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What to do if you're planning or attending a wedding during the pandemic - CNN

What to do if you're planning or attending a wedding during the pandemic - CNN

What to do if you're planning or attending a wedding during the pandemic - CNN
May 09, 2021 3 mins, 51 secs

"With travel restrictions and the (slow) vaccination rollout, we just knew that people wouldn't feel safe."

Having to plan a wedding during normal times "is stressful enough," she added, but an additional burden was having "to worry like, 'Oh, somebody might get sick and die as a result of coming to my wedding.'"

The small, outdoor ceremony Chalmers and Mitchell had is one lower-risk way to get married during the pandemic.

Outdoor weddings, like the one Chalmers and Mitchell had, of course naturally avoid that concern.

"A totally outdoor wedding (is) very low risk, even with people who are of unknown vaccination status," said CNN Medical Analyst Dr.

The safety of a wedding venue may partly depend on the ability to modify layouts or seating so that people from different households can be at least 6 feet apart.

"We create signage off of (the stationery that the couple has used throughout the planning process), reminding guests to socially distance 6 feet apart," said Desireé Dent, the president and lead planner of Dejanae Events, a Chicago-based wedding and event planning company.

"We've used, like, little animated people with the arrows with the words '6 feet' in between the arrows.

Couples can pare down capacity by going through their guest list and deciding who has to be at the wedding, Dent said.

Sizing depends on the venue, but the number "in 2020, when we were in the heat of it, was 50 or less," Dent said.

Even if you plan an outdoor wedding, you still "don't want to over-invite," Dent said.

"The only way to do that safely is to ensure that everyone there is vaccinated, and if that's not possible for some reason, to be quarantined and tested."

If you allow dancing, have people who live in the same household dance next to their own tables, Dent said.

"The dances with parents, the couple's first dance, the cake cutting, those ceremonial moments that you see in many weddings -- those still take place because they're, in a sense, one-on-one," Dent said.

Ensuring everyone is as safe as possible

You can help guests reduce risk by providing "sanitation stations" at venue entrances and throughout, Dent said.

Some venues and hotels "are offering that, particularly when you have guests that are traveling from different places, and some states require a negative test before you return," Davis Moss said.

But know that test results may not reflect whether someone was just exposed to coronavirus but hasn't been infected long enough for test results to be positive, she added.

Some couples are hiring Covid-19 compliance officers to help politely enforce safety precautions like physical distancing, said Annie Lee, the principal planner for award-winning wedding and event planning company Daughter of Design.

"It's not the planner's job (nor) the venue's job to also then have to be monitoring the guests and their masks and whatever other rules there might be."

Managing expectations and pandemic wedding etiquette

If you plan to limit your guest list or require proof of full Covid-19 vaccination, having those conversations might be awkward.

"It is up to you, as the organizer, to set the rules," Wen said.

We are therefore requesting that people attending must be fully vaccinated as defined by two weeks after their second dose of Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after their Johnson & Johnson vaccine.'"

To children and adult guests who are unable to be vaccinated, you could offer that they instead quarantine and test, Wen added.

"Make it about what it really is, which is protecting health."

Since invitations can give only so much information, Dent suggested communicating your Covid-19 measures via a wedding website.

"You can address questions and answers on your website as well as if you are requiring proof of vaccination or proof of a negative Covid test.

"I know couples that have sent (an electronic) waiver to their guests and requiring that they sign it."

As a guest, if you'd have to travel long distance to a wedding, you may have additional issues to consider depending on your vaccination status: Unvaccinated people are still advised by the CDC to stay home, but should get tested one to three days before their trip, for example, and three to five days after they arrive home.

Regardless of your second test result, you should also quarantine for seven days.

If you've been invited to a wedding that won't have safety measures in place and want to share your concerns, how you do that depends on your relationship with the couple, Wen said.

"If you are very close and feel comfortable with it, consider calling and having a frank conversation.

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