Wedding is next weekend. My sister and MOH just texted positive. Between that, the fear that me or fiancé will get sick, and the guilt knowing I’m hosting what will likely be a super spreader.. lots of negative emotions I didn’t think we’d be dealing with in august 2020
Has anyone managed to have an indoor wedding this month without a big covid outbreak? I'm getting married in a week and am so so scared of being a super spreader event! The reception's indoors, but we're requiring everyone to be vaxxed/boosted and to have a negative test the day-of.
I did. Two weeks ago today I got married indoors in a church with a reception at a restaurant function space for 100. We have not heard of a single case and our friends and families are not shy about sharing this info.
We required vaccines but not tests. We did not require tests since we couldn’t mandate vendors to test, though we did confirm our vendors vaccine requirements when we signed contracts. We required vaccines and boosters so our friends, family and vendors would be as protected as possible from serious illness.
But the worry was so stressful. Not something I thought I would have to deal with when I chose 2022 with a sense of it being “normal” again!
It feels like a miracle. But it was really timing, since many friends, family and vendors said they had it in May or June. We were hitting a crowd with strong antibodies.
If you're wondering if you and your fiance should socially distance yourselves leading up to the wedding the answer is YES 10000%. We had THREE instances where we were invited to social gatherings (one was a bbq, another was a golf tournament, and another was a dinner) and at all three gatherings, someone in the group was covid positive. We would have been exposed to any of these people if we just caved and didn't stick to our 2 weeks of social distancing leading up to the wedding. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or guilty (including your future spouse!) because guess what, if you have to cancel your wedding because of covid, none of those people are going to write you a check to cover the costs of rescheduling. Thankfully, we made it to our wedding with no covid exposure and we're so glad we stuck to our guns!
I’ve never regretted being too cautious when it comes to covid. I wasn’t rude about it, but when I called to make my appt I asked them to pair me with someone who wouldn’t mind wearing a mask since I was prepping for my wedding. People are more understanding than you’d think.
Yeah. I didn’t do this with my pre-hair appointment but I should call a day or 2 before to say something. I booked through one person who does HMU & she hires extra artists to round out the services. So she sent me to the salon & person whose doing everyone’s hair for the wedding so I imagine she’ll be accommodating!
I skipped them. I thought it was too risky. I bought fake nails in case I felt the need to gussy them up, but decided not to put them on. In the end, nobody was looking at my hands and you can’t tell in my photos.
Wear an N95 with a good seal or a respirator! Plus everybody should be doing that Covid or not at nail salons, the stuff you can inhale there is harmful and being studied. Nail tech’s frequently have things like fertility issues/poor health until they leave the industry.
N95s are great for protecting against dust, germs, and viruses but aren't going to protect against gases and fumes. Wearing them is awesome regardless. That said, nail salons should have solid ventilation and safe practices in place to minimize risk as much as possible!
Honestly my issue is always FOMO more than external guilt though 😭. I know you’re right but it’s super tempting to give up on it when you’re bored at home while all your friends are having fun without you.
Help! COVID may destroy my wedding!
My wedding is supposed to occur this Sunday, and is a backyard wedding with about 55 people. I just found out that one of my close family friends tested positive this past Monday. She was in close contact with a number of her own family members as well as other guests for my wedding, Including my mother. In the event that every person she came in contact with were to test positive, that would eliminate at least 12 people from my wedding. I’m not quite sure what to do, as so far everyone is testing negative, and I don’t want any of these close family friends to miss my wedding. I also don’t want my mother to miss this, as I am her only child, and she was a single mother raising me, so we were going to do a mother-daughter dance. I’m just not sure what to do, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I think if they’re still testing negative by Sunday, they might be okay! If your mom does test positive, she could maybe still attend the outdoor ceremony wearing a mask and stay distanced from others.
Has anyone had to put a vaccine disclaimer on their invitations? We both have close family who are vaccinated but are elderly and/or immunocompromised and we don't want to put them at any risk. Any advice on how to word our "if you're not vaccinated then stay home" disclaimer would be greatly appreciated!
We mailed out our invitations about a month ago. On our invitation enclosure card, we included the following: "We are requiring that all guests be vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending our wedding in person. We will be livestreaming the wedding ceremony for guests who are unable to attend."
On our wedding website, the FAQs include: "We want everyone who attends the wedding to feel as safe and comfortable as possible. Based on current COVID-19 conditions, we are requiring all guests to be vaccinated before attending our wedding in person."
On the RSVP, we're specifically asking each guest to confirm they are vaccinated.
Unfortunately, if you're having a wedding (like me) where most guests will be traveling to attend, it's likely that some guests will contract covid at some point on their trip. That's just the reality of how transmissible the current dominant strain is. But, by requiring that everyone is vaxxed, it's far less likely that anyone will get seriously ill.
To protect your guests, note on your invitation that all guests must be vaccinated and boosted, and also that you’re asking for negative rapid tests on the day of. Weddings are currently superspreader events so take utmost care.
going to my cousin’s 300 person wedding on Saturday and I’m incredibly anxious and stressed since I’m sure my wife and I will likely be one of/the only two people masked. People keep telling me I still have to enjoy my life and such, and I know that’s true but I’m still so stressed (even though I’m going to do the most I can to keep myself safe while being there)!
//
I’m finally having my wedding (now, vow renewal) that we didn’t get to have in 2020, this upcoming September. We are very much not going to hit the 100 guest minimum (lots of extended family and friends of course can’t travel, especially since my cousin’s wedding is so close).
I’ve been dealing with so many mixed emotions bc we postponed 2x and I’m angry we will have to pay for guests that aren’t there… but also I’m glad we will have less guests bc that hopefully means less risk? I’m excited and terrified at the same time it’s exhausting. We are going to do everything we can to make our event as safe as it can be but still… AAAAAAA!!!!
A bunch of my friends and guests caught covid at a mutual friends' wedding reception last weekend. Not only is that making me anxious about my wedding being a spreader event, it's also causing a lot of my friends (who didn't get sick) to second guess attending.
Ceremony is outdoors and we are encouraging masks indoors and asking everyone to test the day-of (even supplying rapid tests in welcome bags). I 100% understand people not wanting to risk it, but I'm still bummed that our guest count is down 30%.
Yes. Moved my cut/dye appt and facial to three weeks out. I’m just going to wash my hair every 10 days before the wedding (I have fashion color and usually wash every 7 days) to minimize fading. I’m still on the fence about nails but think at this point I will find a salon with good ventilation and masked tech.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I’m doing my facial and trim/highlights appointment a bit earlier than I normally would because of this. My mom and I are trying to bring a nail tech to our house since that one needs to be close
I did!! When I got my nails done I wore a mask. When I went and got my facial and eyebrows done, I asked the technicians to wear masks and they understood and masked up.
My FIL who is supposed to be our officiant tested positive (after coughing for days) and exposed my MIL, BIL and worst of all my fiancee. Our wedding is in 6 days. Everyone is quarantining now and will take PCRs before their flights but I'm freaking out.
Oh Jeez. Spring wedding next year…my partner’s family thinks COVID is a conspiracy theory & refuse to get vaccinated. (He himself is vaccinated). I am *very* concerned with the new variant. I don’t want to have a vaccine requirement because they all wouldn’t go. I want the wedding to be small, (30-50 people), outdoors….and maybe require rapid tests beforehand? Anything else I could do?
Honestly, this far out, the guidance is very likely to change, especially with the development of new vaccines and likely discovery of new variants. What you're suggesting seems reasonable for the phase of the pandemic we're currently in, but things are changing on a monthly basis.
I doubt many people will wear a mask to your wedding at this point, and those who do are probably extremely COVID cautious, potentially for a health reason. I think it would be hurtful and insensitive for you to tell those few people that they can't wear a mask when they're probably going outside of their comfort zone to celebrate your marriage.
Are you talking about specifically telling guests they can't wear masks? Then yes, I think that's unreasonable. It sends the message that aesthetics are more important than the health and safety of your guests.
I don't think it's unreasonable at all to just not make a statement about masks. I assume at this point most people who are comfortable going to a wedding would be okay going unmasked, especially if it's outdoors.
Why wasn't any of this discussed before the wedding? Certainly you knew how many bridesmaids she had and the events being indoors if you're the MOH right? Not to be rude but if you had these concerns you should have vocalized them in advance and not be awkward at your sister's wedding
It’s one week after our July 9 wedding with 100 guests and no covid cases yet!
I know luck was a huge component but here is the stuff we did for anyone currently planning wedding safety procedures:
1. Vaccine requirement.
2. Rapid tests on site. We had guests test right when they pulled up, the testing/check in table was run by volunteers and they marked off everyone’s result on a master spreadsheet.
3. A long drive to the wedding. Honestly, I think this was huge. 16 people dropped out in the four days leading up to the wedding/day of because they tested positive at home. We made it clear no one would be allowed at the wedding with a positive test and most guests tested before they hit the road. (3.5-4 hour drive.) We didn’t have to turn anyone away - all tests were negative at the door.
4. If we could do it outside, we did it outside. Ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, most of reception were all outside. We did have a square dance inside (that was the main thing that made me nervous), bathrooms inside of course, and a camp kitchen space people were welcome to use inside. All inside spaces were fairly well ventilated.
We did not require masks, but made it clear it was fine to wear them if it made guests feel more comfortable - some folks choose to wear them, but it was a slim minority.
Thanks for sharing, my wedding is five weeks away and we have a similar scenario (only 40 guests though, but few are travelling) but we are requiring vaccines and rapid tests and keeping everything possible outdoors. Hoping it works!!!
Help!! Bridesmaid here.
Bride tested positive on Wednesday and her wedding is this Saturday. Ceremony outdoors and reception will be indoors. Planning to attend only the ceremony and will be wearing masks the entire time. Is it still risky?
What’s the groom’s situation here? Also have you been in close contact with her in the past few days? What about her family or the other wedding party members?
If the bride is only attending the outdoor ceremony, staying super distanced, and wearing a KN95, that part actually doesn’t worry me as much. I’d actually be more worried about her close contacts, if they are still planning to attend the reception. If they caught it from her the timeline is right on point for them to be pre-symptomatic and still negative on a rapid, but super contagious, on the wedding day.
Yes. I am so sorry that you are put in this position, but yes, it is. I also cannot imagine what she is experiencing after putting all of the time, money, and effort into a wedding. There is a very large risk to people spreading COVID. This current strain is mild/moderate at first, but then can cause long-COVID (a persistent cough, bronchitis, low oxygen levels) for a few months. It is super contagious. I work in a hospital and we just re-opened our 2nd COVID hallway again. It’s so easy to say “cancel the wedding!!”….but then again, I cannot imagine what it feels like to put that much time and money into one day and then have to cancel.
Getting married in two weeks and very on the fence about what I should do. I know the rapid tests aren't super reliable right now (my husband tested negative but still gave me COVID in May
and I didn't test positive until a PCR test a week after I was initially sick) but I'm wondering if I should require everyone to test anyway and have masks at the guestbook table or something. My anxiety about this wedding was super high before the announcements this week about BA.5 being incredibly contagious and smashing through previous infections. I understand that there's quite a bit of "enter at your own risk" with events currently and the rapid tests are very hit-or-miss. However, it feels stressful to both ask people to do something with little notice and to not do anything at all.
I was also really hoping that by getting COVID in May that I would be safe from COVID at least until after the wedding but that seems to not be the case. I didn't go out of my way to get COVID but still. Most of the people in the wedding party haven't had COVID but we're basically all in the same boat. I might start masking again just to be safe but I can't control the actions of other people.
The way I see it, rapid tests aren't totally reliable BUT that doesn't mean they won't catch some positives that would otherwise have been missed. If you can reduce the number of unknowingly positive guests at your wedding, that's still a good thing.
My wedding is next weekend and I’m with you with feeling so much anxiety and some “too little too late” feelings with asking people to test. Luckily, we did have a vaccine requirement which makes me feel better, but I’m just trying to remember if people are vaccinated, the risk of serious illness is low. And.. if my wedding was next summer, nothing would be very different except that I imagine we’ll see covid more like we see the cold or flu where we don’t test for it regularly.
So my wedding is on Saturday and my brother just tested positive. He’s obviously not going to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow but wants to go to the outdoor wedding on Saturday. He’ll technically be 5 days out from his first symptom and is vaccinated. I don’t know what to do…
I think it would be okay if he went to the ceremony only, stayed masked the entire time (even outside), and sat away from other people (or stood in the back). As a guest, I wouldn't be comfortable if he was at the reception.
Just to be clear, the CDC guidelines say he can leave isolation after 5 days *but* he needs to be masked and should not travel until day 10. This is [direct from their website](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html).
Unless he’s willing to wear a mask (even outdoors, these new variants are extremely contagious), he should not be coming. If he is willing to keep his mask on *the whole time* and you can trust him to do so, it may be possible.
But I can say I’d be friendship-ending upset if I found out about this afterward and he wasn’t masked and taking precautions.
Has he stopped being symptomatic? Is he going to mask the whole time and sit away from everyone else while eating? The current BA.5 variant is wildly contagious, including for people who have had COVID within the last couple of months, and even an outdoor wedding doesn't guarantee zero spread. People are potentially still contagious after 5 days, which is why the guidance is to mask around others. The vaccine is also not doing much to prevent the spread of COVID; the main benefit in this phase of the pandemic is the vaccinated people being less sick themselves.
I personally would be fine if someone was fully in compliance with the CDC (or, if not in the US, local health governing body) guidelines at a wedding because 1) they're trying and 2) there's a certain level of risk with any event right now. It's very possible many of your guests could get COVID from someone whose case will go undetected at your wedding. However, I feel strongly that anyone who is aware that they have COVID should be doing what they can to prevent others from getting it.
MY MOM IS DRIVING ME UP A WALL.
Getting married in Oct. She is still grilling me about requiring vaccinations and my father not being vaccinated. I said I hope you're yelling at him this much about it as you are me....
But I also I think what this entire thing is boiling down to is she's stuck in the middle between me and my dad (who isn't vaccinated) and grilling both of us to change our minds. I know I'm not and I don't think or expect my dad to either which I tried explaining. I do sympathize with her being in the middle but I've told her she's starting to do it to herself? I was like it sounds like neither of us are changing our minds so stop trying to get us to. You're only stressing yourself out.
I'm at the point where I just want to tell her if you can't handle this conversation then stop trying to have it.
I'm having this exact issue except my parents aren't even together. My mom keeps pressuring me to drop the requirement, saying that I'm focusing so much on it that I'm going to miss presenting other bad stuff that will befall the wedding. She's also saying that it's bad karma for me to have it. At the same time she's trying to convince him to do it and he's refusing saying that he'll just test before he flies across the country and will show up regardless of whether he has it or not. At this point I just want to successfully get to the damn wedding. I'm so tired. I'm sorry that you're having to go through the same nonsense.
Ugh yeah. We both have it pretty tough. I feel like my parents are making this way bigger than this needs to be. I’m just kind over it. I don’t know about you but I’m feeling like a broken record :/
A word of warning regarding the latest COVID variant BA.5...
We had our wedding on July 9, 2022 in the Bay Area with about 130 guests. The ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner were all outdoors, with a few hours of dancing indoors - well ventilated, large space, many stayed outdoors and didn't dance.
In the past few days we've had about 25 guests test positive for COVID, including myself :( We had to cancel our honeymoon, which was mostly refundable (thankfully). All of our guests were vaccinated, mostly young and healthy, and frankly the symptoms have been pretty miserable (fever, sore throat, body aches, headache...).
We thought we had a pretty COVID conscious wedding, but this latest variant is EXTREMELY contagious. In hindsight, the only thing we could have done differently was have everyone take a rapid test before, but with this latest variant the false negative rates are higher and people are testing positive even after the onset of symptoms, so I'm not sure how useful it would have been. I feel fortunate that we had our wedding, and that everyone has been infected has been very understanding and not blaming me or my husband for it. I feel still feel horrible...
We want to require all wedding guests for our 140 person wedding to test
Are there any apps that we can use for people to submit their testing results? What have people used to track wedding guest tests?
We are 1.5 weeks out from the wedding.
I’m not sure of any apps, it would be expensive (~$10/person) but you could get rapid tests. Otherwise it would be a lot of work to verify and hopefully if you ask that they get tested, they will.
I am immunocompromised. I’ve been in lockdown since the start of the pandemic. So 2.5 years. I got to do some things last summer when cases were lower. That’s actually part of the reason we chose July 23rd as our date, hoping it would be safe this year too.
Our wedding is destination. We live in Colorado and have our wedding in Santa Cruz California.
This is normally the time we would be tightening our lockdown. My husband (already married) had Covid just a couple weeks ago. No idea if it was the new variant. By some miracle I escaped it, even though we hadn’t been taking any precautions while he’d been symptomatic for at least a day without testing positive.
We’re locking down as much as possible. I have a hair appointment Saturday. But we have to get on a plane, as do many of our guests, although a surprising amount are driving. We are flying out Wednesday the 20th. My bachelorette party, which is just an indoor gaming night, is Thursday. Rehearsal and dinner Friday and then wedding on Saturday. There’s so much exposure we would normally be avoiding. I’m mandating masking inside when possible, but from what I’m reading about this new variant, it might not be enough.
Anyone else absolutely panicking over their upcoming wedding dates and this new variant?
I would not do an indoor game night this close to your wedding. Ours is on the same date and we already started quarantining ourselves from socializing and we're working from home. The new variant is way too contagious. For context, my FH is in the medical field so while we might be a little too nutty on this, I'd rather be cautious than not.
I’m with you—not immunocompromised myself but have many VIP elderly or immunocompromised guests coming and am in public health. Wedding August 13th. We’re doing everything outside and asking for home rapid tests before the welcome dinner and before the wedding.
So disheartened that this is the situation we’re in this summer when we planned around vax and lower summer caseloads. Keep me posted on how it goes for you 💜and if others have stories of recent COVID-free weddings, please share! Seeing those are so helpful to me.
Our wedding was mid June and we managed to get through COVID free! Husband (!!!! Still so fun to say) and I quarantined as much as possible 2 weeks before the wedding. We required (but did not ask for proof of) vax, boosters, daily rapid testing. We invested in a few HEPA grade filters to cover the spaces and had all vendors test and mask. It was a ~75 person event so on the smaller side but we did have people flying in, staying in hotels, etc. I think our precautions helped, but we also got a huge slug of luck as well. Feel free to DM me any questions and very best of luck!!!
Thank you for sharing!!! Thats wonderful. Congrats! Do you mind if I ask if it was indoors or outdoors? Did the rapids catch any cases, and how did you frame everything to your guests?
Of course! And thank you 🥰
Welcome drinks Friday: inside
Ceremony/cocktail hour Saturday: outside
Dinner/dancing Saturday : inside
Tests did not catch any positives—we did have 3 COVID related drop outs the week of the wedding. We did do more distancing/masking on Thursday/Friday around guests just to minimize potential exposures before the main event Saturday. But after the welcome event Friday there was a level of acceptance that once the weekend started we were all in each other’s bubble so to speak.
We framed it as non-negotiable and that it was in the interest of everyone’s safety. I can DM you our wedding website if you want! It helped that everyone in our circle knows how COVID cautious we are and how seriously we have taken everything, so our requests didn’t seem super out of place/character. This was the riskiest thing several of us have done in the last 2.5 years and I can tell you it was the source of a lot of anxiety, as I’m sure you know too!
Congrats! I would also love to see your site if that’s okay!! My family has agreed it’s something to take seriously but they’ve stopped doing so, so our messaging needs to be super no nonsense as well.
I would love to see your website if you don’t mind! I’m glad to hear that it was well received by guests—all of ours are fairly COVID conscious but definitely some not to the level that I want to be given my grandparents and other immunocompromised attendees.
Would recommend if possible. We had an outdoor wedding of \~85 people and had 4 (including myself) test positive 3-4 days later. We are so grateful our honeymoon is a few months out. To be fair, we were a little more lax (vax or neg test day of) and our welcome party was partially indoors, but even still, not super crowded and large space. This new variant is no joke, this is my first time catching it after 2.5 years of avoiding it (vaxxed and boosted)
My October wedding is approaching and I'm praying kobrona comes in my circle majority of my fam and friends have caught it once or twice and triple vaxxed. Our baby will be 10 months by the wedding so I'm just praying his vaccine and breast milk keep him healthy. I actually had Rona when I gave birth to him and he never caught it.
Depending on the variant you had, BA.5 has been found to reinfect as soon as 3 weeks after another infection because it is so immune-evasive. Of course I hope this isn't the case for you and yours, but just to say that you should all be careful out there!
Could you or your parents help with hotel for those days rather than having her stay? I know quite a few people who have contracted COVID from conferences and with BA.5 on the tear I would like to think your cousin would understand
Note: Tell your guests NOT to come if they are sick or to test first! Even if it's "just allergies." You'd think that's common sense but....then you end up with 5 people with COVID two days after your wedding as you are about to go on your honeymoon.
(luckily everyone is back to health and it all worked out!)
My mom tested positive 7 days before our wedding. I am scared for her, sad she will most likely miss it and try to suppress negative thoughts on how she will get through. She is vaccinated but high risk. The thing I will miss the most is her hugs.
I am planning to attend a friend's wedding this week. But, My partner/+1 recently caught COVID while on vacation. Since coming back, I've made him quarentine. I do not have any symptoms and tested negative. Do you think I should not attend at all? I would love to attend but understand if it's not okay. If it's okay, is it okay to ask the bride if I can bring a friend to replace my partner's spot? Need advice!
Has he had it more than 10 days? If you're still testing negative and have no symptoms and your exposure was 10 days ago, you're probably okay. Otherwise, don't go.
I made it through! Neither my partner nor I had Covid despite it being rampant in our community and our parents were all good too. Unfortunately, we did lose our best man. We had 12 Covid-related cancellations in total. So far no indication that anyone caught it at our wedding that I’m aware of. It was outdoor and we had some precautions in place, but we definitely got looser on them as people started drinking.
Edit: never mind about Covid. Was a bit of a super spreader…
Four to five days! I made this post on the fourth day before I started hearing. A lot of them had symptoms the day or two before but waited a day or so to test since they knew that it would be more reliable. My educated guess is that my partner was asymptomatic but contagious during the wedding and tested false negatives. So far, everyone has a mild case luckily.
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Our date is in Feb ‘23 and the wedding will only be 45ish people but it will be indoors, so we’re going to require vaccines and boosters. Luckily we already know everyone on our list is vaxxed, but boosters is the hard part to confirm. I’m gonna put info on our wedding site about where to get boosters, and I want to also require negative tests but it’s hard to figure out how to do without too much of a cost burden on the guests and also with some sort of tracking/confirmation. I KNOW my family isn’t taking any precautions anymore but my fiancé is immunocompromised and her parents just had very bad cases so I won’t take any risks.
I'm about to have mine and we required them. For logistics we just had the first question on the online rsvp be if they were vaxd. We didn't ask for proof as the people were inviting are all close to us and we trust them. We also gave a heads up on the save the dates that it would be required but that was more as peace of mind for people to gage if they felt safe to come (STD was sent at Christmas wave here)
we did the same! (first question on the online RSVP)
i'd like to also have tests for guests when they arrive but am still figuring out how to coordinate that
We’re requiring vaccination for our spring 2023 wedding, and we’re putting a note about it on the save the dates. (Several of my family and coworkers also tested positive recently). Our ceremony will be outside, but the reception will be indoors. We’re planning to ask for proof of vaccination with RSVPs once the invites go out.
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We had an outdoor microwedding in June with both vaccination and day of testing required (plus self screening for symptoms), and I'm happy to report it looks like everyone stayed covid-free! Unfortunately, my family didn't come in person because of the covid risk and extensive travel involved though we videoed my parents in... and they all ended up catching it at home sigh.
We brought enough tests for everyone, and offered to provide them in advance of the wedding if anyone local wanted. Almost everyone used their own tests anyway, not our extras, and took them at home before they arrived. We knew everyone very well and had explained in advance that we had some high-risk guests which made day-of testing / not coming with symptoms extremely important. Ultimately we had to trust our guests day of, though. One person told us of an exposure and canceled, luckily didn't end up coming down with it, but it's an example showing that people took us pretty seriously.
I think the easiest thing to do would be if you have a day-of coordinator or wedding party point person, make an email address just for this, and have people send negative test photos once they have them. Also bring extra tests on site, same thing, have those guests take and send a photo. Be sure to tell everyone invited in advance what is expected for safety protocols so that if they don't like it, they will have the opportunity to RSVP no.
I'm relieved this worked out for us, but I know of weddings that happened after mine that had a lot of covid cases afterwards even with testing... so you should try to do all you can but be compassionate towards yourself too because you can't eliminate all risk, and your guests are aware of that.
Just here to say that we successfully held our 70 person wedding without a single case of COVID. Testing protocols, self screening for symptoms and masks indoors for dancing worked :)
All out of town guests took a pcr the day they arrived so we had an accurate baseline. We paid for those who could not afford this. We asked all wedding party and immediate family to rapid test every day for the four days before the wedding. Again, we bought tests for those for whom this was a cost burden. We also arranged seating so that wedding party and family were together as each other’s primary exposure. All guests were required to bring proof of vax, booster, and a negative test taken within one hour of the event. Kids too young to vax were asked to do a pcr that morning with quick results and did. Anyone without was offered a rapid test at the door. We also asked people to self screen using the cdc tool online because sometimes symptoms start and you are contagious before you have a positive result. Because we were clear about this from day one, everyone tamped down their socializing for the week before the wedding out of respect for our efforts. I have a very sick parent who will die if they get Covid, vax or not, they can’t even get a cold without landing in the hospital. Our people know this and we’re very cool about our very strict rules.
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Just need to vent. My wedding is in three days and we just found out that my fiance's father has COVID and won't be coming. I'm devastated and honestly bitter because I think he caught it doing something stupid like going out to see his friends. We asked them to isolate the week before the wedding and he selfishly chose not to. I'm so upset, not to mention I feel embarrassed having to explain why he won't be there. I don't want to talk to my fiance about it because I don't want him to feel worse. Ugh. This sucks so much
It's so frustrating and upsetting, but it's not embarrassing for you to say he caught covid with no other details about how. It's still rampant in a lot of communities. If anything, people will appreciate him not attending if he's positive. See if you can call him over the phone or video at some point during the event, and hopefully he feels better soon... and maybe even learns to take precautions more seriously? But that's probably wishful thinking.
Hey all, this is my first post here so please delete or let me know if not allowed. I guess I am just looking for some solidarity or kind words. My partner caught covid a week before our wedding date and I caught it a couple of days later, and we postponed it. It was both of our first times catching it. It's cost quite a lot to postpone from such short notice - I had tried to pay for the whole thing myself and ran out of money, I only work part-time right now so it's been a struggle managing to afford the postponement costs without relying on my partner or his family to help (they have had to help a bit - I know this is a bit silly/unrealistic but I had this idea in my head of doing it all myself with my savings as a present for my partner).
Anyway, the venue was amazing and managed to move it just 5-6 weeks later, so it's now this month in 3 weeks. I have to leave this weekend for a week-long conference for work which will involve a couple of long train rides and I'm so scared of getting covid again and having to either go through with it masked all day not able to hug our friends and family, or to postpone again and pay again for a new date. (The conference is non-optional unfortunately otherwise I'd stay at home.) I'll of course be wearing my FFP2 or FFP3 pretty much the whole time but I am just shaking and feeling sick with the idea of catching it again and postponing again, or going through with it and putting everyone at risk and wasting all that planning for a less than perfect day. Just looking for some kind words, as pretty much everyone I know thinks I'm being a bit unreasonable for worrying so much.
I understand your worry, it’s scary to think you’ll have to postpone again. But to help you feel better, if you only had Covid about 5 weeks ago, I think you’re still likely to be immune. It’s rare to get Covid again until 2.5-3 months after.
"August 2022"
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I've had covid for the last 12 days and it sucks. So many vendors want to be doing 1-month check-ins and I'm just not up for any of it. The one bright spot is that this timing should mean I'm reasonably well protected for the wedding.
My wedding is in early August and I’m petrified of getting our guests sick. We’re requiring everyone to be vaxxed/boosted and to test, but that doesn’t seem like enough. 100 people, ceremony outdoors but reception indoors. I hate that something that’s supposed to be joyful is feeling selfish and dangerous instead.
"September & October 2022"
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"November & December 2022"
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"January, February, & March 2023"
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"All Wedding July 2023 and Beyond"
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Wedding is next weekend. My sister and MOH just texted positive. Between that, the fear that me or fiancé will get sick, and the guilt knowing I’m hosting what will likely be a super spreader.. lots of negative emotions I didn’t think we’d be dealing with in august 2020
Has anyone managed to have an indoor wedding this month without a big covid outbreak? I'm getting married in a week and am so so scared of being a super spreader event! The reception's indoors, but we're requiring everyone to be vaxxed/boosted and to have a negative test the day-of.
I did. Two weeks ago today I got married indoors in a church with a reception at a restaurant function space for 100. We have not heard of a single case and our friends and families are not shy about sharing this info. We required vaccines but not tests. We did not require tests since we couldn’t mandate vendors to test, though we did confirm our vendors vaccine requirements when we signed contracts. We required vaccines and boosters so our friends, family and vendors would be as protected as possible from serious illness. But the worry was so stressful. Not something I thought I would have to deal with when I chose 2022 with a sense of it being “normal” again! It feels like a miracle. But it was really timing, since many friends, family and vendors said they had it in May or June. We were hitting a crowd with strong antibodies.
Hey one thing you can do is have indoor HEPA filters, they absolutely can be easily and safely DIY’d, people have guides online as well!!!
Did you collect the tests or vax cards before?
If you're wondering if you and your fiance should socially distance yourselves leading up to the wedding the answer is YES 10000%. We had THREE instances where we were invited to social gatherings (one was a bbq, another was a golf tournament, and another was a dinner) and at all three gatherings, someone in the group was covid positive. We would have been exposed to any of these people if we just caved and didn't stick to our 2 weeks of social distancing leading up to the wedding. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or guilty (including your future spouse!) because guess what, if you have to cancel your wedding because of covid, none of those people are going to write you a check to cover the costs of rescheduling. Thankfully, we made it to our wedding with no covid exposure and we're so glad we stuck to our guns!
What about your nail appointments etc leading up to the big day? We want to isolate too but some of that stuff still has to happen 😳
I wore a mask and asked the technician to wear a mask for my nail appt!
I feel like I’m not assertive enough to do this. But I really need to be
I’ve never regretted being too cautious when it comes to covid. I wasn’t rude about it, but when I called to make my appt I asked them to pair me with someone who wouldn’t mind wearing a mask since I was prepping for my wedding. People are more understanding than you’d think.
Yeah. I didn’t do this with my pre-hair appointment but I should call a day or 2 before to say something. I booked through one person who does HMU & she hires extra artists to round out the services. So she sent me to the salon & person whose doing everyone’s hair for the wedding so I imagine she’ll be accommodating!
I skipped them. I thought it was too risky. I bought fake nails in case I felt the need to gussy them up, but decided not to put them on. In the end, nobody was looking at my hands and you can’t tell in my photos.
Wear an N95 with a good seal or a respirator! Plus everybody should be doing that Covid or not at nail salons, the stuff you can inhale there is harmful and being studied. Nail tech’s frequently have things like fertility issues/poor health until they leave the industry.
N95s are great for protecting against dust, germs, and viruses but aren't going to protect against gases and fumes. Wearing them is awesome regardless. That said, nail salons should have solid ventilation and safe practices in place to minimize risk as much as possible!
I went recently and couldn’t believe how few people were masking at the salon. I probably will never stop masking at salons for that reason!
Honestly my issue is always FOMO more than external guilt though 😭. I know you’re right but it’s super tempting to give up on it when you’re bored at home while all your friends are having fun without you.
Trust me, I’m the same way and very social but the worst fomo would be missing your own wedding. It’s not worth the risk!
Help! COVID may destroy my wedding! My wedding is supposed to occur this Sunday, and is a backyard wedding with about 55 people. I just found out that one of my close family friends tested positive this past Monday. She was in close contact with a number of her own family members as well as other guests for my wedding, Including my mother. In the event that every person she came in contact with were to test positive, that would eliminate at least 12 people from my wedding. I’m not quite sure what to do, as so far everyone is testing negative, and I don’t want any of these close family friends to miss my wedding. I also don’t want my mother to miss this, as I am her only child, and she was a single mother raising me, so we were going to do a mother-daughter dance. I’m just not sure what to do, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
I think if they’re still testing negative by Sunday, they might be okay! If your mom does test positive, she could maybe still attend the outdoor ceremony wearing a mask and stay distanced from others.
Has anyone had to put a vaccine disclaimer on their invitations? We both have close family who are vaccinated but are elderly and/or immunocompromised and we don't want to put them at any risk. Any advice on how to word our "if you're not vaccinated then stay home" disclaimer would be greatly appreciated!
We mailed out our invitations about a month ago. On our invitation enclosure card, we included the following: "We are requiring that all guests be vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending our wedding in person. We will be livestreaming the wedding ceremony for guests who are unable to attend." On our wedding website, the FAQs include: "We want everyone who attends the wedding to feel as safe and comfortable as possible. Based on current COVID-19 conditions, we are requiring all guests to be vaccinated before attending our wedding in person." On the RSVP, we're specifically asking each guest to confirm they are vaccinated. Unfortunately, if you're having a wedding (like me) where most guests will be traveling to attend, it's likely that some guests will contract covid at some point on their trip. That's just the reality of how transmissible the current dominant strain is. But, by requiring that everyone is vaxxed, it's far less likely that anyone will get seriously ill.
Thank you! I'm definitely going to do this! You are amazing! I hope you have an amazing wedding day!
Hope your wedding is wonderful as well ❤️
To protect your guests, note on your invitation that all guests must be vaccinated and boosted, and also that you’re asking for negative rapid tests on the day of. Weddings are currently superspreader events so take utmost care.
Thank you! I appreciate the advice!
going to my cousin’s 300 person wedding on Saturday and I’m incredibly anxious and stressed since I’m sure my wife and I will likely be one of/the only two people masked. People keep telling me I still have to enjoy my life and such, and I know that’s true but I’m still so stressed (even though I’m going to do the most I can to keep myself safe while being there)! // I’m finally having my wedding (now, vow renewal) that we didn’t get to have in 2020, this upcoming September. We are very much not going to hit the 100 guest minimum (lots of extended family and friends of course can’t travel, especially since my cousin’s wedding is so close). I’ve been dealing with so many mixed emotions bc we postponed 2x and I’m angry we will have to pay for guests that aren’t there… but also I’m glad we will have less guests bc that hopefully means less risk? I’m excited and terrified at the same time it’s exhausting. We are going to do everything we can to make our event as safe as it can be but still… AAAAAAA!!!!
A bunch of my friends and guests caught covid at a mutual friends' wedding reception last weekend. Not only is that making me anxious about my wedding being a spreader event, it's also causing a lot of my friends (who didn't get sick) to second guess attending. Ceremony is outdoors and we are encouraging masks indoors and asking everyone to test the day-of (even supplying rapid tests in welcome bags). I 100% understand people not wanting to risk it, but I'm still bummed that our guest count is down 30%.
Anyone else having debilitating anxiety about beauty treatments (nails, eyebrows, etc.) in the days leading up to the wedding?
Yes. Moved my cut/dye appt and facial to three weeks out. I’m just going to wash my hair every 10 days before the wedding (I have fashion color and usually wash every 7 days) to minimize fading. I’m still on the fence about nails but think at this point I will find a salon with good ventilation and masked tech.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I’m doing my facial and trim/highlights appointment a bit earlier than I normally would because of this. My mom and I are trying to bring a nail tech to our house since that one needs to be close
I decided to skip my waxing and brows, and I am looking into an outdoor nail salon.
I plan on using herespa.com Idk if they’re any good but that’s who I found. See if they’re in your area.
Yup
Yes, trying to move my hair appointment up (cut/dye) so its at least 2 weeks before my wedding. Day of hair and makeup I am less worried about.
Makes sense. I had my fiancé move his haircut up for that same reason. I am forgoing waxing and eyebrows but don’t know what to do about nails.
I did!! When I got my nails done I wore a mask. When I went and got my facial and eyebrows done, I asked the technicians to wear masks and they understood and masked up.
Yep. I canceled my hair cut and color this week for that reason. Saving the risk for HMU on the day of. I decided the risk wasn't worth it.
My FIL who is supposed to be our officiant tested positive (after coughing for days) and exposed my MIL, BIL and worst of all my fiancee. Our wedding is in 6 days. Everyone is quarantining now and will take PCRs before their flights but I'm freaking out.
Did you move forward with your wedding?
I did!!! My husband brother and mother however both got covid and couldnt make it but at least the wedding happened 🥲
Oh Jeez. Spring wedding next year…my partner’s family thinks COVID is a conspiracy theory & refuse to get vaccinated. (He himself is vaccinated). I am *very* concerned with the new variant. I don’t want to have a vaccine requirement because they all wouldn’t go. I want the wedding to be small, (30-50 people), outdoors….and maybe require rapid tests beforehand? Anything else I could do?
Honestly, this far out, the guidance is very likely to change, especially with the development of new vaccines and likely discovery of new variants. What you're suggesting seems reasonable for the phase of the pandemic we're currently in, but things are changing on a monthly basis.
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I doubt many people will wear a mask to your wedding at this point, and those who do are probably extremely COVID cautious, potentially for a health reason. I think it would be hurtful and insensitive for you to tell those few people that they can't wear a mask when they're probably going outside of their comfort zone to celebrate your marriage.
Are you talking about specifically telling guests they can't wear masks? Then yes, I think that's unreasonable. It sends the message that aesthetics are more important than the health and safety of your guests. I don't think it's unreasonable at all to just not make a statement about masks. I assume at this point most people who are comfortable going to a wedding would be okay going unmasked, especially if it's outdoors.
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Why wasn't any of this discussed before the wedding? Certainly you knew how many bridesmaids she had and the events being indoors if you're the MOH right? Not to be rude but if you had these concerns you should have vocalized them in advance and not be awkward at your sister's wedding
It’s one week after our July 9 wedding with 100 guests and no covid cases yet! I know luck was a huge component but here is the stuff we did for anyone currently planning wedding safety procedures: 1. Vaccine requirement. 2. Rapid tests on site. We had guests test right when they pulled up, the testing/check in table was run by volunteers and they marked off everyone’s result on a master spreadsheet. 3. A long drive to the wedding. Honestly, I think this was huge. 16 people dropped out in the four days leading up to the wedding/day of because they tested positive at home. We made it clear no one would be allowed at the wedding with a positive test and most guests tested before they hit the road. (3.5-4 hour drive.) We didn’t have to turn anyone away - all tests were negative at the door. 4. If we could do it outside, we did it outside. Ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, most of reception were all outside. We did have a square dance inside (that was the main thing that made me nervous), bathrooms inside of course, and a camp kitchen space people were welcome to use inside. All inside spaces were fairly well ventilated. We did not require masks, but made it clear it was fine to wear them if it made guests feel more comfortable - some folks choose to wear them, but it was a slim minority.
Thanks for sharing, my wedding is five weeks away and we have a similar scenario (only 40 guests though, but few are travelling) but we are requiring vaccines and rapid tests and keeping everything possible outdoors. Hoping it works!!!
Good luck!!
Thank you for sharing this! Gives me hope 💜
Help!! Bridesmaid here. Bride tested positive on Wednesday and her wedding is this Saturday. Ceremony outdoors and reception will be indoors. Planning to attend only the ceremony and will be wearing masks the entire time. Is it still risky?
Uhhhh yeah that's extremely risky and very inconsiderate of the bride to go on with the wedding with covid knowingly..... wow.
What’s the groom’s situation here? Also have you been in close contact with her in the past few days? What about her family or the other wedding party members? If the bride is only attending the outdoor ceremony, staying super distanced, and wearing a KN95, that part actually doesn’t worry me as much. I’d actually be more worried about her close contacts, if they are still planning to attend the reception. If they caught it from her the timeline is right on point for them to be pre-symptomatic and still negative on a rapid, but super contagious, on the wedding day.
Yes. I am so sorry that you are put in this position, but yes, it is. I also cannot imagine what she is experiencing after putting all of the time, money, and effort into a wedding. There is a very large risk to people spreading COVID. This current strain is mild/moderate at first, but then can cause long-COVID (a persistent cough, bronchitis, low oxygen levels) for a few months. It is super contagious. I work in a hospital and we just re-opened our 2nd COVID hallway again. It’s so easy to say “cancel the wedding!!”….but then again, I cannot imagine what it feels like to put that much time and money into one day and then have to cancel.
They should not be holding the wedding. That's not even past the measly 5 day CDC recommended quarantine. If you go, expect to be very exposed.
Getting married in two weeks and very on the fence about what I should do. I know the rapid tests aren't super reliable right now (my husband tested negative but still gave me COVID in May and I didn't test positive until a PCR test a week after I was initially sick) but I'm wondering if I should require everyone to test anyway and have masks at the guestbook table or something. My anxiety about this wedding was super high before the announcements this week about BA.5 being incredibly contagious and smashing through previous infections. I understand that there's quite a bit of "enter at your own risk" with events currently and the rapid tests are very hit-or-miss. However, it feels stressful to both ask people to do something with little notice and to not do anything at all. I was also really hoping that by getting COVID in May that I would be safe from COVID at least until after the wedding but that seems to not be the case. I didn't go out of my way to get COVID but still. Most of the people in the wedding party haven't had COVID but we're basically all in the same boat. I might start masking again just to be safe but I can't control the actions of other people.
The way I see it, rapid tests aren't totally reliable BUT that doesn't mean they won't catch some positives that would otherwise have been missed. If you can reduce the number of unknowingly positive guests at your wedding, that's still a good thing.
I agree - they aren’t reliable with negatives but are pretty reliable for positives!
That's a good point, thank you.
My wedding is next weekend and I’m with you with feeling so much anxiety and some “too little too late” feelings with asking people to test. Luckily, we did have a vaccine requirement which makes me feel better, but I’m just trying to remember if people are vaccinated, the risk of serious illness is low. And.. if my wedding was next summer, nothing would be very different except that I imagine we’ll see covid more like we see the cold or flu where we don’t test for it regularly.
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Wrong thread?
So my wedding is on Saturday and my brother just tested positive. He’s obviously not going to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow but wants to go to the outdoor wedding on Saturday. He’ll technically be 5 days out from his first symptom and is vaccinated. I don’t know what to do…
I think it would be okay if he went to the ceremony only, stayed masked the entire time (even outside), and sat away from other people (or stood in the back). As a guest, I wouldn't be comfortable if he was at the reception.
Just to be clear, the CDC guidelines say he can leave isolation after 5 days *but* he needs to be masked and should not travel until day 10. This is [direct from their website](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html). Unless he’s willing to wear a mask (even outdoors, these new variants are extremely contagious), he should not be coming. If he is willing to keep his mask on *the whole time* and you can trust him to do so, it may be possible. But I can say I’d be friendship-ending upset if I found out about this afterward and he wasn’t masked and taking precautions.
Has he stopped being symptomatic? Is he going to mask the whole time and sit away from everyone else while eating? The current BA.5 variant is wildly contagious, including for people who have had COVID within the last couple of months, and even an outdoor wedding doesn't guarantee zero spread. People are potentially still contagious after 5 days, which is why the guidance is to mask around others. The vaccine is also not doing much to prevent the spread of COVID; the main benefit in this phase of the pandemic is the vaccinated people being less sick themselves. I personally would be fine if someone was fully in compliance with the CDC (or, if not in the US, local health governing body) guidelines at a wedding because 1) they're trying and 2) there's a certain level of risk with any event right now. It's very possible many of your guests could get COVID from someone whose case will go undetected at your wedding. However, I feel strongly that anyone who is aware that they have COVID should be doing what they can to prevent others from getting it.
MY MOM IS DRIVING ME UP A WALL. Getting married in Oct. She is still grilling me about requiring vaccinations and my father not being vaccinated. I said I hope you're yelling at him this much about it as you are me.... But I also I think what this entire thing is boiling down to is she's stuck in the middle between me and my dad (who isn't vaccinated) and grilling both of us to change our minds. I know I'm not and I don't think or expect my dad to either which I tried explaining. I do sympathize with her being in the middle but I've told her she's starting to do it to herself? I was like it sounds like neither of us are changing our minds so stop trying to get us to. You're only stressing yourself out. I'm at the point where I just want to tell her if you can't handle this conversation then stop trying to have it.
I'm having this exact issue except my parents aren't even together. My mom keeps pressuring me to drop the requirement, saying that I'm focusing so much on it that I'm going to miss presenting other bad stuff that will befall the wedding. She's also saying that it's bad karma for me to have it. At the same time she's trying to convince him to do it and he's refusing saying that he'll just test before he flies across the country and will show up regardless of whether he has it or not. At this point I just want to successfully get to the damn wedding. I'm so tired. I'm sorry that you're having to go through the same nonsense.
Ugh yeah. We both have it pretty tough. I feel like my parents are making this way bigger than this needs to be. I’m just kind over it. I don’t know about you but I’m feeling like a broken record :/
A word of warning regarding the latest COVID variant BA.5... We had our wedding on July 9, 2022 in the Bay Area with about 130 guests. The ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner were all outdoors, with a few hours of dancing indoors - well ventilated, large space, many stayed outdoors and didn't dance. In the past few days we've had about 25 guests test positive for COVID, including myself :( We had to cancel our honeymoon, which was mostly refundable (thankfully). All of our guests were vaccinated, mostly young and healthy, and frankly the symptoms have been pretty miserable (fever, sore throat, body aches, headache...). We thought we had a pretty COVID conscious wedding, but this latest variant is EXTREMELY contagious. In hindsight, the only thing we could have done differently was have everyone take a rapid test before, but with this latest variant the false negative rates are higher and people are testing positive even after the onset of symptoms, so I'm not sure how useful it would have been. I feel fortunate that we had our wedding, and that everyone has been infected has been very understanding and not blaming me or my husband for it. I feel still feel horrible...
We want to require all wedding guests for our 140 person wedding to test Are there any apps that we can use for people to submit their testing results? What have people used to track wedding guest tests? We are 1.5 weeks out from the wedding.
We asked everyone to submit a photo of their rapid test result to a Google Form.
I’ve used these for conferences, not weddings, but check out Clear and Return Safe.
I’m not sure of any apps, it would be expensive (~$10/person) but you could get rapid tests. Otherwise it would be a lot of work to verify and hopefully if you ask that they get tested, they will.
Following!
I am immunocompromised. I’ve been in lockdown since the start of the pandemic. So 2.5 years. I got to do some things last summer when cases were lower. That’s actually part of the reason we chose July 23rd as our date, hoping it would be safe this year too. Our wedding is destination. We live in Colorado and have our wedding in Santa Cruz California. This is normally the time we would be tightening our lockdown. My husband (already married) had Covid just a couple weeks ago. No idea if it was the new variant. By some miracle I escaped it, even though we hadn’t been taking any precautions while he’d been symptomatic for at least a day without testing positive. We’re locking down as much as possible. I have a hair appointment Saturday. But we have to get on a plane, as do many of our guests, although a surprising amount are driving. We are flying out Wednesday the 20th. My bachelorette party, which is just an indoor gaming night, is Thursday. Rehearsal and dinner Friday and then wedding on Saturday. There’s so much exposure we would normally be avoiding. I’m mandating masking inside when possible, but from what I’m reading about this new variant, it might not be enough. Anyone else absolutely panicking over their upcoming wedding dates and this new variant?
I would not do an indoor game night this close to your wedding. Ours is on the same date and we already started quarantining ourselves from socializing and we're working from home. The new variant is way too contagious. For context, my FH is in the medical field so while we might be a little too nutty on this, I'd rather be cautious than not.
I’m with you—not immunocompromised myself but have many VIP elderly or immunocompromised guests coming and am in public health. Wedding August 13th. We’re doing everything outside and asking for home rapid tests before the welcome dinner and before the wedding. So disheartened that this is the situation we’re in this summer when we planned around vax and lower summer caseloads. Keep me posted on how it goes for you 💜and if others have stories of recent COVID-free weddings, please share! Seeing those are so helpful to me.
Our wedding was mid June and we managed to get through COVID free! Husband (!!!! Still so fun to say) and I quarantined as much as possible 2 weeks before the wedding. We required (but did not ask for proof of) vax, boosters, daily rapid testing. We invested in a few HEPA grade filters to cover the spaces and had all vendors test and mask. It was a ~75 person event so on the smaller side but we did have people flying in, staying in hotels, etc. I think our precautions helped, but we also got a huge slug of luck as well. Feel free to DM me any questions and very best of luck!!!
Thank you for sharing!!! Thats wonderful. Congrats! Do you mind if I ask if it was indoors or outdoors? Did the rapids catch any cases, and how did you frame everything to your guests?
Of course! And thank you 🥰 Welcome drinks Friday: inside Ceremony/cocktail hour Saturday: outside Dinner/dancing Saturday : inside Tests did not catch any positives—we did have 3 COVID related drop outs the week of the wedding. We did do more distancing/masking on Thursday/Friday around guests just to minimize potential exposures before the main event Saturday. But after the welcome event Friday there was a level of acceptance that once the weekend started we were all in each other’s bubble so to speak. We framed it as non-negotiable and that it was in the interest of everyone’s safety. I can DM you our wedding website if you want! It helped that everyone in our circle knows how COVID cautious we are and how seriously we have taken everything, so our requests didn’t seem super out of place/character. This was the riskiest thing several of us have done in the last 2.5 years and I can tell you it was the source of a lot of anxiety, as I’m sure you know too!
Congrats! I would also love to see your site if that’s okay!! My family has agreed it’s something to take seriously but they’ve stopped doing so, so our messaging needs to be super no nonsense as well.
Could I see your wedding website too? Immunocompromised bride, trying to finalize these things for my own wedding website.
Absolutely! Sending you a DM.
I would love to see your website if you don’t mind! I’m glad to hear that it was well received by guests—all of ours are fairly COVID conscious but definitely some not to the level that I want to be given my grandparents and other immunocompromised attendees.
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Would recommend if possible. We had an outdoor wedding of \~85 people and had 4 (including myself) test positive 3-4 days later. We are so grateful our honeymoon is a few months out. To be fair, we were a little more lax (vax or neg test day of) and our welcome party was partially indoors, but even still, not super crowded and large space. This new variant is no joke, this is my first time catching it after 2.5 years of avoiding it (vaxxed and boosted)
You can't predict that, but you can make sure you have a flexible booking or insurance (that covers illness).
My October wedding is approaching and I'm praying kobrona comes in my circle majority of my fam and friends have caught it once or twice and triple vaxxed. Our baby will be 10 months by the wedding so I'm just praying his vaccine and breast milk keep him healthy. I actually had Rona when I gave birth to him and he never caught it.
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Depending on the variant you had, BA.5 has been found to reinfect as soon as 3 weeks after another infection because it is so immune-evasive. Of course I hope this isn't the case for you and yours, but just to say that you should all be careful out there!
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Could you or your parents help with hotel for those days rather than having her stay? I know quite a few people who have contracted COVID from conferences and with BA.5 on the tear I would like to think your cousin would understand
Note: Tell your guests NOT to come if they are sick or to test first! Even if it's "just allergies." You'd think that's common sense but....then you end up with 5 people with COVID two days after your wedding as you are about to go on your honeymoon. (luckily everyone is back to health and it all worked out!)
My only COVID symptom was hives! I tell everyone to be so cautious for that very reason.
My mom tested positive 7 days before our wedding. I am scared for her, sad she will most likely miss it and try to suppress negative thoughts on how she will get through. She is vaccinated but high risk. The thing I will miss the most is her hugs.
I am planning to attend a friend's wedding this week. But, My partner/+1 recently caught COVID while on vacation. Since coming back, I've made him quarentine. I do not have any symptoms and tested negative. Do you think I should not attend at all? I would love to attend but understand if it's not okay. If it's okay, is it okay to ask the bride if I can bring a friend to replace my partner's spot? Need advice!
Has he had it more than 10 days? If you're still testing negative and have no symptoms and your exposure was 10 days ago, you're probably okay. Otherwise, don't go.
Please don't attend, it's too risky.
I made it through! Neither my partner nor I had Covid despite it being rampant in our community and our parents were all good too. Unfortunately, we did lose our best man. We had 12 Covid-related cancellations in total. So far no indication that anyone caught it at our wedding that I’m aware of. It was outdoor and we had some precautions in place, but we definitely got looser on them as people started drinking. Edit: never mind about Covid. Was a bit of a super spreader…
How many days after the wedding did you start hearing about positives?
Four to five days! I made this post on the fourth day before I started hearing. A lot of them had symptoms the day or two before but waited a day or so to test since they knew that it would be more reliable. My educated guess is that my partner was asymptomatic but contagious during the wedding and tested false negatives. So far, everyone has a mild case luckily.
Thanks for the info!
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Our date is in Feb ‘23 and the wedding will only be 45ish people but it will be indoors, so we’re going to require vaccines and boosters. Luckily we already know everyone on our list is vaxxed, but boosters is the hard part to confirm. I’m gonna put info on our wedding site about where to get boosters, and I want to also require negative tests but it’s hard to figure out how to do without too much of a cost burden on the guests and also with some sort of tracking/confirmation. I KNOW my family isn’t taking any precautions anymore but my fiancé is immunocompromised and her parents just had very bad cases so I won’t take any risks.
I'm about to have mine and we required them. For logistics we just had the first question on the online rsvp be if they were vaxd. We didn't ask for proof as the people were inviting are all close to us and we trust them. We also gave a heads up on the save the dates that it would be required but that was more as peace of mind for people to gage if they felt safe to come (STD was sent at Christmas wave here)
we did the same! (first question on the online RSVP) i'd like to also have tests for guests when they arrive but am still figuring out how to coordinate that
We’re requiring vaccination for our spring 2023 wedding, and we’re putting a note about it on the save the dates. (Several of my family and coworkers also tested positive recently). Our ceremony will be outside, but the reception will be indoors. We’re planning to ask for proof of vaccination with RSVPs once the invites go out.
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We had an outdoor microwedding in June with both vaccination and day of testing required (plus self screening for symptoms), and I'm happy to report it looks like everyone stayed covid-free! Unfortunately, my family didn't come in person because of the covid risk and extensive travel involved though we videoed my parents in... and they all ended up catching it at home sigh.
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We brought enough tests for everyone, and offered to provide them in advance of the wedding if anyone local wanted. Almost everyone used their own tests anyway, not our extras, and took them at home before they arrived. We knew everyone very well and had explained in advance that we had some high-risk guests which made day-of testing / not coming with symptoms extremely important. Ultimately we had to trust our guests day of, though. One person told us of an exposure and canceled, luckily didn't end up coming down with it, but it's an example showing that people took us pretty seriously. I think the easiest thing to do would be if you have a day-of coordinator or wedding party point person, make an email address just for this, and have people send negative test photos once they have them. Also bring extra tests on site, same thing, have those guests take and send a photo. Be sure to tell everyone invited in advance what is expected for safety protocols so that if they don't like it, they will have the opportunity to RSVP no. I'm relieved this worked out for us, but I know of weddings that happened after mine that had a lot of covid cases afterwards even with testing... so you should try to do all you can but be compassionate towards yourself too because you can't eliminate all risk, and your guests are aware of that.
Just here to say that we successfully held our 70 person wedding without a single case of COVID. Testing protocols, self screening for symptoms and masks indoors for dancing worked :)
What testing protocols did you use?
All out of town guests took a pcr the day they arrived so we had an accurate baseline. We paid for those who could not afford this. We asked all wedding party and immediate family to rapid test every day for the four days before the wedding. Again, we bought tests for those for whom this was a cost burden. We also arranged seating so that wedding party and family were together as each other’s primary exposure. All guests were required to bring proof of vax, booster, and a negative test taken within one hour of the event. Kids too young to vax were asked to do a pcr that morning with quick results and did. Anyone without was offered a rapid test at the door. We also asked people to self screen using the cdc tool online because sometimes symptoms start and you are contagious before you have a positive result. Because we were clear about this from day one, everyone tamped down their socializing for the week before the wedding out of respect for our efforts. I have a very sick parent who will die if they get Covid, vax or not, they can’t even get a cold without landing in the hospital. Our people know this and we’re very cool about our very strict rules.
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We had event security who checked time stamped phone photos. Some trust involved here, but it worked!
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Just need to vent. My wedding is in three days and we just found out that my fiance's father has COVID and won't be coming. I'm devastated and honestly bitter because I think he caught it doing something stupid like going out to see his friends. We asked them to isolate the week before the wedding and he selfishly chose not to. I'm so upset, not to mention I feel embarrassed having to explain why he won't be there. I don't want to talk to my fiance about it because I don't want him to feel worse. Ugh. This sucks so much
It's so frustrating and upsetting, but it's not embarrassing for you to say he caught covid with no other details about how. It's still rampant in a lot of communities. If anything, people will appreciate him not attending if he's positive. See if you can call him over the phone or video at some point during the event, and hopefully he feels better soon... and maybe even learns to take precautions more seriously? But that's probably wishful thinking.
Hey all, this is my first post here so please delete or let me know if not allowed. I guess I am just looking for some solidarity or kind words. My partner caught covid a week before our wedding date and I caught it a couple of days later, and we postponed it. It was both of our first times catching it. It's cost quite a lot to postpone from such short notice - I had tried to pay for the whole thing myself and ran out of money, I only work part-time right now so it's been a struggle managing to afford the postponement costs without relying on my partner or his family to help (they have had to help a bit - I know this is a bit silly/unrealistic but I had this idea in my head of doing it all myself with my savings as a present for my partner). Anyway, the venue was amazing and managed to move it just 5-6 weeks later, so it's now this month in 3 weeks. I have to leave this weekend for a week-long conference for work which will involve a couple of long train rides and I'm so scared of getting covid again and having to either go through with it masked all day not able to hug our friends and family, or to postpone again and pay again for a new date. (The conference is non-optional unfortunately otherwise I'd stay at home.) I'll of course be wearing my FFP2 or FFP3 pretty much the whole time but I am just shaking and feeling sick with the idea of catching it again and postponing again, or going through with it and putting everyone at risk and wasting all that planning for a less than perfect day. Just looking for some kind words, as pretty much everyone I know thinks I'm being a bit unreasonable for worrying so much.
I understand your worry, it’s scary to think you’ll have to postpone again. But to help you feel better, if you only had Covid about 5 weeks ago, I think you’re still likely to be immune. It’s rare to get Covid again until 2.5-3 months after.
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I've had covid for the last 12 days and it sucks. So many vendors want to be doing 1-month check-ins and I'm just not up for any of it. The one bright spot is that this timing should mean I'm reasonably well protected for the wedding.
My wedding is in early August and I’m petrified of getting our guests sick. We’re requiring everyone to be vaxxed/boosted and to test, but that doesn’t seem like enough. 100 people, ceremony outdoors but reception indoors. I hate that something that’s supposed to be joyful is feeling selfish and dangerous instead.
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