Despite how anyone feels about COVID-19, it’s still here and it doesn’t seem to be making it any easier for brides. Even in 2021… But after reading this article, you should have high hopes if you’re planning a wedding in 2021. As a wedding vendor ourselves, we’ve experienced some changes and want to share some tips that most vendors might not tell you. So, buckle up and say “I do” to peace of mind regarding your wedding planning.
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How To Avoid Losing Your Deposit Guaranteed
Starting with the most important… the deposit!
I don’t like wasting money and neither do you. So, what if I told you there was a way to GUARANTEE that you won’t lose your deposit? I’ll tell you if you share this article 🙂
Just kidding, I’ll tell you anyways. You can absolutely, positively, 100% guarantee that you won’t lose your deposit with any wedding vendor with just TWO WORDS!
Force Majeure! Aka a tiny little line hidden within the fine print of (most) vendor contracts that will state something along the lines of “in the event of a pandemic, we will honor a refund”. Our tent and event rentals contract has it and so should everyone else. Do not… I repeat DO NOT, hire any wedding vendor unless they have a force majeure clause in their contract. If they do, then you can have 100% peace of mind placing a deposit because if you’re unable to host your wedding, your vendor will be required to provide a refund. (You should not consider this as legal advice, just a tip. For legal advice, consult with your attorney)
The #1 Struggle Every 2021 Bride Will Face
When people ask “do you want the good news first or the bad news?” I just gave you the good news in the first tip, while this tip could cause trouble. Which is… availability. We predict that all brides are in a very similar situation of waiting for the nation to open up safely again. Once that day comes… wedding vendors may book up faster than Walmart sells out of electronics on Black Friday.
The best way to overcome this struggle is to plan ahead. Afterall, what else can you do during this pandemic? In fact, most vendors took a MASSIVE hit financially this year so this may be the best time to reserve your vendors in advance, as they might offer additional incentives because they need the gig. (remember, this article is published by a wedding vendor so trust us)
Best Way To Avoid Postponing
It’s literally IMPOSSIBLE to avoid postponing if any State or County guidelines are in effect, that prevents you from kissing hubby under an arch. However, we can recommend a wedding idea that we feel has the “least restrictions” involved. Check with your local Governments Guidelines regarding the latest rules and restrictions. For Maryland brides, view Marylands COVID Guidelines here.
I know this seems a little bias but it’s not… Every bride should consider an outdoor tent wedding.
Why?
Because you’ll have much more flexibility with how you plan and most likely less restrictions since you’ll be on private property. While most indoor venues are highly restricted with capacity, if you’re outdoors then you essentially avoid those restrictions. You can significantly limit the risk of having to postpone if you consider an outdoor tent wedding.
Top Safety Tips Every Bride Should Know
Moving onto the actual “planning” part. Tips to keeping your guests safe. We saw a lot of neat ideas in 2020. Some of which we mentioned in a previous article. Click here to check it out.
The easiest is to limit the number of guests that sit at a table. When we rent tables for weddings, we typically recommend tables that seat 8 guests. However, during COVID we’ve found it very popular to rent tables that seat 6 guests per table. When you use smaller tables, paired with spacing the tables 6ft apart you achieve ultimate safety.
A past bride had a very neat idea of providing mini hand sanitizers for each guest at their seat. Another tip would be to ask your guests to wear masks and remind them to be safe. Here are some neat wedding sign ideas on Amazon. In conclusion, practice social distancing and celebrate safe.
Creating A "COVID" Wedding Layout
Last but not least… the floor plan. A tricky part of planning a COVID wedding is putting all of the pieces together. You know… “who sits where”, “what about the dj, where should he go”!
However, I’m going to share a MASSIVE secret with you. Unless you’re an engineer by trade, most brides don’t think about their wedding in terms of “numbers”. But that’s all it is. When you’re creating a floor plan, that magic number is your guest count. Your guest count should tell you almost everything you need to know about a floor plan and spacing.
Here’s a simplified example:
Meet Sally. Sally is planning a COVID wedding and expects 120 people to attend. Sally would like to know how much space she needs to seat her guests. She uses the chart below to help her:
- Seating at 60in Round Tables allows 8ppl per table. 120 / 8 = 15 guest tables.
- Seating at 48in Round Tables allows 6ppl per table. 120 / 6 = 20 guest tables.
- Seating at 8ft Rectangle Tables allows 8ppl per table. 120 / 8 = 15 guest tables.
On average, you can expect about 50-80 sqft per table. (Let’s go with 60sqft to keep it simple). Which means we need about 1,000sqft of space depending on what tables Sally chooses. Pretend she chooses 60in round tables.
Next, Sally forgot that she wants a dance floor. For 120 people, Sally could go with a 16ft x 16ft dance floor rental. So we take 16×16 which equals 256sqft plus our 900sqft for seating guests at 60in round tables. Sally needs 1,156 sqft of space but she wants to spread out and allow extra space for other misc things. A 40ft x 40ft tent rental is 1,600sqft. But in order to space out and allow for other things, Sally would want to rent a 40ft x 60ft tent.
Are you starting to see how this all works? If not, don’t panic. Because that’s what we’re here for. If you would like our help with planning an outdoor tent wedding where you don’t have to worry about losing your deposit, calculating square footage and creating a floor plan then fill out the short form below to get started!
Well, that’s all the wedding tips we have for now. To all the wonderful brides reading this article, I hope you found this helpful and useful! Please share this article with another bride that you think may get value from this. Your friends at Dreamers Event Rentals are wishing you a fun and safe wedding!
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