Abroad Wedding 2020 - Coronavirus

I think all 2020 brides feel the same - I know I do. End of June here and accepting that if it happens at all, it will probably just be with 2 witnesses but still feel a bit sad at the loss of our plans and the people who won't be there.

It's the not knowing that is so hard, isn't it?!

Hi lovely,

We are also due to get married beginning of July in Portugal and we postponed because it’s still early days and we’ve got people flying in from all over the world where they still haven’t had the peak of cases Having said that, when we asked about new dates for 2021, they were pretty much already sold out and asked if we would consider a week day For next year. When we booked 18 months ago, it was one of the few dates left for 2020

Given your wedding is end of August, I would hope the world is back moving again by then. We can’t be in lockdown forever as our economies will be beyond ruin. I would suggest checking in with your venue and see how flexible they are with changes - ours, for example, would refund anything or put it towards another date if you had to cancel up to a week before, so I think that’s the best approach honestly. Continue with your original date and see how flexible they are willing to be with changes.

All of our suppliers so far have been extremely flexible and understanding so I think it should be the same with you. It’s mainly so far our guests that have been out of pocket for non refundable flights and accommodation etc so we are trying to help our guests where we can.

Where about in Portugal are you getting married? have you consider another venue or place?

We are getting married just outside of Lisbon. No, we haven’t considered another venue as it’s the perfect venue for us and we’d lose our deposit.

Hello to all of you lovely ladies!

Although not a destination wedding (we have too many oldies and vulnerable people to make it feasible), we have had to postpone our September wedding. I know that's quite a way off, but I and many of our loved ones have chronic health issues which make a large gathering too risky. We didn't want to plough on, and spend all that money, and only have half our guests.

We would rather postpone and have a real celebration when we can all be together again. We have been very fortunate and all of our suppliers have accommodated a date change with no uplift in fees.

It's a truly awful time, and like you, my feelings are all over the place.

The reason I am posting on here is because of advice from both Simon Calder and Martyn Lewis regarding airlines and operators offering credit notes for cancelled flights and holidays. Both say to insist on your legal right to a refund, because if they go bust, credit notes will not be worth the paper they are printed on.

I would say, look at your finances, what would you stand to loose by postponing? Most venues will be more than happy to move your wedding as it still guarantees them an income, rather than have you either cancel outright, or loose significant amounts of money on lost revenue if lots of people decline to attend if you hold on your original date.

Love to you all.

hi there
We have had to postpone our wedding in Zante to next year we are upset 2 years of planning now turning into 3 years however we feel that this is the right decision at the moment. My hen do was cancelled and we don't know when we can re-book this and everything seems so uncertain.
We are planning to hopefully now get married here with a very small ceremony and then have a blessing next year with a full reception etc in Zante. We have been lucky that our venue was still available and our planner has been amazing. Our guests have all understood and managed to re-book their holidays as well.
We are not planning on telling anyone that we will be married over here and I have ordered a different dress saving my wedding dress for the big day.

Keep smiling i hope everyone stays safe, on the plus side i have another year to save up to make the wedding even better!

Hello there

We're due to get married in last week of August in Sorrento. We had planned a wedding for 80 guests but with so much uncertainty it is a very difficult time. We've just had word that weddings can go ahead so we're thinking about a small wedding in Sorrento and then have a big party next year in the UK.

We feel somewhat excited that 'technically' the wedding can go ahead (it was always going to be outside anyway) but obviously we know even if we did go ahead it would be with a smaller number. Family and bridal party are excited though which helps a bit!

We really don't want to move it to next year. To be honest I don't think anything will change vis-a-vis social distancing etc. They'll wait until the vaccine before they say everything can be 'lifted', and I would be absolutely gutted if we postponed to have the same circumstances as now.

I totally understand the sadness. It's like mourning. My hen do was cancelled also.

Sending hugs! x

i think when this all will be done then we should do something