Coronavirus Concerns for May 16th Wedding in NY

mandmwed2020

Hello Knot Community, 

Before I ask for advice, I acknowledge that my fiance and I are blessed and thankful that so far, our families are safe and unaffected directly by this awful virus.  I realize that a wedding is not more important than our lives and there are others in the world who have more serious problems to face.  That being said, our wedding is scheduled for May 16th in upstate New York.  As you may know, New York is a "hot spot" for this virus and I'm sure in the near future, domestic travel may be restricted.  Majority of our guests are coming from Europe and may not be able to attend if these travel bans are still in place.  

We have reached out to our vendors and are reserving August 15th as a back-up date.  This date is also the Assumption of Mary.  We are getting married in a Catholic Church so I'm not sure that is even permitted.  We have to speak with the church tomorrow. 

1. What would you do if you were us? Would you postpone until August 15th? Is August even late enough -- do you think the virus will still be going strong given what's happening in China? 

2. For Catholics, do you know the rules about getting married on a Holy Day of Obligation? Specifically, the Assumption of Mary.

Thank you in advance. xx

downtondiva

Ask the church where you're planning to get married. I know a lot of Catholic churches will not do weddings during Lent or Advent, and may not do them on holy days of obligation, but I'm not sure there's a universal rule on any of it. I would recommend not re-booking anything else for August 15th until you've talked to the church.

charlotte989875

Where in upstate? I’m in Buffalo and most churches have closed as all gatherings greater than 10 are prohibited. It’s possible the restrictions will be lifted before May but it’s hard to count on. I would talk to your church now about the date before moving anything and see if that is an option. Good luck!!

MesmrEwe

knottiebe01493ac4f21122 said:

It looks there will be a need to reschedule the wedding date due to the pandemic. It's already May and there was an executive order that covers marriage licenses, etc. We'll just hang on to hope that it will be better before August #faith

FWIW my friends in the event planning industry are already into late August because of international flights and freeing up travel.  One can't get a flight in July from England to the US but they'll schedule one for her to come home in early August!...  

MobKaz

@MairePoppy, we have a new virus!

MairePoppy

MobKaz said:

@MairePoppy, we have a new virus!

hmmm.