contract. However, you are more than welcome to use your deposit towards a new available date. Your wedding rate will be locked in and no additional charges will occur. If you postpone and your original photographer is not available for the new wedding date, someone else on our team may be open. If we are all booked or unavailable, no refunds will be given, but you can use any monies paid as a credit towards any photo services or products with us. It's also worth mentioning that if you've purchased wedding insurance some policies will be able to help with money lost due to a cancellation.
We are happily working hard with the utmost flexibility to get all of our clients rescheduled to a new date that need to do so, and have plenty of open weekends this year and next year to make sure everyone is accommodated.
SICKNESS
In the unlikely event that your photographer is sick and unable to attend the wedding, another photographer from our team will step in. If none of us are available, then a very capable photographer in my large network of friends who are also full-time wedding photographers, will be there for you. This is also in your contract but is worth mentioning here.
We are all self employed and not going out unless needed, and following the CDC recommendations of social distancing and self-isolation, so fingers crossed we are able to remain healthy over the coming months. Alternatively if you have a boudoir or engagement session scheduled and don't feel well or comfortable with keeping your appointment, please reach out as soon as possible so we can reschedule your session.
I know that this has thrown a lot of people for a loop, and I hope that none of your plans are impacted. This is still such an exciting time in your lives and I hope that you and your partner(s) are able to still enjoy planning! If you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to reach out.
SOME HELPFUL ADVICE
If you need to reschedule, do it sooner rather than later.
We have plenty of dates available this year to reschedule your event, but coordinating with your venue and other vendors means that only a few dates may work for everyone, and our schedule next year is already getting full. It’s a bit chaotic right now for everyone in the wedding industry as everyone is scrambling to reschedule, so try to do it as soon as possible so you can get a date that works for you and hopefully all of your original vendors.
Check potential reschedule dates with your vendors.
Please reach out and see what dates are available before you confirm a new date with your venue. Our 2021 schedule is filling up very quickly with rescheduled events. We are happy to give you a list of available dates and work with you in rescheduling, and moving your retainer and any monies paid to a new date.
If you choose a date that your photographer is not available, another photographer on our team will be assigned to you. Refunds will not be given for rescheduled events that happen on a day when no one from our team is unavailable.
Please check with us before moving your date to make sure it works for everyone!
Consider a non-Saturday date.
You’ll have many more options if you choose to have a weekday wedding, or even a Friday or Sunday celebration. Your guests will still be there to celebrate with you, and it won’t take anything away from the meaning of your wedding. Also, some venues offer discounts for weekday or Friday/Sunday events, so it may work out in your favor!
Hire a planner.
If you’re able to and you haven’t already, hire a planner or month of coordinator. The added stress of changing everything last minute is a lot to deal with, and a planner can shoulder that bourdon for you. It also helps to make your wedding day go so much smoother, and allows you to be in the moment and not worrying if the caterer knows where to set up or having to deal with aunt Clara who had ten too-many glasses of wine.
Don’t postpone yet if:
Your wedding is happening in Fall/Winter 2020 or anytime in 2021 don’t worry about rescheduling just yet. We all hope that weddings will still take place and there won’t be another flare-up of cases, although they may have to be smaller gatherings than originally planned. If you don’t have to yet, we suggest you wait if possible. We also understand if you feel the need to go ahead and reschedule, if so please just follow the above guidelines.
Do something that will still honor your original plans.
If you do end up having to reschedule your wedding day, you can still do something to celebrate things right now. Shawnee is offering FaceTime portrait sessions, even FaceTime elopements, and we are always available to shoot at a distance with you once the stay at home restrictions are lifted. If you decide that you want to go ahead have a smaller celebration now, before your big party later on, we would love to document that for you in whatever way works best!
Be kind to yourself.
We know this is really difficult time, but the best thing that we can do is to take care of ourselves and stay connected to the ones we love most. Find the joys in the things you still have left to plan or create for your wedding day. Remember this is tough for everyone and you will have one heck of a wedding story to tell years from now. Stay safe and hold on, we will all get through this together. ❤️
Take care of yourselves and each other, and we can't wait to celebrate with you!
Stay lovely,
Shawnee
Let's Make Some Magic Together
Contact us with your desired event date and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours — REALLY!