The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wedding planners and couples left in doubt
The sweeping outbreak of the novel coronavirus across the world and here at home has drastically affected countless individuals and businesses.
The precautions made to mitigate the spread of the pandemic have been led by self-isolation efforts which fundamentally change how nearly all business operations are conducted.
“A lot of people are scrambling right now,” explains wedding planner Meredith Masaveg. “It’s unfortunate because, really, there are no answers yet. Things are changing daily.”
Wedding planners like Masaveg, who operates Rain Wedding Planning, are at a complete standstill while the country at large braces for COVID-19, and
so are their clients.
Scores of engaged couples have had their domestic futures put on hold as strict public group restrictions are exercised across Ohio. In addition to headaches they may face with reacquiring deposits placed on various venues, many couples may find themselves waiting even after COVID-19 related regulations are lifted to be able to tie the knot the way they intended.
Masaveg said that once
larger gatherings are permitted again there will be an inevitable bottleneck of couples looking to conduct their delayed weddings all around the same time.
“I’m telling clients to look at dates past the month of July and to be open to be thinking about using off days,” she said. “The availability for a Friday or a Sunday is going to be much greater than a Saturday.”
Moreover, there will be a limit to the amount of couples that a wedding planner can handle at a given time.
“I can only handle one couple at a time,” Masaveg
said. “If I could duplicate myself I would, but there’s only so much to go around.”
“In the September and October timeframe in Northeast Ohio it’s the busiest time of year for events in general,” she said. “I’m being very honest with my clients. The likelihood of them finding a Saturday opening at their venue is going to be slim to none.
“It’s tough,” Masaveg acknowledged. “Thankfully, I have a secondary source of income, but even there we’re seeing a massive crunch. For a lot of us, our secondary side hustle is in the service industry, which all just closed, and now we’ve lost that stream of income too.
“We’re all in this together,” she added. “There are things that are beyond our control. Being understandable and being flexible is what will get not only my industry’s professionals but the clients through these uncertain times as long as we are open to other options. That Saturday you want might not happen, but hey, as long as you get to say ‘I do’ and you love each other, the rest is just a party.”