How do I send postponement/elopement/new date announcements?

knottiea74c8542213d67b8

Hi! A little background first: our original date was August 28, 2021 and this week our venue let us know they are cancelling all events until October 2021. We have been engaged since 2019 and don't want to wait any longer to be legally married. We are planning on honoring our original August 2021 date by having a minimony/elopement with immediate family and the bridal party. Then, in October 2022, we want to have a wedding/vow renewal/reception (whatever you want to call it haha) with the full guest list. We want to tell guests asap that the wedding is postponed since a lot of friends/family aren't local and we don't want them to book travel unnecessarily.

Is it too far apart to let people know now "hey covid is still a thing, the wedding is postponed and we’ll let you know the new details later" and then send a “we eloped! But would love to celebrate with you...” at end of August after we actually do it? There is plenty of time for people to plan between Aug 2021 and Oct 2022 so I am more worried about the timeframe of now between August and all the questions we may get in the meantime. Any other suggestions are welcome! Thank you   

missJeanLouise

knottiea74c8542213d67b8 said:

Hi! A little background first: our original date was August 28, 2021 and this week our venue let us know they are cancelling all events until October 2021. We have been engaged since 2019 and don't want to wait any longer to be legally married. We are planning on honoring our original August 2021 date by having a minimony/elopement with immediate family and the bridal party. Then, in October 2022, we want to have a wedding/vow renewal/reception (whatever you want to call it haha) with the full guest list. We want to tell guests asap that the wedding is postponed since a lot of friends/family aren't local and we don't want them to book travel unnecessarily.

Is it too far apart to let people know now "hey covid is still a thing, the wedding is postponed and we’ll let you know the new details later" and then send a “we eloped! But would love to celebrate with you...” at end of August after we actually do it? There is plenty of time for people to plan between Aug 2021 and Oct 2022 so I am more worried about the timeframe of now between August and all the questions we may get in the meantime. Any other suggestions are welcome! Thank you   

All you need to do is send out a card saying the wedding "isn't happening as planned". Don't say postponed since that isn't true. You can add something about looking forward to celebrating together in the future.

ILoveBeachMusic

After you elope you can send wedding announcements. Now you can send out notes saying it isn't happening as planned. I would wait on the celebration invitations because you might change your mind on what all you want to do for that.

MyNameIsNot

For now, I would send cards saying "the August 2021 wedding of X and Y will not be taking place as planned." While it's tempting to share more, it's better not to commit yourself to anything now. As you know, there is still so much uncertainty, and the last thing you want to be doing is sending another postcard cancelling something else. 

Then after you marry in August, you'd send a marriage announcement. "X and Y were married in a private ceremony on Z." While you could double up the announcement to save the date for the celebration party in 2022, it's still a lot of time and potential uncertainty. Instead, I would share the future party by word of mouth to VIPs only, and wait until much closer to send invitations.

A bit of practicality to add. While it's responsible for a venue to be cancelling events all summer, that's quite aggressive and financially concerning. I would recommend trying to get your deposits back now, as I'd be concerned that they won't still be in business next year.