With the wedding world upside down due to the coronavirus pandemic, brides at every stage of the wedding planning process are being affected.
We reached out to one of our wedding photographer pros Manuel Trinidad to get his perspective and advice for brides who are on the hunt for the vendors to make their big day perfect in the midst of the coronavirus.
For couples still in the planning phase:
Continue to plan your wedding
Just remember you may have to do more "online," than in person. You can get a lot done and even book your vendors via phone, text, email, online meetings, virtual tours of venues, digital contracts and invoices, etc.
Understand your contracts
Contracts are meant to protect both the vendor and the client. But so many times, I've seen couples sign contracts without ever looking at it. I always suggest that my clients take time they need to review my contract, and I welcome them having a lawyer review it. I send my contracts digitally so I set a due date for the signature a week from our consultation, as a reminder in case they need more time.
Know what the cancellation policy says
We are seeing more than ever, the need to re-schedule and sometimes cancel, weddings and other events because of COVID-19. Know what your cancellation policy says in regards to refunds, re-scheduling, and what happens in the event that the vendor, or you decide to cancel or re-schedule, and what happens if the vendor cannot accommodate a new date.
Consider wedding or special event insurance
This is well worth doing some research on. There is a lot of information out there on the web, but your best course is to talk directly to your insurance broker. If your insurance company does not offer this type of insurance, ask for recommendations of a source who does. Find out if you need it, what it covers, what it does not cover, and what steps you must take if you need to use it.
Make a contingency plan
Talk to your vendors about having a contingency plan for worse case scenarios. This is something we are all proactively talking about with our clients.
Recently I booked a wedding, and as we were going over the contract and invoice, I asked if we could talk about a contingency plan specific to our current situation with COVID-19. And the couple was incredibly receptive and appreciative of the conversation. We talked about worse case scenarios, how we would both proceed with things like re-scheduling, or cancellations, and our plans of communication. The couple was thankful we had this talk, and actually said they felt more at ease with things, knowing we had a plan in place.
Do some in-depth research
With so many of us staying at home, we may find ourselves spending much more time online. See this as a great opportunity to do more research on potential vendors. Scroll down the further in the search results, look deeper into websites, send inquiries, gather as much information as you can to make an informed decision about the people you are going hire.
Ask questions
The only dumb question is the one not asked. All of us are being faced with many new and uncharted territories, and we all have questions we've never thought to ask before.
Please ask, and have open conversations with your vendors. We welcome it. Chances are we may have the same questions as you. We want to help get you the answers we both need.
