Planning a socially distanced wedding

In a post-pandemic world wedding planning has changed significantly globally; restrictions are in place, guest lists have been slashed and elements of the day cut out entirely. Here are a few ideas to help plan your 'new normal' perfect day...

• Set up a wedding website to inform your guests of current plans, adaptations to the day, rules and regulations

• Coloured wrist bands or themed charity pin badges to let people know each other’s stance on social distancing - Red - 2m, Orange - 1m, Green - No worries

• Make wedding themed signs to advise people of adaptations and guidelines on the day. Google some quirky words to make it fun.

• Use bubbles instead of handfuls of confetti. This still makes a good photo and is environmentally friendly!

• Provide guests with a goody bag with wedding themed coloured masks, personalised hand sanitiser , individual personalised pens for the guest book and hand warmers

•Hold the reception / meal outside to enable social distancing, just make sure you think about the weather!

• Arrange seating in 2/4/6 family units to ensure a safer environment

• Provide glass pens (semi-permanent) for people to write names on glassware

• Have mini bottles of bubbly and wine, and premixed cans of spirits or cocktails with straws

• Ask your caterer to provide individual plates of canapes for each guest

•Have Afternoon Tea or Ploughman’s picnic boxes or how about individual Grazing Platters or Pizzas

•Upgrade your buffet to a luxury sit down meal to really spoil the limited number of guests

•Place cutlery in 'envelopes' with napkins

•Provide sachets of condiments

•Have a small dinner at home and Zoom call guests in

• Ask your Cake Baker for individual boxes of wedding cake to take away with a fake cake to cut

• Change the order of the day – cut the cake at the ceremony so all your guests can see this moment, have the first dance between courses if an evening celebration isn’t happening

•Hold a shift based wedding (depending on rules at the time). Have close friends and family to the ceremony and meal. The vulnerable would then see the ceremony but leave after. Add in a few more people for the wedding breakfast. Those that are not so fused about the evening frivolities can them leave and be replaced by the party goers!

•In a worst case scenario, give people time slots in bubbles to come throughout the day.

•Reserve areas for vulnerable guests

•Ask everyone to record themselves singing ‘your’ song which you can then merge together to play on the day (needs some technical ability!!!)

•Set up a Zoom call for your wider wedding guests to watch the ceremony and/or speeches – send out mini bottles of bubbly and cake slices so people can join in

•Be aware that suppliers will count as part of the numbers in attendance if they are in the room (photographers etc)

•Buy local and seasonal; in-country flowers will be easier to get hold of, and more cost effective than imported flowers

•Be prepared for a guest limit in the wedding car. Speak to your car provider for current rules. Can you get a bigger car like a campervan or limo to accommodate more people?

•Have a silent disco as this naturally means people don’t get as close or sing!

•Discuss creative plans with your photographer for the group shots; smaller groups can do some fun socially distanced photos but ask your photographer if they can do a montage of images to make the large group picture

We recognise things are changing all the time but this is just to give some ideas.

Have you got any other ideas?