How to still wed in Washington state with wedding receptions prohibited?

Beginning at 12:01 am, Monday, August 10, there is a new rule that goes into effect in Washington state prohibiting wedding receptions for the unseen time being. But not all hope is lost as wedding ceremonies can still happen as LOVE CANNOT BE CANCELLED.

It has been very tough delivering the tough news to our remaining 2020 couples who have been holding out hope that COVID wouldn’t be a factor in their wedding plans, but at this point, all politics aside, this pandemic will be around for some time so instead of fighting against it, its time we understand all the new rules and plan accordingly.

So with the new rule going into effect, we want to educate everyone what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to weddings. By understanding all of the rules, then you can make the right choice when it comes to your wedding.

Here are the rules when it comes to weddings:

• Indoor Ceremony Capacity is limited to 20% or 30 people, whichever is less, if and only if six feet of physical distancing between households can be achieved. Outdoor Ceremonies are limited to 30 people, and at least six feet of physical distancing between households is required.

• Consistent with existing guidance, indoor ceremonies are prohibited in Phase 1.

• No Live Music including but not limited to live musicians and DJs.

• Receptions are prohibited.

Yes, that means no DJs for your ceremony. Trust me when I read that I was like come on, how is that even possible. But after talking to the Governor’s office for clarification, yes indeed is the new mandate. So what does this mean for music for your ceremony? Check with your venue to see if they have a built-in sound system that you can use. If you have an outdoor wedding, then this is when we need to be creative. I am still working on ideas for a few of our weddings and stay tuned as I will update this blog post when I come up with legal ways to have music for ceremonies.

For those of you still wanting to get married in 2020, you can still legally say I Do and there is no reason why you can’t and be a little creative in the process. If you are adventurous, maybe wed on a mountaintop, by a river, or your favorite place in the state. Chat with your vendors and come up with the best and most memorable way to wed. Luckily in the age of technology, you can live stream or have your ceremony videotaped to be shared with family and friends.

If you can’t imagine having a wedding ceremony without a reception, then the next step is to think about postponing your wedding. As a Seattle Wedding Planner, I encourage you to postpone to 2021, just to be safe. Then the next step if you choose to postpone is to contact all of your vendors and let them know you intend to reschedule your wedding. Work with your venue/vendors on their availability and understand their policies when it comes to postponements and if any additional costs will in incurred. Make sure you read over your contracts thoroughly and please be patient with your vendors during this process as the last five months have been disastrous to our industry.

The only thing we don’t know is just when receptions will be allowed. However, in the meantime, there is no reason why you can’t have the wedding ceremony you want and the party later to celebrate with friends and family. If you are lost in the process of understanding all these rules we are here to help and we would love to chat how we can make your Wedding Fairytale come true.

Need help postponing your wedding? We're here to help!

Are you one of those couples affected by COVID-19 and don’t know what to do? Are you thinking about postponing or have you already rescheduled your wedding? If you answered yes to either of those questions, don’t worry we are here to help.

Whether its when to make the decision to reschedule or what’s the process of securing a new date and working with your vendors, we have all the tools to make this situation less stressful.

Or if you are interested in planning a small elopement on your original wedding date with a larger celebration at a later time, we can help.

Let’s chat about where you are at in the process and how we can help create the wedding of your dreams even if your Plan A couldn’t happen.

We are offering a FREE 30-minute no-obligation consultation to fully understand your situation and come up with a plan of action!

COVID-19, just go away already, I'm ready for wedding season!

It’s been exactly one month since we coordinated our first wedding of the 2020 season and this Saturday would have marked our second, but sadly COVID-19 decided it had other plans. Now instead of planning weddings we are postponing them.

When the global pandemic first hit Washington State and hard, it happened right around the last few days of planning Christina + Shane’s wedding. News was happening rapidly and everything was constantly changing almost hour by hour. We had to have some really tough and emotional conversations. With only days from their wedding, our couple decided to move forward with their wedding, cutting down their guest count from 171 to 39 and that was no small feat, but luckily all of their friends and family members totally understood. We even set-up a live-stream of their wedding and reception for their family and friends to watch from all over the world.

Truth be told, I wear my heart on my sleeve and in this profession it can be a good thing. Yes, I get teary at a couple’s first look, but who wouldn’t. I get choked up when couples recite their vows and during a great toast. So on this wedding day, there were a lot of tears. Happy tears to see this beautiful bride walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams to the immediate feeling knowing that we did it and it was a true sense of relief. In all honesty, I truly felt this wedding wasn’t going to happen. With 3 days left to go, I held my breathe as the Governor held a press conference. By the end, the wedding would happen and that was the best phone call with Christina.

This has been the hardest time of my nearly 15-year wedding planning career. I have been tested over and over but I won’t let COVID take me or my company down. I have taken the stance not to dwell on the negative, but to focus on the positive and know that love will conquer all. It breaks my heart when I have serious and tough conversations with our couples and the future of their wedding. I have to really say all of my couples have been rock stars and so great to work with during this very difficult time.

What we just keep preaching to our couples is that they will still have the wedding they have been dreaming and planning and that just the date will change. I truly believe that has helped our couples in moving forward with new plans.

I have to be really grateful for technology and that we are still able to plan and design up plans, layouts and amazing designs with both our couples and our vendors.

Speaking of vendors, I really have to thank all of the amazing vendors with whom have just been incredible, whether it been a shoulder to lean on, ask advice, and just be incredible when it comes to working and accommodating our couples.

But not all hope is lost. As for Washington state, we are starting to see a glimmer of hope and the light at the end of the tunnel signaling that wedding season will be back and we will be ready when given the call.