The lead up to your wedding day should be an exciting time for any wedding couple but Covid-19 has certainly hampered the plans of many newly-weds-to-be for 2020. The cancellation/rescheduling of your wedding day is not written into any wedding planning guides, and although this has been a heart-breaking time it allows us to stop and take stock of what is truly important to us.
The ceremony itself will become a focus – with some couples deciding to host the ceremony ASAP and delaying the celebration until the restrictions have been lifted. Zoom has become a common brand name in daily life and this is no different in the world of wedding planning, with streaming of the ceremony becoming more and more common. You can get creative here and have your guests dress up, post them stationary for the order of service/readings, props for your wedding photos, a bottle of fizz for the toast and get them really involved in the day, albeit from afar.
As the larger weddings will become a thing of the past – with a movement towards more intimate weddings with one of the biggest considerations being the number of guests – at The Lowry Hotel we have adjusted our packages going forward to have minimum numbers of 50, rather than 80.
Seating considerations will be more important than ever. Guests from the same household will be able to sit closer together – this may allow you to be creative with a seating plan for the ceremony as well as the formal seating arrangement. We may see more creative room layouts; for instance, a circular or half-moon orientation for the ceremony that allows for more space with a 360-degree view of the couple.
Communicating to your guests – having digital stationary and a wedding website will allow you to keep your guests up to date as plans evolve. It will also give the opportunity to advise your guests what to expect in terms of participation in the day, face coverings, social distancing, food servicing and the covid safety measures your venue has in place, aiding the concerns they may have about attending an event.
The use of your space may be different – there will be greater space between the tables, with less guests per table. This lends itself for you to get creative with the table decorations. You will likely need to ditch the dancefloor and swap the dancing for post dinner entertainment designed to keep your guests in their seats longer.
Photography will evolve too with the group photo being impossible in the traditional sense, having a background wall rather than a photo booth and a series of individual/household photos instead.
The traditional Order of the Day is likely to see a shake-up – consider moving the speeches and cake cutting to the end of the drinks reception. This way, elderly/nervous guests can enjoy the ceremony, drinks reception, cake cutting and speeches from a distance. They can then choose to leave before everyone gathers together for the meal.
The important thing to remember is that you are still in the driving seat and you can still put your personal mark on your wedding, it may be taking place later than planned but it could turn out to be more creative and more bespoke to you as a couple than ever before.
With these considerations in place we have devised a brand-new wedding package which allows for the ceremony to be the shining star of the event, with the celebration happening in full force in 2021.
Introducing: Our Minimony/Sequel Wedding Package!
Our Minimony/Sequel Wedding Package is two wedding days in one.
The Minimony – would be a sneak peak of what it to come for the larger party, there would be the speeches, the intimate meal, the romantic ceremony with immediate family/close friends – up to 10 people, taking place in one of our light and bright function rooms. Table centrepieces would be something replicated across both events to tie them together. The package would be live streamed, and recorded, so more guests could join from home. This also means the ceremony itself could be shown during your sequel wedding.
The Sequel -This is your big celebration for 2021 – a party rather than sit down meal getting together all of your friends and family to truly celebrate your nuptials and status as newlyweds.
Click the link above to see what you can expect from this brand new wedding package!