We all know how crazy life is right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So much of life is currently uncertain, especially for you, our wedding couples, who were supposed to get married this spring/early summer. My heart aches for what you’re all going through. At what should be the most joyous and celebratory time, you’re having to deal with tough decisions and scheduling conflicts instead. I imagine it’s very sad, overwhelming, and frustrating.

While wedding couples are struggling to decide if they should postpone or cancel their wedding, wedding professionals are also feeling the squeeze. As weddings get postponed to 2021, or worse yet, cancelled, we’re watching our incomes dry up right before our eyes. We’re trying so hard to be flexible and compromise. We’re balancing between wanting to support our couples in any way we can and sustaining our small businesses; it’s an impossible place to be. We’re also feeling sad, overwhelmed and scared.

This is the most difficult challenge any of us small business owners have ever had to face.

It’s with this in mind that I decided to write this blog post about 5 pretty easy things you can do to help your small business wedding pros.

5 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR SMALL BUSINESS WEDDING PROFESSIONALS

1) Review their services

Take to the interwebs (WeddingWire, TheKnot, Google) to share your positive experiences with each one of your wedding vendors. It’s ok to review their services before your wedding, you can always come back and modify afterwards. Wedding professionals rely on fresh, current reviews from real couples to get the word out about their stellar service.

2) Refer a friend or family member

Can you think of anyone that could use the services of your wedding pros? Even if it’s not for a wedding, maybe a friend or family member could use a caterer for their fall family reunion, or a photographer for a winter family shoot, or an officiant for a late summer baby blessing or memorial service. Get creative and think of how you can refer your wedding vendors to your community of friends and family.

3) Purchase from them (gift cards, albums, flowers, catered to-go meals, vow books, etc.)

While you’re thinking of unique ways to refer your wedding pros, can you think of how you can support them financially beyond the wedding? The best way would be to purchase a gift card, if your wedding vendor offers that option. This allows you to social-distance and support their small business. But maybe you can order a meal for pick-up from your caterer. Or maybe your florist offers a flower CSA in summer and you can purchase it now. Maybe you weren’t originally going to order menu cards, but now you will to help your stationery provider. Get creative here and reach out to your vendors to see what they’re offering for sale during this pandemic.

4) Engage with them on social media

This is probably the easiest of all the items on this list. Go to your wedding pros’ social media accounts and engage with them. Comment on their Instagram posts, answer their Facebook questions, talk to them on Twitter, re-pin their Pins on Pinterest…anything you can do to help give them a boost on social media. We all know the algorithms LOVE engagement, so get on there and engage!

5) Let them know you understand

This is a hard time for everyone. Your wedding professionals are trying so hard to be flexible and understanding. If you show them that you understand the difficulties they’re facing, I know they’ll appreciate it. While this is a devastating time for you, with the possibility of having to reschedule and potentially having to find new wedding vendors, it’s also a time where we small business owners are losing a large portion of our 2020 income. The wedding industry in Maine is very seasonal, there are only so many weekends between May and October, so even just a few postponements or cancellations can be critical to the financial wellbeing of our businesses.

We’re all in this together. The more we can support each other through this crisis, the stronger we’ll be on the other side. Take a deep breath, make a plan (as best you can), create prioritized to-do lists, take a few more deep breaths and dive in. This will all be over soon.

With all my love,

Maria