How to Send a Wedding Postponement during Covid-19
Planning your wedding in the best of times is one thing, but what happens when you’re planning your wedding and a global pandemic breaks out? What do you do if you are in the middle of designing invitations or if your invitations have already gone out in the mail and it looks like you’re going to have to postpone your wedding?
At Fourteen-Forty, we have been working closely with our couples who have been impacted. While our recommendations have varied depending on where the client is in our process, most of our clients have chosen to postpone their weddings vs canceling them altogether. Which means that now our job is to help message this change to guests properly!
The majority of our couples are rebooking their event for one year out from their original date, but some are finding dates in late 2020. Once you have that date, the next step is to inform your guests.
If you have postponed and your invitations have already gone out in the mail:
Send an email (with a graphic designed by your stationer) that contains the postponement information
Prepare a new mailing of a card in envelope, informing guests of the change
But how do you choose - digital or printed? As much as we LOVE printed pieces, we have been recommending digital correspondence for a postponement if it’s possible. With many people not at their usual residence and the unpredictability of the mailing system right now (mail is taking longer to get delivered) the reliability of email and peace of mind of knowing that your guests all got the message the day you sent it is invaluable. And even through email, we can design a beautiful graphic to deliver the message in a thoughtful way.
Whichever way you choose, the key information you will want to convey is the new date, how to RSVP for the new date, and your website information for further updates.
If your wedding was postponed until next year, you may want to convey the new date but hold off on collecting RSVPs. This can happen closer to your new date, and another reminder can go out at that time, whether digitally or in the mail.
If you have postponed and only your save the dates have gone out in the mail:
You can send out a Save the New Date and hold your invitation design until the appropriate time for them to go out.
If you have not yet postponed but may have to:
This mostly applies to clients who are getting married in the fall and beyond - if you are not be ready to make a decision on whether to postpone or not but would rather send the invitations out than wait, create an additional card to be mailed with the invites stating that you are monitoring the situation and will update guests if a postponement is necessary.
A note on timing:
We typically like to send invitations to print around 15 weeks before the wedding date. Lately, we have been compressing that timeline, recommending sending invites to print closer to 10 weeks before the wedding, with invitations arriving to guests closer to 7 weeks prior. This allows us to get as close to the wedding date as possible before having to make a decision on whether we need to hold the invitation printing (because the date is changing) or whether we can go ahead and print them.
We recommend continuing to design your invitations until they are ready to go to print, and then holding the design until 10 weeks before the wedding, at which point a decision needs to be made. Either way, they are ready to go, whether they need to be printed now or later.
Our last tip - even though you never expected to send a postponement notice, this is still an opportunity to keep looking forward to your wedding and help your guests do the same. Don’t be afraid to have fun with it!
Below are some wording guides, provided as a starting point.
Sample wording for letter format postponement cards:
Postponement with a new date in 2020
Dear friends and family,
Due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the unpredictability of this developing situation, we have decided that the best decision for ourselves and our guests is to postpone our wedding until _____________.
We can’t wait until we can gather again and celebrate together. For further updates on our wedding festivities and to RSVP for the new date by ______________, please visit our website at __________________.
Our thoughts are with each of you and we can’t wait to see you soon.
Love,
_______________
Postponement with a new date in late 2020 and 2021
Dear friends and family,
Due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the unpredictability of this developing situation, we have decided that the best decision for ourselves and our guests is to postpone our wedding until _____________.
We can’t wait until we can gather again and celebrate together. For further updates on our wedding festivities, please visit our website at __________________. Additional information to RSVP for the new date will follow.
Our thoughts are with each of you and we can’t wait to see you soon.
Love,
_______________
Sample wording for Save the New Date format cards:
Save the New Date / Save the Date (Again)
___________ and ___________
have postponed their wedding
________________ (new date)
New York, New York (city and state)
Formal invitation to follow
_______________
Update your calendars!
___________ and ___________
are now getting married on
________________ (new date)
New York, New York (city and state)
Formal invitation to follow
For updates, please visit www.websitegoeshere.com