On Sunday, March 15, the CDC issued a recommendation to postpone gatherings of more than 50 people across the United States for the next 8 weeks. In light of this announcement, we first and foremost wanted to reassure you… we are here for you and we will get through this together!

I know many of you are probably wondering what this means for your big day, what steps can you take moving forward, and so forth.

I would like to reassure you that we will do whatever it takes to make your wedding day a success, whether that’s modifying it to meet your needs or rescheduling it if you’d like to postpone for the time being. Whatever you need, I’m here to help. 

Your safety and well-being, and making sure we figure out the best way to make your event memorable, are my top priorities.

I am going to highlight a few options for you two to consider, once you’ve read through them, let’s schedule a call to discuss how you’re feeling and the best path forward;

1. Downsize. We are currently seeing a few of our couples opt to lower their guest count with the goal of honoring the CDC’s recommendations. This will provide a very close-knit environment containing your closest of close friends/family and allow you to marry your best friend on your original wedding date with all of the amazing vendors you’ve already procured. You’d be able to keep all of your original plans, just on a more intimate scale.
2. Elope Now + Party Later. Even outside of a pandemic we have couples choose to elope OFTEN. Elopements are incredibly popular already because it allows you to just focus on your love and your marriage. You have a handful of witnesses, and sometimes it is even just us and our couple and the officiating party (and we would then sign as your witnesses)… elopements are incredibly personal and oftentimes very emotional. This can take place on your wedding date, and you simply have your reception take place at a later date – so imagine a whole other day literally dedicated to just partying the night away with your friends and family. You can also share your marriage ceremony photos with them over dinner via slideshow or share a video if you have a videographer present for the elopement as well. An elopement can be a spontaneous road trip up to the North Shore, your church, the courthouse, you name it – you can design this to be completely and totally “YOU”. We will capture it all.
3. Postponement. If you’re reading this bullet point I can tell having the full guest count and big day means a lot to you. If you’re wanting to look at simply moving your wedding to a new date, now is the time to talk to your vendors. Everyone’s protocol on rescheduling is different, and you want to get ahead of this as much you can if this is the route you are considering taking. Your guests will understand. Your family will understand. Your vendors will understand. But in order for everyone to be able to coordinate a date change, you need to send that first email love, get in touch with those you’re worried about, and get their thoughts. I promise you, once this ball gets rolling and you make this choice – it will get easier as the pieces start to fall into place again. You’ve done your planning, the vision will remain, just the date will change. You loved your partner long before this date, you’ll love them far beyond the new one. This is a scenic detour. Not a cancellation.

Studio Twelve:52’s stance on each of these amazing options during these interesting times:

We never thought we’d be in this boat, and I am sure, neither did you. Friendly reminder, we are all navigating Covid-19 together. It has been a very emotional week for those working in the event industry and for those who have been planning their wedding during these impacted months.

If you are planning to downsize your wedding or elope on your original wedding date – we are so there, lovelies! We just ask you to reach out to us and we can adjust our game plan with these changes in mind – you will be tying the knot on a more intimate scale, and we will document it. If you don’t need as much time due to these changes, we can always talk about turning your extra time into credit which would go towards covering an eventual reception date (you must confirm availability with us though for said date), or we can turn extra time into a session and document another future milestone for you – anniversary, homeownership, getting a puppy, maternity, newborn, family photos, etc. All must be discussed, confirmed in writing, and either amended in your current contract or if there’s a substantial change, we will draw up a new one.

If you’re planning to postpone your wedding, our policy is very clear. Our retainer is non-refundable. However, what we have done for one couple so far is allow them to transfer services to a new date – WE MUST HAVE YOUR NEW DATE OPEN – so please reach out to confirm availability with us before you lock in anything with your venue. Then, we simply transfer our contracted services over to the new date. We are waiving our reschedule fees for anyone impacted by Covid-19 needing to postpone. Our pricing remains the same, you are locked in at the rates you booked under, and all money paid so far – retainer and any additional payments you’ve made will be applied to your new wedding date. If we cannot come to an agreed-upon reschedule date your retainer will remain non-refundable, as outlined in our contract. We are incredibly flexible, you all know that – you know our hearts – and we want to make this as easy of a transition as possible for everyone.

The big questions to ask yourself and those around you:

1. Do I have any immunodeficient/elderly loved ones I need/want to attend my wedding?
2. Do I want to move forward with my wedding on our set date even if it means downsizing our original vision?
3. Am I open to downsizing, or do I want to simply elope and plan a giant reception/party with EVERYONE later?
4. Or, do I want to postpone and have the wedding day I’ve been envisioning/planning for just moved to a new date?
5. Am I willing to be flexible in choosing a new date in order to keep my favorite vendors/my venue? Even if it isn’t the same month/day of the week?
6. Do I want to postpone to later in 2020, or move everything to 2021?
7. When I reach out to my vendors what options are still available to me, and what would those look like all together with the changes I am envisioning? (Think bigger picture).
8. Dear family, please provide your honest input on proceeding with our wedding as planned, or downsizing it to meet CDC recommendations, an elopement now and a party later… or do you feel postponement would be best for us?
9. Dear friends/family, do you feel safe proceeding with any event of any size right now?
10. Dear friends/family, if we elope so we can still exchange our vows on our desired wedding date, even if it means it is just us two – would that be okay with you? (explain it means you’d likely still have a reception and possibly small ceremony at a later date as well).

If you have a pending engagement session scheduled with us, it is your choice whether or not we push it back… It’s okay if you feel more comfortable waiting, I will work with you and get you in our calendar at a later date. But if we’ve scheduled and I don’t hear from you, I am going to assume we’re still on.

March 16, 2020 – 3:00 PM – At the time of publishing this, the CDC did update their recommended group sizes to 10 and under and they lengthened the duration of potential impact. This update is strictly a recommendation and an estimation at this point, so please weigh this in your decision making.

Again – Your safety and well-being, and making sure we figure out the best way to make your event memorable, are our top priorities.

If there any questions or concerns about your event I can answer, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

Let’s schedule a call to discuss services and your desired course of action.

Sincerely,

Kasey + Tyler Rajotte (+ the pups)

Photos@StudioTwelve52.com

Please email to schedule your call.

Additional Note: For anyone who is planning to follow through with a postponement, we will be offering an incentive in the form of a percentage off your final payment if you honor our current final payment due date. This outbreak has impacted us as a business, and we are willing to offer this percentage off as a thank you for helping us maintain a flow of income during this time.