What Should You Expect in Your Wedding After COVID-19?

Weddings, Birthdays, and any form of gathering will never be the same after this Coronavirus Pandemic. The New Normal will require us all to wear masks, keep distances from each other, and frequently sanitize our hands and everything we touch.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, our lives have drastically changed. It even disrupted the way we celebrate special occasions. Now, being away is actually beneficial for all of us.

But of course, just because COVID-19 happened doesn't mean we stop living our lives. We will all get used to these practices, eventually, and hopefully.

So what should you expect when you get married post-COVID era?

We all have to expect three things will remain:

1. Social Distancing

2. Wearing A Mask

3. Handwashing / Hand Sanitation

What more is going to happen in the new weddings and events?

About a year from now, probably the number of guests will no longer exceed 50 maximum. Right now, weddings should only have up to 25 guests tops, nothing more and nothing less!

Health Safety and Standard Protocols will be in place at all times.

COVID Compliance

Davao City is strictly implementing COVID Compliant measures in every business establishement, and public areas. We should also expect these measures to be in place during the wedding and events.

Mandatory Covid Compliant measures are the following:

- Social Distancing

- Wearing of Masks

- Handwashing

- Hand sanitation

- Floor Sanitation / Foot Bath

- Thermal Scanners

- Contact Tracing Methods

- Wearing of Face Shields

- Limitation of guests, Event workers

You and your guests, including the wedding working crew will adhere to these COVID Preventive measures for the safety of us all.

For Travelling Guests and Couples Living Abroad

It will still be possible for you to make your vows but you will have to follow government recommendations on health safety protocols. There will be mandatory COVID testing and in some cases, 14 days quarantine.

It is best to plan the wedding with enough time to cover the possible quarantine days. When it comes to Pre-Wedding Seminars, we can schedule the parish or pastor to conduct a Pre-wedding interview via online video conferencing.

FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON DAVAO CITY ORDINANCES IN THIS TIME OF COVID PANDEMIC, FOLLOW DAVAO CITY GOVERNMENT FACEBOOK PAGE:

https://www.facebook.com/davaocitygov/

Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Get Married Even in the Midst of a Pandemic

Big gatherings are not allowed this year. That makes me so sad because 2020 is such a great year to get married. It is the start of a decade so will the start of many happy marriages. Because of the COVID Pandemic, major events like weddings, milestone birthdays, and grand event celebrations are canceled. 

In the first two quarters of the year, the government ordered people to stay at home to prevent the surge of Corona Virus infections. Business establishments, churches, event venues in Davao City closed down. Gathering of all sorts is not allowed anywhere, anytime.

Lifting of the Lockdowns

When lockdowns were gradually lifted, the essential businesses opened up. Government institutions and other organizations slowly went back to their offices. But the events industry remained closed.

Still, a ray of hope shuns down on supposed-to-wed couples. The government allowed religious celebrations such as weddings, baptisms, and birthdays to happen provided the guests will not exceed 25 people. 

2020 is a great year to get married indeed! Because of the COVID pandemic, weddings have become more intimate and solemn. Here are the top 3 reasons why you should push through with your wedding plans this year:

1. ALMOST Everything is accessible online. Thanks to the COVID Pandemic, people are restricted to go out and so most offices resorted to online to deliver their services. This means that you can request your important marriage documents online. For the techy people, this saves them a lot of time and keeps them safe from getting infected too.

2. No one will get offended when they are not invited. Thanks again to the Pandemic, the overly sensitive not-so-close distant relatives and friends will not mind not getting an invitation to the wedding. The government clearly mandated that gatherings can only have 25 guests and no more than that or else there will be consequences. Only immediate family members should be present in the ceremony and reception.

3. Cuts your budget by half! Because of the circumstances surrounding the soon-to-weds this year, they are "forced" to save their money intended for a grand wedding. Instead of spending three hundred thousand pesos, couples will not be able to use 70% of that budget and becomes savings. That's good news for the tightly budgeted couples but bad news for the events businesses in general because we will be losing the opportunity to earn. 

Good Side, Bad Side

There is a good side and a bad side to everything. But a positive-minded person will notice the bad but FOCUS on the good despite what circumstances may seem to dictate. The world came to a standstill when the Corona Virus outbreak spread throughout the world. But humans have resilient spirits, we don't back down, we adjust. 

That's why even if economies are crashing down, businesses are closing, governments are drowning in debts, humanity will always find a way out of a crisis. Because we are not just flesh and blood humans, God created human divinity too. We can withstand even the hardest test of times. Yes, even as hard as getting married in the midst of a Pandemic. 

Because God is with us, God is Love and Love Conquers ALL.

Things To Do When Your Wedding has been Postponed Because of the Covid Pandemic

The Novel Corona Virus took the world by storm! From a simple outbreak in November of 2019 to becoming a world pandemic by February 2020!

Every one in the world is severely affected by this downturn of events. Economies crashed, hospitals cramped with infected patients, lacking medical supplies, number of dead bodies rise, world leaders scramble to establish order and scientists and doctors race against time to find a cure or a vaccine. 

In the wedding and events industry, we were ordered to cancel and postpone all forms of events where people come together in one place and aggregate. Weddings are postponed indefinietely and birthday parties are celebrated with only the people you are quarantined in the house with. 

The weeks feels like it has been stretching on and on. Staying in the house traversing the kitchen to the living room several times over a day seems like the new normal. But the lockdown was necessary to help stop the infection that's already spreading like wildfire. Nonetheless, more and more people get the infection from previous travels before the lockdown and have only started showing symptoms recently. So this pandemic will not be over soon.

What you should do if your wedding has been postponed indefinitely? Here are some ways you can do about your upcoming wedding while weathering this pandemic storm. 

1. Spend time to get to know your fiance. If you have been together for many years, this is the perfect time to deepen your understanding about each other. Discuss the details of your wedding and find out if the two of you have the same ideas on each area of the planning.

2. Start a garden project. If you have space, you can plant your favorite fruit and vegetables. If you live in an apartment, buy pots and garden soil and start your very own indoor herb garden. The act of gardening is therapeutic and reconnecting to nature is so detoxifying. You can even consider giving away seeds or seedlings as your wedding giveways! 

Image Source: http://res.freestockphotos.biz/pictures/8/8426-herbs-growing-in-pots-pv.jpg

3. Switch to online invitations. After you have identified your invited guests and you haven't printed your wedding invitations yet, you can choose a more convenient and Earth-friendly way of inviting them - online wedding invitations. You may opt to print a few copies to give to the VIP guests of your wedding. Nonetheless, if you are inviting close friends and families, they will accept and understand why you chose "paperless" invitations! Besides, paper invitations might harbor the covid virus so might as well use technology.

Image Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/10/09/21/06/wedding-979929_960_720.jpg

4. Compile the list of your choice music for the wedding. This is the perfect time for both of you to compile the list and audio files of the music you want for your wedding. You can even assign specific music to each part of the wedding ceremony and wedding reception! The dj will be glad you did! So you can dance the night away happily ever after!

5. Check everything your wedding planner listed in the checklist! This is the perfect time to gather all the things you want to include in your wedding day. Your wedding planner will guide you the importance of each detail and symbolism behind it. This way you will understand why weddings have these rituals and symbols present. 

 

The lockdowns are beneficial for all of us if we know what to do with all the free time we have at home. Aside from planning your wedding, this is also the perfect time to learn a new skill - like baking, cooking or crafting - or simply enhance what you are already passionate and good about. 

If you feel anxious whether your wedding will push through or not, this is the perfect opportunity also to test your commitment to each other. Think of this pandemic as a chance to evaluate your decision - Are you going to be happy with him/her if you are stuck with him/her in a lockdown? Or are you having doubts?

The honest truth shall prevail.