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Wedding season is in full swing across America, but there are no weddings, thanks to Covid-19. The wedding services industry, worth around $78 billion annually, has been hard hit by the current pandemic. Approximately 27 percent of couples have postponed their weddings until 2021, while another 26 percent have pushed their dates back to later this year.
That means more than half of Americans have postponed their weddings or pushed back their wedding planning. While disappointment, stress and sadness have been a common theme amongst couples and their families, this extra time has also given them the chance to create the wedding of their dreams and get it just right. Whether it's using it to design a unique wedding cake or reduce the costs of your wedding, here is how to make wedding planning in lockdown productive.
Work On Your Budget And Try To Renegotiate Vendor Costs
According to recent statistics, the average cost of a wedding is $38,700. While many couples do budget for their weddings, 60 percent of them underestimate the real cost of getting married. This means that the majority of brides and grooms find themselves succumbing to at least one of the wedding budgeting pitfalls. However, while in lockdown couples now have added time to go over their wedding budget again (and again!) to ensure they stick to it or cut costs where they need to. It also means adjusting your budgeting expectations to be in line with current prices - one of the most common wedding pitfalls.
If you find yourself needing to cut your budget, lockdown is a great time to negotiate with vendors. Many small businesses and wedding industry sellers are willing to offer loyalty and special discounts in a bid to drum up new clients or hold onto the existing ones. Take advantage of these offers so that you can cut those unnecessary costs.
Use The Time To Perfect Your Research And Haggling Skills
According to wedding planner Amy Nichols, couples spend 200-300 hours planning their wedding if not working with a wedding planner. Some recent reports estimate the average time spent planning a wedding to be as much as 528 hours, from engagement to wedding day. While planning your ideal ceremony during an epidemic can be time-consuming, you can make this time productive by perfecting your wedding research and must-haves.
With endless wedding publications, themes, styles, and even ever-evolving wedding dress styles, it is easy to get overwhelmed especially when you are on a limited timeline. Feel free to browse the latest wedding themes or look at trending wedding dress styles. You can also use this time to get the best prices out of your vendors and discover useful wedding planning resources and apps like Carats & Cakes, Minted, or WeddingHappy.
Create A DIY Vision Board And Plan
Creating a shared vision board with your fiance helps you visualize what your dream wedding would look like and how to best incorporate your styles. From the seating chart to the color scheme, use this time to choose the aspects of your wedding that are important to you, and get ideas from magazines or past weddings that you liked. Social sharing platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are filled with wedding decor ideas, wedding dress styles, and even DIY ideas for weddings on a budget. When you are ready to contact suppliers or book vendors, having a vision board will help you communicate what you want and cut down the time going back and forth. As a bonus, vision boards can end up being great planning tools for couples who do not use a wedding planner.
Focusing on the positives of the situation means you are one step closer to creating the wedding of your dreams. You are also, of course, one step closer to marrying the partner of your dreams.
