5 Ways to Protect your Wedding Guests from COVID
COVID is threatening wedding plans all over the U.S., but here in the midwest, weddings have remained pretty normal despite the skyrocketing cases. You’ve probably been dreaming of your wedding for years, and you don’t want COVID to ruin your plans. So I wrote up 5 ways to protect your wedding guests from COVID to help you keep your loved ones safe and healthy while still celebrating your marriage, with only slight alterations to the plans.
5 Ways to Protect your Wedding Guests from COVID:
- Require masks indoors
- Seat by family, space groups 6 feet apart
- Provide indicators
- Move everything outdoors
- Nix the self-serve buffet
Require masks indoors and where social distancing is not possible.
Science has proven time and again that masks are effective at limiting the spread of COVID. Somehow, wearing masks has become a political issue. But you’re bringing all of your most loved people into one room, if it were me I would err on the side of caution so I can keep all of my loved ones healthy and alive.
Check out this awesome video that visually demonstrates the effectiveness of masks
If you aren’t interested in requiring masks, make it VERY clear that your guests are encouraged to wear them if they are more comfortable that way. I’ve seen numerous people come prepared to wear a mask, but see that no one else is wearing a mask and let their fear of attracting attention for being that one person who wears a mask get in the way of their comfort. Make it clear that masks are welcome so they don’t feel alienated for wearing one.
Socially distanced seating
If you’re keeping everything indoors, this will work best with a reduced guest list. For the ceremony, set chairs in clusters for families in the same household to sit together. Space the clusters 6 feet apart. By doing this, especially outdoors, you could let your guests take off their masks so you can see their faces at your ceremony.
For the reception, seat households at their own tables and space the tables 6 feet apart. Again, you could allow them to remove their masks when they’re with their group.
Provide indicators for your guests
Chances are, your guests will have different comfort levels and levels of risk being in a large group. Get cheap stickers or rubber bracelets in 3 colors. Section them out into 3 groups:
- Social distancing
- Elbows only
- Handshakes and high fives
This allows your guests to communicate their level of comfort without having to be asked.
Move everything outdoors
This maybe isn’t the most ideal choice during the heat of summer or cold of winter, but this gives you a better chance to have a wedding without masks if you don’t want to require them. If you want to see smiling faces, move outdoors.
Nix the self-serve buffet
Self-serve buffets are a petri-dish for COVID. People are more disgusting than we care to admit, a shocking number of people rarely wash their hands. Honestly, I’m all for nixing self-serve buffets for the rest of eternity.
Most quality caterers are already doing this. If they haven’t shared their COVID policies with you, ask them to set up sneeze guards in front of the food and to bring a couple employees (who will wear masks and gloves) to plate the food for your guests.
Have your DJ release guests by family/table to get their food, do not let more than one group be in line for food at once. If there are multiple groups in line, require masks. If you don’t require masks at all, at the very least require masks while they get their food. It’s just good sense to limit the amount of bodily fluids that could get on the food.
Another option is to switch to plated and served food so your guests don’t have to be in line at a buffet at all.
Remember that your marriage is more important than the wedding day
This is a hard time to plan a wedding. It is upsetting to have to give up or change what you envisioned for your wedding day, but remember that the wedding is just one day. Your marriage lasts a lifetime and is what’s really important.
