For so many couples ready to get married in the UK 2020 has become the year of 'Postponements' and setting new wedding dates. Always on to try and see the positive I thought I'd write a little something to help inspire you to celebrate your original wedding date!
I hope after this you're able to make the original wedding date a really happy one instead of a sad one and can look forward to your new date with excitement again...
Turning A Postponement Into A Celebration
The last couple of months have been really challenging for me as a wedding videographer. Not only did I end March with the worry of potentially having no weddings to film for weeks, maybe months, I'm now essentially unemployed and forced to home-school. Not great when I hated school originally!
I LOVE weddings so much and miss them terribly. But, it's my couples I really feel for. My heart goes out to all the couples making big decisions to postpone their wedding day this year. I can imagine it's been heartbreaking for so many reasons
The wedding you've spent years planning and perfecting. A date that's been marked in the calendar since way before the 'Save The Dates' went out.
I know for me, many of my dates are in the calendar over a year in advance, sometimes over two. I only take on a select amount of weddings per year so find that I too get totally invested in the wedding planning and excited for their wedding date. I love building a picture of the day from hearing all about their wedding plans and having pre-wedding catch ups to chat with my April and May couples to finalise all the wedding details.
Feeling Sad About Postponing Your Wedding...
Now I've had a few postponements and wedding dates that have passed I'm realising the importance of compassion and reaching out to couples at this time. It's really hard for so many!
It's okay to feel really sad about this too! Some of my couples have felt fine about it all and then the original wedding date comes and it can hit home it was the day they were meant to be getting married.
I think we've all underestimated the emotional roller-coaster that all this is causing.
Even if at the beginning it's as simple as picking a new wedding date, checking everyone's happy and moving everything over to that new date. The mental side of it can hit you without warning.
It's Important To Mark Your Original Wedding Date - Your 'Nearly Wed' Date
So how can you avoid feeling down about the original wedding date passing by...? Well, I think it's really important to mark the original date. The 'nearly-wed' date.
A way to celebrate the fact that despite everything going on with Coronavirus and Covid19 you're simply pausing and celebrating when it'll be safer to do so.
You're thinking of everyone else.
You're still going to get married.
You'll still get to see your family and friends support and celebrate with you.
And you'll still get to eat amazing food and dance the night away with all the people you love!
In fact, I reckon there's a good chance it'll be even more of a celebration!
Can you imagine how emotional it'll be when everyone gets to actually hug again? When families can be reunited AND celebrate you both getting married despite all the heartache that's happened earlier in the year?
I know as a wedding videographer I am SO excited to be able to witness those reunions and capture them for all my couples to see over and over again! All those emotional hugs, kisses, squeals of delight...it's going to be amazing!
So please do celebrate your 'nearly there' date. Please don't feel weird if you're feel really emotional about the original date, that's totally normal and I can totally relate even as a wedding videographer because I was SO looking forward to your wedding too and can imagine your feelings are even more heightened than mine!
Please check in with your soon to be married friends, they'd love some support right now! Maybe if they've not planned a way to mark the 'nearly wed' date you can encourage them to plan something fun with all the bridal party and their family?
Fun Ideas To Mark Your Original (Postponed) Wedding Date
Enjoy an online celebration!
Raise a Glass - You could keep it simple by having all your virtual guests raise a glass of prosecco on the day and enjoy a little catch up.
A Pre-Wedding Ceremony - Consider a virtual pre-wedding ceremony with an amazing celebrant? They could host a wonderful wedding celebration for you both and for your guests to be a part of, a really beautiful way to mark the occasion in a really unique way.
A Virtual Evening Reception - Were you looking forward to the party at the reception? Why not use this as the perfect excuse to get dressed up and create an epic playlist for everyone to enjoy? You could simply send them your own Spotify playlist or get everyone online to show off their best dance moves with you!
Virtual Wedding Speeches - If raising a glass isn't quite enough maybe a few of your loved ones feel they could write a little speech to mark the occasion (and either make you cry or laugh until you cry!).
Looking for something for just the two of you?
Well you could do all the above with just the two of you, we've had many a dance party just us in the kitchen!
An Afternoon Tea for Two - Mary Berry has some amazing recipes and tips online to create your very own afternoon tea (this is my all time favourite scone recipe). If you're not feeling very Mary Berry some local cafe's are offering Lockdown Afternoon Tea to your door so have a hunt on Facebook or Instagram!
A Fancy Takeaway For Two - Enjoy some time together to look forward to the new wedding date and to chat about what you're really looking forward to. It's a really nice opportunity to chat about the wedding in a positive way and not stress about the postponement plans!
And if you happened to have friends who are a bit stuck with whether to mark their original date you could send them this to inspire them.
Or, maybe you could get your friends together and create a fun video to show them how much your care?
I'm ALWAYS happy to help out with ideas for fun videos, giving tips on how to film it and even edit videos as a surprise if you fancy something really special to share with the soon to be married couple....
Whatever you do decide to do, I hope it's truly memorable and special and helps you get excited all over again for your new wedding date. I know I can't wait already...
Help and Support For All My Wedding Couples
If you're wanting someone to listen, share some advice or wedding wisdom or simply help guide you through postponing your wedding do reach out. This may be the first pandemic in my 10 years as a wedding videographer but I am always one to help the best I can.
If you're new to my page and considering booking a wedding videographer but feel nervous given everything going on then I'm here to reassure you too.
All my couples have worked with me to move their wedding date and I've kindly moved any payments and deposits without fuss or extra charge. I'm here to support all my couples through this and cannot wait to celebrate with them with their new dates comes.
If you'd love to find a supplier who's super supportive and friendly, then you've stumbled across the right page.... I'd love to hear more about your wedding plans so do get in touch!
