Essen Insights | COVID Wedding Planning FAQ
*** This blog post will no longer be updated with changing restrictions. Please view our COVID-19 page for the latest updates, and email us directly with specific questions! ***
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Oooooof! Well, there’s no denying that planning a wedding in the middle of a global pandemic is not ideal. I hear you, friend. There are so many things that are all up in the air and changing on a weekly basis, so I wanted to pull together some of the questions that we’re getting on a regular basis from current clients. I hope that some of these will offer you some guidance and ease of mind!
Please note: this blog post was written with the current guidelines for MINNESOTA weddings and events and will be updated accordingly as guidelines change.
01. Should I postpone my wedding or just lower my guest count to a safe number?
* UPDATED 2/12/2021 * This question is hard to answer without breaking it down a little bit. It all comes down to what your priorities are for your wedding day. If you’ve always envisioned having your entire extended family and all the friends you’ve gotten close to throughout your life, it’s probably best for you to consider postponement. If you are just itching to marry your person, and are happy to do that with your close family members and friends there to celebrate, go ahead with lowering your guest count to the required limit and proceeding with planning!
Starting Saturday February 13 2021, Wedding ceremonies are still allowed to occur at 50% capacity, and must properly adhere to social distancing, and mandatory mask wearing. Wedding Receptions with food and drink being served will be allowed with 25% capacity, but maximum of 50 people. Wedding receptions without food and drink being served will follow the indoor + outdoor event venue guidelines of 25% capacity, but maximum of 250 people. More information about these restrictions can be found here. Please note that these new restrictions do not affect wedding ceremonies. Information about restrictions and guidelines for ceremonies can be found here (under places of Worship, religious services, weddings, and funerals).
Regardless of what direction you choose to go, it’s so important to keep your vendor team in the loop with your decisions, from the start. The more you can communicate with them, the more they can help guide you!
It’s also important to realize that postponement and lowering your guest count aren’t your only options!! You can tailor your event to your needs! Maybe that means you host a really small intimate ceremony, and communicate to your guests that your reception will be held at a later date when it’s safe to gather.
02. What do we do about sending out our save the dates and/or invitations?
This is also a question that I’m going to break down a bit, based on some different scenarios.
If your wedding is currently set for 2021, and it’s coming up on time for you to send out your invitations - you may have already sent out save the dates to your guest list. If you want, you can wait!!! My suggestion is to keep your wedding website updated with any updates you have, and hold off on sending out your invitations until you feel comfortable with moving your plans forward. Don’t wait too long, as a lot of your vendors will need a final guest count about a month out from your wedding date.
If your wedding is currently set for late 2021 or 2022 and you’re wondering about save the dates … should you send them to your entire guest list, just the narrowed down guest list, or hold off entirely? I suggest to continue planning as normal as possible for now! Send your save the dates out to your entire guest list, but make sure to include a separate insert communicating to your guests that you will keep them updated with any changes via your wedding website. Don’t forget to include a website address on that insert directing them to your website! With this option, don’t feel pressured to send your save the dates out as early as you normally would without a pandemic. You can hold off a bit if you want! I’d say anywhere between 8-4 months out is a safe timeframe for sending out save the dates right now.
03. I’ve been hearing a lot about health screenings at weddings … what’s required with that?
Health screenings are not required, but strongly recommended for all events. This doesn’t mean that somebody needs to be at the entrance of your event checking temperatures, though that is also recommended. Instead you can send a survey out (via email or text) to all of your guests and vendors and ask that they respond within 24 hours of your event’s starting time. A great guide to what questions to ask can be found HERE.
04. My venue says that they are exempt from the mask mandate because weddings are private events. Is this true?
It’s all so confusing, isn’t it?? Wedding pros in the Twin Cities have been on a handful of calls with the Governor’s office already to try and clarify all of the gray space that came with this mandate. Here’s what we’ve got so far: In section 3b of the Executive Order: “Business” and “Businesses” are broadly defined to include entities that employ or engage workers, including private-sector entities, public-sector entities, non-profit entities, and state, county, and local governments.” In other words, this statewide mask mandate includes any businesses, even if it’s a private business, that has workers. If your venue charged you money and has anyone working for it / at it, your event is included in this order. To explain further, in section 15a: “Businesses must require that all persons, including their workers, customers, and visitors, wear face coverings as required by this Executive Order.” If your venue is telling you that your wedding is exempt to this Executive Order, it’s simply not true.
The only exception listed in this executive order is listed in section 10f: “When eating or drinking in an indoor business or indoor public space, provided that at least 6 feet of physical distance is maintained between persons who are not members of the same party.” Guests may remove their face coverings while eating or drinking, as long as they’re seated and still properly following social distancing guidelines. Keep reading below for an explanation of how to properly assign seating for your guests!
05. I’m thinking about moving my wedding to a private residence. Can I plan on hosting my original large guest count then? Am I still required to enforce mask-wearing?
*UPDATED 11/11/20* Restrictions on social gatherings are still in place, with 10 being the maximum amount of people allowed to gather regardless of being indoors or outdoors. Previously, the limit was set at 25 outdoors and 10 indoors. In the past, if you hired a professional caterer, or were going to have your professional event planner be present at your party, the private residence could be considered an event venue - which would then be able to host a higher guest count as long as the event venue guidelines were followed. This is no longer the case, and private residences cannot be viewed as venues. Even if you have a Preparedness Plan, the maximum legal amount of guests you can host is 10, regardless of if you are hosting indoors or outdoors. The state is also restricting that 10 person limit to three households, so whichever comes first: 10 people, or three households.
If your event is being hosted at a private residence, it is still strongly recommended that mask wearing is enforced. Any staff working the event (photographer, catering staff, planner, florist, etc.) will be required to wear a mask.
06. What typical traditions and activities are going to need to be adjusted so that us and our guests can still celebrate safely?
There are a few things that are looking different at weddings lately. For instance, any food being served needs to either be individually wrapped, or served directly by (masked and glove-wearing) servers. This means things like buffets and passed appetizers have shifted a bit. Buffets are no longer self-serve, but servers dishing you up directly. Instead of grabbing your bruschetta from the tray as the servers are walking around, the server will hand you the bruschetta on a napkin. Not totally weird or different, but slightly adjusted for safety!
Your wedding ceremony will look a little different with social distancing guidelines, your guests will be required to sit in groups with their households, and six feet distanced between groups. You can absolutely still make an aisle to walk down with these restrictions in place!
* UPDATED 10/6/2020 * Probably the biggest difference in traditional elements of weddings is the dance. Dances are allowed at receptions, but social distancing needs to be practiced on the dance floor, and masks need to be worn. This means no dancing within six feet of anybody outside of your household. The Guidance for Safe Celebrations and Events in Minnesota was updated on October 5, 2020 and now states, “Dancing has a higher risk of spreading COVID-19 because of vigorous physical activity results in heavier breathing. With high exertion and breathing, the potential for more respiratory droplets to be released in the air is increased. Because of this, dancing at social gatherings and events is not recommended. If you choose to include dancing as a part of your event, maximize safety for attendees by following these precautions:
Everyone must wear face coverings while dancing at the event.
Consider limiting dancing to ceremonial dances with designated participants according to your particular tradition and culture.
People from different households must maintain social distance while dancing.
In order to do this, consider the following options:
Limit the number of people on the dance floor at the same time, Designate a person (DJ, Performer, Host, Planner, or Combination) to monitor and enforce the limited number of people on the dance floor at the same time, Interrupt the music if crowding occurs. Resume the music and dancing when the crowd is appropriately spaced.
Divide participants into groups using name tags or other methods and allow them access to the dance floor at different times.
Repeat or split popular songs if necessary so everyone can share the experience.
Consider only playing music that encourages touchless dancing rather than dancing while embraced.
Encourage socially distanced line dancing or other forward facing dances where people are able to maintain six feet of distance between people.”
A lot of couples are choosing to forgo the dance part of their reception altogether. They may still have a first dance with their partner, but then choose to do different activities throughout the evening instead of dancing. Some options for other activities include: Board Games, Yard Games, or hire an entertainer like a comedian or live entertainer. There are also options to still have a safe dance floor. You can limit the dance floor to 10 people at a time, require masks, and let your family and friends dance their troubles away!
* UPDATED 2/12/2021 * Per the state restrictions on events that Governor Walz announced on 2/12/2021, all events must end by 11pm. This doesn’t mean that dancing is no longer permitted at your event, but is strongly discouraged in a group setting. All of the previous guidelines for dancefloors listed above are still applicable. More information can be found here.
07. What’s required for table seating arrangements and social distancing?
Your guest tables are required to seat no more than 4 people per table. The only exception to this is if there are 6 people in one household, they can all be seated together at one table. No more than 6 people should be seated at one table, regardless of if they are in the same household or not. It’s time for the sweetheart table to SHINE right now, and for the head table to take a step back!
08. We’ve spent a lot of time on the design of our wedding, and are concerned that our tables are going to look empty with only 4-6 people seated at them. How do we still make it look full and well-designed?
If you’re planning to host a reception still, you have probably narrowed down your guest count based on your venue’s capacity limits. That also probably means you have decreased your budget for catering and other rental items that are a per/person cost. Let your florist deck out those tables!! Have your catering company switch to family style food (as long as you’re staying strict to the household seating restrictions) and let your food act as part of the decoration on your tables! Spread out the seats around the table to give your guests ample elbow room. If it’s an option at your venue, or with your table rental company, decrease the table size! For example, if you were originally planning on packing 8 people around a 60” round table, switch it to a 48” round or even a 30” round so that the table doesn’t look so large with only 4-6 people sitting at it! If you’re going the harvest table route, you can also try making the table size smaller if it’s an option. Otherwise, space out your guests and deck out those decorations!
06. What happens if we choose not to follow the statewide rules about face covering and social distance? Section 20b, ii of the Executive Order states, “Any business owner, manager, or supervisor who fails to comply with this Executive Order is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days. In addition to these criminal penalties, the Attorney General, as well as city and county attorneys, may seek any civil relief available pursuant to Minnesota Statues 2019, section 8.31, for violations of this Executive Order, including civil penalties up to $25,000 per occurrence from businesses and injunctive relief.” I think it goes without saying, but please respect your team of vendors enough to allow them to enforce these rules. Many small businesses cannot afford to be held liable for these fines.
If you’ve still got a question that we didn’t mention above, please reach out and we’ll continue to add and update this blog post with the latest information as guidelines in MN change.
The biggest piece of advice we can give about planning a wedding during COVID is to really lean on your vendor support system. You’ve hired professionals that you hopefully trust, and it’s our job as wedding vendors to guide you through this! The more you communicate with your team, the more they can help guide and help you through this to take some of the stress and heaviness off of you!
Some other helpful resources: Stay Safe MN Plan | Executive Order from Governor Walz | Guidance for Safe Celebrations and Events | Guidance for Indoor / Outdoor Weddings | Recommended Health Screening Questions | Essen Events Preparedness Plan
