It is SO, SO hard to have the day you’ve thought about for years get upended by a global pandemic. A typical wedding is the exact opposite of social distancing as friends and family gather from far and wide to celebrate your declaration of love and commitment. If you choose to hold a wedding in 2020 - how can you keep the event magical without sacrificing the safety of your guests? I have collected some tips here and if you have other things you are doing to keep folks safe at your wedding, I would love to see them in the comments.
Reduce your guest list: We might as well start with the elephant in the room. The more people that attend your wedding the greater the chance there is that someone will be positive for the coronavirus even if they don’t have any symptoms. In addition, by having fewer people present you are providing more opportunity for folks to socially distance. (And you can actually have quality time with everyone, a rarity at larger weddings.)
Encourage Mask Wearing: You could even provide masks to your guests in your wedding colors. Face coverings can reduce virus transmission by as much as 90%. We are all used to seeing black tie required, or hats desired. Maybe find some humor with “masks required, pants desired.”
Fresh Air: The most recent studies point to the high likelihood that coronavirus is able to survive up to three hours floating in the air as an aerosol in droplets as small as 5 microns. By having your wedding outside the wind is constantly diluting the viral load with fresh air. If you are having a fall wedding open as many windows as possible in your venue to dilute the virus.
Screen guests for early symptoms: I am pretty sure that none of your guests want to be the person responsible for a mass infection event. I also think that guests will appreciate that if everyone is being screened that they can feel that much more comfortable during the day. One cheap and quick ways to screen guests is to do an infrared temperature check. Here is a link to some good infrared thermometers on Amazon. Another symptom that often appears even sooner than a fever is the loss of a person’s sense of taste and smell. At your screening station you could set up some squeezable condiment bottles with a recognizable smell in each. Have your screener give a bottle a squeeze sending a puff of scent at your guests and see if they can guess what is in the bottle. Having a few different bottles can make this important screening test more of a game. Some scents that would be easy good candidates are coffee, peanut butter, toothpaste, vanilla and or mint extract (placed on a cotton ball so it doesn’t evaporate to fast), Are these tests perfect? No, but they are a great reminder to your guests that we are living in a pandemic and that you are doing your best to ensure everyone’s safety. You can find squeeze bottles here. If a guest has a fever or has lost their sense of smell it might be better to invite them to watch the wedding on Zoom than attend in person.
Providing Personal Travel Size Hand Sanitizers: The new studies I have seen seem to indicate that surface transfer of the virus is less of a concern than previously thought. However, good hand hygiene is always a great idea and is also reminder to guests that going to a wedding is risky and you are doing your best to mitigate that risk. Add a colorful ribbon and it’s a wedding favor. Here is a link.
Give them Room: In every way you can provide guests with space to socially distance. Space chairs during the ceremony, have fewer people at each table, make a bigger dance floor, etc. One tip I found was to have a standing ceremony so guests can stand where they feel comfortable.
Skip the Buffet: Having a plated dinner prevents crowding in the line for the buffet. It also prevents serving utensils from being touched over and over by different people.
It’s Going to be Great!: I know all of this sucks. You should allow yourself space to grieve your wedding plans. But also know that even though it might not be the wedding you hoped for, it is still going to be great because you are going in as two people and coming out as one family and that is super important!
