FORT MYERS, Fla. — When it comes to creating her dream wedding, brides typically have a very long to do list. Picking a venue, finding the perfect dress and since COVID-19, figuring out how to keep their guest safe.
“It’s just a whole new dynamic that has opened up with the world of weddings. I never thought in a million years when I got engaged and got ready to be married that I would have to deal with something like this,” said Rachael Abrams.
Abrams got engaged in January and thought COVID-19 would be well over by the time the wedding came. But with therise in cases now, she decided to make a request of her guest.
“My forethought was just, there’s people that I love and care about that is coming to this. I want everyone to be as safe as possible,” she said. “My fiancé and I talked about it and we were like alright. Should we tell people we want them to be vaccinated, should we give them the option of just wearing a mask and being safe. And we are still honestly just kind of tossing around that idea,” she said.
So along with her RSVP invitations, she added a COVID insert card that politely asked all of her guest to be vaccinated before attending the wedding, and she plans to follow up with their responses.
“I don’t want to offend any of my friend and family by asking if they are completely vaccinated. But at this point I feel like I need to for the safety of all my guest,” she said.
Covid-19 has pushed everyone to get creative with planning for their big day. So, I reached out to a wedding planner to see what other interesting ways she helps couples accomplish their goals of keeping everyone safe.
Lexi Stevenson opened up her wedding planning company Lexi & CO Events this year and says couples have options.
“What I’m giving them as advice is that you can create a at your welcome station a bracelet, a yellow bracelet or a red bracelet. that will basically say. Green is I’m comfortable you can hug me we can chat, no need to social distance. Yellow is comfortable but keep your distance a little bit, no hugging. Red is I’m here to support them, I’m happy to be here but please keep your distance no hugging on my end,” she said.
Stevenson says some couples give masks as a party favors and socially distance tables and she says outdoor weddings are always a good option.
But since the virus is so transmissible it’s a good idea to still keep guest separated.
