How to Tell Your Wedding Vendors Your Wedding Has Been Postponed

Over the last 15 months many things have been up in the air due to the global pandemic. This has also resulted in many major events such as weddings being postponed or even worse canceled. Almost half of all weddings planned in 2020 were postponed due to COVID.

As a result, many couples have had to navigate this tricky situation and sometimes come up with alternative wedding plans. This has meant a lot of rescheduling and keeping guests, vendors, and other people in the loop about how you and your partner want to move forward for your wedding.

While postponing a wedding isn't a great scenario, unfortunately, it has been a situation that millions have found themselves in these circumstances. If you find yourself in that position there's no need to stress. There are several things you can do to help the process if you and your partner have to postpone your wedding and have to sort of everything you have to do with your wedding vendors.

Here are 6 tips to keep in mind when you are deferring your wedding.

#1 Be communicative

If you find yourself in the position of postponing your wedding one of the first things you need to do is communicate with your vendors and wedding planner. Getting in touch with them as soon as you know that your wedding will happen at a later date is imperative. Communicating with your vendors and sending a wedding cancellation letter to your vendor will help to keep them in the loop about what is happening will help save you and them a lot of stress in the long run. And hopefully by canceling ASAP this can help minimize the costs overall that can come with postponing.

The sooner you are able to let them know what the next alternative plan is, the better. Every situation is different and vendors handle things on a case-by-case basis. You want to and try to give vendors enough lead time when it's possible to deal with the situation. Although 3 months is ideal under normal circumstances for everyone involved, sometimes it is not possible but letting people know ASAP is key.

There are a lot of moving parts that vendors are dealing with when it comes to your wedding such as ordering supplies, sourcing things, and other details, so the quicker you are able to tell them the better. This way they can stop the order for the original date and be on board for your alternative wedding time. It is vital to reach out to every vendor or service provider you have hired. This way everyone will be on the same page and planning moving forward can go off without a hitch.

#2 Check your contract

When you are in the process of wedding postponement, it is important to read over your wedding contract for any of your service providers. Every service provider has different wedding vendor contracts so try to be as organized as possible and read them over and familiarize yourself with the fine print. Being aware of any fees you may have to pay or the amount of time they require to be notified of when postponing is something you need to know ahead of time.

Wedding vendor contracts, in general, were not written for a global pandemic and now with this new reality, many vendors have written in COVID clauses. So looking them back over and noting what is on them is important. Once you have all the information from your wedding contract with your vendors you can then start to organize what you need and move forward with getting in touch with them.

#3 Contact your venue

When you are postponing your wedding another big thing that needs to be done is contacting your wedding venue. Because your venue is where the wedding or wedding reception will be taking place, communicating with them about your new date is important. The sooner you do this the better because you are setting the stage for your alternative date and you want to ensure you are able to get your chosen wedding venues.

#4 See if you can get a refund or use your deposit towards your alternative wedding date

Each vendor will have their own postponement or cancellation policy regarding postponements and given everything that has happened in COVID has made people more flexible. However, it is important to keep in mind that deposits or retainers are usually non-refundable. This is to be able to cover the work that vendors do leading up to your big day and also to reserve their time for the date they have in mind.

Because vendors have different policies, you may not be able to get a refund. Being flexible and trying to understand where your vendor is coming from is important. However, it is also important for them to be able to work it out on their end with you and your partner as well. As things are getting rescheduled some vendors may not charge a rebooking or cancellation fee and others will. Given the fact that many vendors have been out of business for months, some may charge a rebooking or cancellation fee to help with that.

#5 Be flexible

Trying to be as flexible as possible will definitely help save you some headaches. While of course, it is important to get everything you need and want done for your wedding, sometimes it is not possible. If you are able to meet your vendor halfway and are able to be a little flexible in terms of things like what they can do for you and even the alternative date can be very helpful.

One thing you might need to prepare for is the possibility that your vendor may not be available for your new wedding date. If that is the case, don't stress. They may be able to work around it and find a time that is within the window you want to get married in. If that's not the case, it may be best to try and find a new vendor.

#6 Get an updated contract

As you are locking down the new date for your postponed wedding it is very important to get an updated contact from all vendors. This way you have your new date with the vendor set up and you have a signed event contract with all updated information for all parties. This way everything is clear and you and your vendors can all be on the same page.

Postponing a wedding can be stressful and getting all the information you need to be able to communicate with your vendors is important. Being as organized, up front, and timely as you can with them is key. This way, you are in good shape to be able to book them for your alternative date and have everything run smoothly for your wedding.