What you have to do to not lose your money
Are you an Indian bride who planned her destination wedding between Spring and Summer 2020? And now due to the coronavirus you are panicking and don’t know what to do? Do you need to postpone? Are you going to lose your money? Will your plans fall through? The purpose of this article is helping you understand what you can do during this moments of pure chaos.
The first thing I want to tell you, dear bride, is to not panic. Because panic leads to rushed choices, often wrong ones, that you will regret. People panic when they’re facing the unknown and that’s when our mind tries to protect itself and as a consequence, we panic. But I say: STOP! Think! Try to analyze the situation in a detached way.
Let’s take a closer look.
Let’s think about the situation in China: they were the first one attacked by the virus. It took them 80 days to fight it, and now weddings are allowed again – even in the worst hit area, it is now possible to get married again! Italy has already taken measures, while other countries still need to get organized. This means that there will be a delay in the eradication of the virus, and this will influence the timing too. Anyway, as it already happened in China, this virus will disappear in Italy and Europe too.
Let’s take a closer look. First of all, we need to separate all the weddings into 3 categories, depending on the wedding date.
- 1.Weddings planned for April, May and June. Postpone the wedding or Start to choose an alternative date.
Of course this category is the most at risk, because we can’t know for sure if the wedding will unfold or not. Certainly, all the weddings of April and the beginning of May will have to be postponed, while we can still wait a week or two before making a decision about the weddings of the end of May and June. But I suggest starting to choose two-three alternative dates and verify if they’re available.
- 2.Weddings from July to October. Wait until mid-April.
To this category I suggest waiting. Now it is still too early to think about postponing the date, and most of all, there is no scientific reason to prove this need.The only reliable version is China’s example. And in Italy and China’s shared-opinion, it will take 2-4 months since the start of the quarantine, to defeat the virus in Italy. March-April-May-June. But 4 months is the worst case scenario. And here in Italy we are already responding well, and the experts predict that by the end of April-beginning of May everything will go back to normal.
- 3. Weddings of 2021 starting from November 2020. Keep planning!!!
To you, dear brides and grooms, I say “keep calm!”. There’s no need to worry, no need to be anxious, so relax! It’s true that now everyone is rushing to postpone the dates, and that it may seem obvious for you to do the same. But my advice to you is: slow down, take a deep breath and… keep planning your destination wedding despite the coronavirus!
Take advantage of smart working
Actually, during this period of smart working, when everyone is working from home, you even have extra time to dedicate to the panning of your 2021 wedding. Take advantage of this time and make the most of it.
Firstly because, even the vendors here in Italy are at home and they’re trying to get ready for the “post-quarantine” period, so they may be faster with their replies. Secondly, because most couples of 2020 who are most at risk because the coronavirus situation, are getting their wedding postponed to the same date but in 2021.
So, dear couples of 2021, bear in mind that April, May and June’s dates in 2021 are flying off the shelves, and they will be sold out shortly. To those who still haven’t booked a date, you absolutely need to go upstream and hurry up! Otherwise you run the risk of becoming couples of 2022!
Legal aspect: Refund or Voucher
Now let’s have a look at the legal aspect of the situation, and this concerns mostly the couples at risk, because most part of the wedding has already been paid. So what happens to the money? In Italy there’s the chance to postpone the service with the issue of the so-called “voucher”, which means that the whole package gets immediately postponed to a new date chosen together. And if you still don’t have a new date you have until the end of the year to choose one.
Only those services planned between March and the 3rd April can be refunded in case it’s not possible to postpone the date. For the services booked from 4th April there’s the chance to postpone to not lose the money, but not to get a full refund.
If you choose to cancel the event anyway, here the clauses of the contract enter into force, for those services you paid the deposit for. Therefore, check your contracts and decide what to do. And maybe in the meantime do a relaxing yoga session, so that you won’t make a rushed decision you will regret.
How to postpone the date?
So if you already chose the alternative date, you need to check it with all the vendors, because some of them may already have that date booked while others don’t. Contact your wedding planner or a vendor, if you signed a contract directly with a specific vendor, and give them two-three alternative dates so that they can check.
Of course, it is important to write down the list in order of priority. Usually you start from the wedding venue, and then you check the availability of the catering, photographer, florist and so on. You also need to consider that maybe not all the vendors will be available for the new date. In this case, you need to ask the vendor or your wedding planner if they can entrust you with an equally efficient one (whether it’s a photographer, musicians, florists, etc).
What happens to the deposits paid to the vendors?
What happens if the vendor is not available for the new date and you need to hire a different one? Unless it’s the venue or the catering, where the amounts are high, the other vendors follow the rule of the refund with the deduction of expenses incurred. In other cases it is up to the vendor, and it may be 10-15% of the agreed total for the service.
My advice is to consider also the possibility of the voucher for the service, in case the vendor is already booked for the new date. You could do the pre-wedding or post-wedding photo shooting with the photographer, when you are in Italy on another occasion. If the muah artist is from the UK, she can do your make-up for your birthday. If you risk to lose the florist deposit, you can change it into a voucher for the floral décor of your hotel room during a romantic trip in Italy, why not?
As you can see it is possible to not lose what you already paid, and it will depend on how good your wedding planner is in finding different ways that suit your situation with the coronavirus updates. If you’re a bride planning your wedding by yourself and you don’t have a wedding planner, I can give you some advice for free on what to do in your situation. Contact me at:
hello@bestindianweddingsitaly.com
and explain your problem in detail, and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
👉You can see the full video with my detailed analisys here👈
#itwillbeok ! See you soon in Italy! Take care!
Svetlana Krasnova
Indian Weddings Specialist
