06/30/2020
Dear July and August wedding couples,
I’m posting this not to alarm anyone, but rather to keep couples abreast on what vendors are discovering as we slowly reopened weddings in June. I stress that this isn't political; I just want to be able to work and provide for my family - I want my clients to have their day - I want to do it in the most strategic way possible, and if that means being overly cautious, sign me up.
My first wedding back was bliss - June 12th. No positive cases came from this wedding. Therefore, I KNOW IT'S POSSIBLE.
That’s not been the case ever since.
In a case I heard from a fellow vendor, it was the bride herself that first tested positive so she had to call her vendors and guests to let them know they had been exposed. That must have been gut wrenching. This can't be the norm, and I hope it will not be a stain on the memory of her day.
Here’s some suggestions I have to protect yourselves and my industry:
*** When inviting guests, please don’t invite beyond the venue’s stated Phase 2 capacity. This leads to more exposures and more risk of an outbreak. It extends the guest list beyond those that you've isolated with. It could lead to the extra guests being turned away. If that means you must send out invitations in waves by sending out more invites as you get declines, then please do so. 🏛️
*** As a couple, self-isolate for two weeks prior to your wedding. Ask your family and wedding party to do the same. They love you. Ask them. 🖤
*** When checking in with guests for RSVPs, tell them that if they are even mildly experiencing a tickle in their throats — STAY HOME. There are at-risk family members at every wedding, and it's simply not worth it. I realize it's difficult to ask guests to isolate for your wedding, but do so wherever possible. 🤧
*** Many venues are now taking temperatures of guests before allowing them into the property. They will be turned away if feverish - 100.4 degrees or greater. This won’t be monitored by some young catering staff member or some college kid. This will be done in many cases by uniformed police. So again tell guests, don’t gamble… STAY HOME. 🤒
*** Buy extra hand sanitizers to place strategically around your rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception venues. 🤟
*** Buy masks for the sign in table, bars, dj booth, stage, and cocktail tables. 😷
*** Print signs encouraging mask wearing for display at the entrance and throughout the space. 🛑
*** Provide outdoor activities whenever possible. Yard games are fantastic. Corn hole is a huge attraction at weddings. Borrow a set. 🎲
*** Name a dedicated area for high risk guests to congregate, be it a reserved table away from any high traffic situation or a separate space entirely. 👵
*** Please know that dancing is not allowed in Phase 2 in LA. If your guests dance, they are assuming a risk. It's very difficult for me standing at 4'11" to stop a grown, intoxicated adult from dancing, but in the end, their actions will be their own. 🤣
*** Be a good example and mask up. Have your party mask up. Have your family mask up. Have that spirited cousin running around passing out masks. Whatever it takes to get guests to comply when congregating with company outside of their usual circle, do it. I don't expect people to wear masks around members of their households or their quarantine group of family and friends, but weddings are two families becoming one who likely have not isolated together. 😷
I want each and every one of you to have the best 2020 wedding you can have. But I also want you aware. Today’s weddings are shaping what tomorrow’s weddings will look like. They are inadvertently causing more testing in a system that (at least in Calcasieu Parish) is already overwhelmed and behind with results. Phase 1 is not indicative to hosting events at all, so we cannot afford to regress. Phase 2 is a pitiful but acceptable phase for most couples. Please help us vendors and future brides by doing your best to comply so that we can continue having couples experience their big days. This is one day for you and your guests. As a vendor, this is my every day.
Spread the game plan, not the germs, people.
XOXO,
Sara
📷
🏛️
🌿 by
✝️ .kaylee.johnson
👰🏼
