How to Plan a Socially Distanced Elopement or Wedding
I’m a realist, who was raised to plan for the worst and hope for the best so when a pandemic rained down upon us during one of my busiest wedding seasons I had 100% mentally prepared not to capture a single love story this whole year. But as the weeks passed, more and more couples calling me in tears, I started to get a few emails from couples saying they were getting hitched, pandemic be damned.
As many of my friends will tell you, I am a rule follower. I’ve never been one of those “ask forgiveness not permission” people, if a sign says no trespassing or private property I’m outta there. So that’s why I did my research and found out photographers fell under the “Basic Minimum Operations” clause for non-Essential Businesses and could take photos as long as we followed social distance practices (including wearing a mask, standing 6 feet away, and washing your hands every 20 minutes). Now that I had the go ahead, it was full steam ahead.
I’ve now captured three intimate, socially distanced elopements with what I can imagine will be more on the horizon so I wanted to create this blog to help others plan a socially distanced wedding. Of course this is not all the ways to get married during a pandemic, but just a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the last few weeks.
READ MORE ON HOW THIS COUPLE & OTHER’S ADAPTED FOR A SMALL WEDDING ON RALEIGH MAGAZINE’S WEBSITE
Keep Guest Counts Low
Each state has their own rules on the number of people that gather together, but I’ve found that 10 - 15 seems to be a good number to maintain social distancing protocols (even if you’re a 50+ state) and this allows you to spend the day with your closest and dearest.
Want More Guests?
Have you seen the new trend in Drive-In Weddings? People are parking cars, and hooking up stereos or opening windows to hear the ceremony and watch with their own eyes.
You can also have Drive-Thru Receptions where guests visit your house from the road, drop off gifts, and say congrats!
Single-Serve Items
Mini bottles of champagne, individually boxed desserts, and even glassware your guests can take home with them.
By using single-serve items or individually wrapped items you are ensuring that these items are clean, safe, and who doesn’t love to take stuff home.
Guest Stations
Grouping guests into households and creating assigned seating will help keep guests from getting too close to one another. Space sections out 10 feet apart to ensure social distancing practices.
This also gives you the opportunity to personalize your stations.
Great Wifi Connection:
A lot of people will be tuning into the festivities via a digital broadcast. I’ve noticed that using an app that connects everyone together, like Zoom to broadcast your nuptials works best. Make sure to have a hot spot or a strong WiFi signal and place computer in a good spot to see the magic, Skype seems to have the worst coverage, but Facetime and Zoom have been doing well.
Skip the Meals, But You Can Still Toast
To-go boxes, or skipping meals all together is one way to keep germs down.
If you do plan on eating together pop up tables at each station is the way to go. Some couples are even ordering take out and getting family members orders ahead of time.
Make sure you don’t clink glasses, and again individual glasses of Champagne are best.
THINGS YOU DON’T HAVE TO GIVE UP
Great portraits, amazing florals, and bad ass outfits!
If you want to see some more Socially Distanced, Intimate Guest Count Weddings,
Click the Links Below.
