Wedding During COVID: Congratulations — you’re getting married! Marriage is an event that you and your partner have been thinking about and planning for years. It’s something you’ve dreamt of ever since you could remember, and you’re determined to make it the happiest day of your life, regardless of what it takes. There’s just one issue: COVID-19.
Due to the pandemic restrictions, you’ve already delayed the wedding ceremony a year. You’ve been playing it safe and don’t want to put you and your guests at risk of contracting the virus. Even with case numbers going down and vaccines rolling out, you don’t want to take any chances. But you really, really want to tie the knot.
Read on to discover how you can get married in style while maintaining health and safety precautions.
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Knowing the Risks
The first step in planning a wedding during this time is to re-familiarize yourself with the risks. The COVID virus spreads quicker among large groups of people who are close together. So, it’s critical to keep that fact in mind when brainstorming the invitation list. While you’ll probably want to ask all of your friends and loved ones, try to narrow down the guest list.
You’ll also want to consider the COVID variants that currently exist. Some of those variants are significantly stronger than the original virus, and they spread quickly. Consider hiring a concierge PCR molecular COVID testing service for the wedding guests to use before the big day or onsite rapid COVID testing. Ask your guests (or, at the very least, the wedding party) if they’d take a quick COVID test before the wedding to ensure that everyone is virus-free. You’ll get fast results and, most importantly, peace of mind.
Keep It Intimate
The key to a safe COVID wedding is to keep it on the small side. Invite your closest friends and family members. And don’t forget — you can always throw a more extensive, slightly delayed celebration in the future!
Go Outside
If possible, if the weather is cooperative, have your wedding ceremony and after-party outdoors. Being outside makes it harder for the virus to thrive since it’s out in the open air. There’s less risk of mass spreading when people aren’t confined to the indoors.
Plan for Social Distancing
Be mindful of social distancing and make sure that everyone’s six metres apart at the dinner table. Try to avoid serving a buffet, where people will be close to one another and potentially using the same utensils for food.
Place hand sanitizer bottles and disposable masks at each table for guests to utilize. If you want to be practical with souvenirs, consider a reusable and stylish high-filtration protection like these AusAir face masks. You might also want to give a brief speech at the beginning of the festivities about such practices and how everyone needs to be careful. Most people will understand and abide by your health and safety expectations.
Planning a wedding should be fun, but it can also be stressful — particularly in the middle of a pandemic. But if you follow these suggestions and use common sense, you’ll have a special day to remember for the rest of your life!