Planning a COVID cautious and accessible wedding
My partner and I have been together for 6 years and we got engaged this summer. When we got engaged, we knew we were going to get married this fall, just in case Trump was elected. Even though we are relatively safe in Washington state, Val’s family is from Texas and in case we need to travel there, we wanted to have a legally binding marriage while it was still federally recognized.
We took some wedding photos on a beach and wore masks when we were around others. Photo credit: A Queer Photog
We also wanted to do everything we could to make sure people didn’t leave the event with COVID. It is possible to have a COVID safer event and have a sweet, magical, wonderful time! Here’s how we did it, although there are lots of other ways this can look. If you’re curious about how different choices you make impact your COVID risk, you can use this tool to see visual representations of your risk.
We had a very small group. The reality is that with fewer people, the smaller statistical probability that someone has COVID at the event. We opted to have the two of us, our two officiants and 7 family members. The only other people present were our photographer and 2 friends who were helping with food prep.
We planned the event with our access needs and our guest’s access needs in mind. So many wedding traditions are inaccessible to us as a couple. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stand for a ceremony. We also didn’t want to have traditional “sides”, so we had our wedding ceremony seated in a circle all together. We asked about guest dietary restrictions and access needs on the RSVP and were able to make other adjustments to ensure everyone was able to show up fully, ourselves included. Not worrying about these traditions and doing what was best for us made it so we could be present for the entire day and enjoy ourselves!
A photo of Anna and Val sitting during their wedding ceremony. Photo credit: A Queer Photog
We had COVID-cautious vendors and support. Although our wedding was small, we did have a few vendors. The makeup artist I worked with is COVID-cautious, had great ventilation in her studio, and was masked the entire time. If you’re in the Seattle area, I cannot recommend Lindy at the Brow Bitch enough! Our florist, Hannah of Fortunate Orchard, was able to complete the floral set up entirely outside before we arrived at the venue. Our photographer, Holly of A Queer Photog, is COVID cautious and was willing to mask until they tested negative on a molecular test. Our friends who supported food prep and clean up also were masked until they got a negative molecular test.
Although we were already connected to Holly and Hannah, we found Lindy through the Still COVID-ing Facebook group in the Seattle area. These exist all over the US and they are a great resource!
We had the whole event outside. Although it was a little risky to have a fully outdoor event in Seattle at the end of September, we knew we wanted the airflow that being outside provided. We let our guests know we were going to be outside and that we would do the ceremony and pictures right away and if they wanted to put on warmer clothes for dinner/the rest of the evening, they absolutely could. We had a fire in case it got cold and a tent in case it rained, and we used both!
We were able to pop up the tent when it started to rain. Photo Credit: A Queer Photog
We asked people to take precautions ahead of time including masking and not coming if they felt sick or had a known exposure to COVID. Including our photographer and food support people, we intended to have 13 people at our wedding. The week of the wedding, one of our friends/officiants tested positive for COVID. We knew they wouldn’t be able to make it, but we weren’t sure about their partner who was exposed to them. Thankfully, through symptom monitoring and testing, we were able to have their partner at the wedding.
We asked everyone to mask and limit exposure the week before. We only had one couple fly in and they took those precautions as well, including masking on the plane.
We tested with molecular tests. We provided the tests and asked everyone to arrive masked and not remove their mask until they tested negative. We are living in an era of relatively available molecular tests for COVID that are 95% or more accurate, depending on the test. We used a combination of Lucira and Metrix tests, but we just bought a PlusLife test and would have used that if we had it already. Here’s a great guide to these options from Clean Air Club!
It’s a good thing we did this, because one of our attendees tested positive at the event. Thankfully, they were masked and we were outdoors so they didn’t spread COVID to any other attendee.
We asked people to report any symptoms or positive tests after the event. We know that our attendee who tested positive didn’t spread COVID because we asked people to let us know if they developed symptoms/tested positive. They didn’t! And we are so grateful for that.
Resources for COVID safer events
Your local mask bloc. Mask blocs are mutual aid organizations that help people get high quality masks.
Your local Clean Air Club. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page to see the map of Clean Air Clubs!) Clean Air Club was started as a mutual aid organization in Chicago and they lend supplies to help make the air safer through air purifiers and far UV, among other tools.
Mask Bloc Seattle’s Mask Buying Guide. Not all masks are created equal. This brilliant guide helps you learn what masks are best at keeping you safe.
The Sick Times. The Sick Times reports on Long COVID and is a great resource on the current state of the world with regard to COVID.
Dr. Lucky Tran and Lizzie Traveler. These are two great people to follow on Instagram who share data-driven updates on the pandemic.
There are so many more but these are a good place to start!
Do you want support in planning an accessible and COVID safer event? Reach out! I would love to support you with that. You deserve a wedding day that allows you to be fully present and celebrating, even if you have to plan it on a tight timeline.
