If you and your spouse want to tie the knot soon, you may be wondering how to have a beautiful and memorable wedding day despite the pandemic. While you may not be able to invite as many guests as you’d like and you may have to change your wedding venue, there are still several ways you can make one of the most memorable days in your life extra special.
Organize a Virtual Ceremony
One of the safest ways to make sure the people you love are able to witness your vow exchange is to schedule a virtual ceremony. This allows you to create a guest list with as many people as you want without having to worry about paying for everyone’s meal at the reception. With a virtual ceremony, you can focus on the beauty of the occasion without worrying about whether your relatives are practicing social distancing.
You and your spouse can arrange for a wedding officiant to preside over the wedding in person or request that the officiant attends the ceremony virtually. You can also create a chat room so your loved ones can comment on the ceremony in real-time and send their good wishes. Your friends and family can even send you virtual gifts like money transfers and gift cards for the virtual reception.
Take Lots of Pictures
You likely planned on taking several pictures during your wedding ceremony and reception or planned a wedding photoshoot before the big day. However, this can be a challenge during the pandemic especially if you wanted to take pictures with your bridesmaids, groomsmen, and other members of the wedding party.
As an alternative, you can hire a wedding photographer to take pictures of you and your future spouse getting ready for a virtual ceremony. This can include pictures of you doing your makeup (since you may not want to hire a professional makeup artist) or greeting your wedding guests online. It’s also a good idea to find safe outdoor spaces to take beautiful wedding pictures.
For instance, if you planned on having a tropical-themed wedding and live in or near the West Palm Beach area, hire a wedding photographer in West Palm Beach to take pictures of you and your spouse walking hand in hand along the shore, relaxing under a palm tree, or basking in the sun. When you find the right backdrop for your pictures, you’re more likely to look back on your wedding day fondly, even if you’ve had to make several major changes to your ceremony.
Support Local Charities
The pandemic affects everyone in one way or another and you and your spouse can use your wedding day as a time to provide relief to others. If you had to cancel your reservation for your wedding venue or caterer, you can use part of the funds to donate to a local charity or nonprofit organization.
Ask your family and friends to support the charity as well as part of your wedding gift. Even though you’ve had to make some significant changes in your wedding day, you and your spouse may feel better knowing that you’re helping to provide some relief for those in need.
Exchange Your Vows — Have a Reception Later
If your wedding day just won’t be the same without your close friends and relatives to witness this milestone in your life in person, you can exchange your vows on your original wedding day and postpone the reception. This may require you to send new save the date cards to your wedding guests so they can plan to attend the reception a few months from now.
You can schedule the vow exchange in a safe outdoor area with your spouse, the wedding officiant, and a witness. It’s a good idea to hire a wedding photographer to capture the event while practicing social distancing or set up a camera to record the entire event on video.
The pandemic has caused us all to make changes to our daily lives, schedules, and special events. However, there are still several creative ways you can make sure your wedding day is still special and memorable while you and your spouse attempt to stay safe while celebrating a life-changing moment for you and the one you love.
