When will weddings and events return to normal and how do you host a socially distant wedding or event? What will they all look like in the future? Those are the questions everyone’s asking. Wayne Labush, managing partner of Event Services Group, wanted realism, not the typical rose-colored-glasses industry optimism, so he commissioned his own scientific sample, which generated 1,305 respondents. Sure enough, the results, though sobering, demand a creative approach to upcoming celebrations that take into account the general ethos when it comes to social situations.
[Story sponsored by Our Virtual Event, a professional virtual event production service.]
Wedding and Event During Quarantine Social Survey Results:
- Just 31.9 percent of respondents said they would feel safe attending a wedding or other special event of 100 or more people a month after the quarantine is lifted. Fully 33.0 percent either wouldn’t feel safe for a year or couldn’t say when they would feel safe. (The rest would feel safe at various intervals between one month and one year.)
- Just 24.2 percent of respondents said they would plan their own event of 100 or more people between three and nine months after a quarantine is lifted.
- Just 23.0 percent would be comfortable attending a large wedding or event of 500 or more people immediately after the quarantine ends.
- A plurality, 35.7 percent, said they would want a company employing them or their spouse to wait three to six months after a quarantine is lifted before holding a convention. (Smaller percentages would be comfortable sooner or uncomfortable until later.)
- On the other hand, 63.5 percent said their answers would change if a vaccine or proven cure for Covid-19 emerges.
Labush’s overall take, based on this new data and other indicators: Depending (of course) on some important unknowns, the weddings and special events business could recover to about 55 percent of its prior levels within the next six to nine months.
Some Solutions for Socially Distant Weddings and Events
In order to continue in the new normal, getting creative in your approach to weddings and special events will be a must moving forward. Ayesha Hakki of Events by Ayesha and Bibi Publishers says, “In order to make your event safe and successful, don’t apologize for social distancing, embrace it and celebrate it. Have fun with it! This is the exact time to have a fairytale wedding, literally. Asking all the ladies to wear hoop skirts and providing full face Venetian masks is such a perfect theme right now! Be creative! Let your guests have fun with the current quarantine rules, and you’ll enjoy the pandemic memories later when life returns to normal!”
Ayesha shares some more suggestions for Pandemic Weddings:
- Invitations outlining social distancing guidelines so that guests are prepared in advance
- Temperature checks and/or thermal scans for guests entering the venue
- Outdoor venues or those with CDC-recommended filtration systems
- Virtual weddings or partially virtual weddings set up with a professional service such as those provided by Our Virtual Event
- Smaller tables with less people set further apart
- Table service instead of a buffet
- Clear people dividers set up to separate the guests such as these
- Using a creative decor strategy to encourage social distancing
- Larger dance floors with circles taped on the floor to adhere to social distancing rules
- Party-themed face masks
- Personal touches like paper straws for drinks and per person mini hand sanitizer bottles
- Silly hats or belts that require social distancing, better yet, make it a costume party!
- Bathroom attendants who continually clean surfaces during the event
- Use UV Room sterilizers before your event
