The ongoing pandemic and associated trend of downsized weddings creates a quandary for us. We want to celebrate with everyone. After all, it’s a big deal—but we also want to keep everyone safe.
With fewer friends and family attending, you may fear your wedding will lack the widespread impact larger weddings have. Making it memorable will ensure you will never forget it, and also that your close friends and family will remind you of your happy day many years from now!
When downsizing, be careful to ensure that everyone can socially distance—ensuring everyone feels safe and stays safe while celebrating.
Making your wedding creative will help the celebration, make it memorable, and even help with keeping everyone safe. Plus, it’s more fun! Here’s five of our favorite ideas:
Winsome Wristbands
We recently saw a post from Smashing The Glass of color coded wristbands that let everyone know how much the wearer is socially distancing. What a great idea! It helps set boundaries and keeps people safe. We also love the idea of using color coded wristbands to let guests know who came with who, so they can keep distanced but interact with people in their social bubbles. Smart and fun!
Rethinking Receptions
We’ve seen a lot of drive-by receptions where those who weren’t at the wedding can still see the bride and groom. This lovely idea is a great way to involve those who are physically near to the wedding but can’t make the guestlist. Streaming or video conferencing your reception is also a solid option. Everyone stays safe and gets to see each other: a win-win!
Monogrammed Masks and Hand Sanitizers
Downsized weddings mean downsized budgets. We’ve discussed the idea of the personalized and monogrammed kippah in a previous blog, but during the pandemic, isn’t a personalized monogrammed mask or a little bottle of hand sanitizer a beautiful way to commemorate your wedding? With the guest’s name, married couples names, date, and maybe a fun message is a meaningfully cool idea!
Distinguished Dinners
A downsized wedding also means a downsized dinner with close friends and family. Can you say cozy? It’s also a great way to make sure everyone can physically distance. With video streaming you could even involve those you can’t invite, or you can go all out and have drive-by desserts!
Please be Seated
Why not mark seats with giant teddy bears or something similar? This is a playful way to remind everyone to socially distance, while also guiding them to their seats and tables. Plus, these big seat-fillers will help ‘fill’ in the space, and be a talking point when going through pictures afterward!
Creative Celebration
Downsizing your wedding can be a bitter thing. You don’t get to invite everyone you wanted to be there with you. The ceremony, dinner, and reception are all filled with absences you can feel. Still, with a little creativity we can make weddings more fun, safe, memorable, and yes even inclusive for those you couldn’t have there!
