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Just two weeks after Megan and Matthew Verneracion put down a deposit on their wedding reception venue in San Francisco, the city went into lockdown due to the coronavirus. “We had just started doing our wedding website and telling people our Oct. 17 wedding date,” Megan says.
Like so many other couples, Megan and Matthew had to rethink their wedding plans. Their original idea of a big celebration with 200 guests became impossible. So the couple decided to cancel their wedding due to coronavirus. “We thought we would wait out the pandemic.”
Then they changed their minds.
“Six weeks before it would have been our original wedding date, I was restless,” she says. The couple wanted to get on with their life together as husband and wife. “We didn’t want to wait.”
The couple opted for a wedding celebration with just 13 people – their immediate family – choosing the Eldorado Dry Lake Bed in Boulder City near Las Vegas with Cactus Collective Weddings. And in just six weeks, they were married in a wedding celebration that they loved!
“It was so beautiful,” Megan says. “I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.”
The couple has some advice for other couples in their same predicament. “Just do it. Don’t let Covid get you down. Keeping it small and intimate is perfectly fine,” Megan says. “You can still have a magical day even with a small wedding.”
Planning a Wedding During Coronavirus
Planning for a wedding can be stressful enough, but planning a wedding during the coronavirus pandemic adds another level of challenges. At Cactus Collective Weddings, we strive to make every wedding ceremony as stress-free and special as possible. This includes during a pandemic. Here are a few tips for having a safe wedding ceremony during a pandemic.
Small guests counts
Elopements are most often small and intimate anyway, but if you have a wedding planned with a large group, we’d like to encourage you to take another look at your guest list.
Asking people not to come is difficult, but are there any guests who may benefit? For example elderly relatives, anyone with underlying health problems or couples who are pregnant.
By lowering your guest count to 10 or less, you’re responsibly minimizing the risk of transmission. And that’s good for everyone as we pull together to combat this.
Consider having your ceremony outside
Medical experts advise against gatherings inside. A great alternative is an outdoor wedding in a warm location. This is what Cactus Collective Weddings specializes in, and we have some great locations for you to choose from.
Consider recording your ceremony
There’s no need for friends and family to miss out on your wedding completely. You could consider hiring aour wedding videographer. They capture the words and sounds of your ceremony and edit it into a 2-3 minute highlight reel set to your service music.
While throwing a rowdy party with friends and family may not be top of your priority list right now, if you are thinking of holding a post-elopement reception closer to home and in the months to come – as many of our couples do – then having a beautiful video is a great way to relive the day and create more happy memories.
Consider cancellation insurance
Seems strange to insure your wedding, but it’s a good thing to consider.
Tying the knot during the coronavirus pandemic means being a little more cautious, but it doesn’t mean your wedding has to lack anything. If you do consider to cancel or postpone your wedding, that’s OK.
But if you decide to move forward, we’ve got your back. After all, Cactus Collective Wedding specializes in small intimate weddings. Other advantages of Cactus Collectives:
- Our locations are outdoors and have a limited population
- You have the option to postpone
- There’s a choice of affordable packages that can fit with tighter budgets
- We take coronavirus seriously and will help you plan a ceremony that keeps all involved safe and healthy
- We can connect you with vendors who share our safety practices
Have questions? We’ve got answers!
Why should I elope?
If you’re in the United States and have had your traditional wedding cancelled, we can help you. We have a team of vendors that can accommodate last minute requests.
We have our wedding planned with Cactus Collective Weddings and we feel unsafe traveling. What can we do?
It’s a weird time to travel right now and we understand that. That’s why we’re offering to reschedule your special day for free. Please email us saying you’d like to postpone and provide three alternative wedding dates that suit you.
How do we choose a new date?
Please provide us with three date options for us to review with our vendor team and permitting entities. We’ll work hard to reschedule your ceremony with the same team and in the same location on one of your preferred new dates. It’s worth bearing in mind that peak wedding season in Las Vegas is in October, so a lot of these dates may already be booked out. A good time to consider dates are summer and winter months. These are often overlooked, but the desert is beautiful at these times of year. For example, from November to February we have gorgeous temperatures and moody vibes. Our clouds are darker and the air is cooler. It looks stunning in photos.
Will Cactus Collective provide our services in our private homes, Airbnb or hotel room?
Yes, we’re more than happy to accommodate your needs during this time. We strive to capture gorgeous landscapes and backdrops, but under the circumstances we know the limitations and are willing to work with you.
Update January 2021
For more information about restrictions in Nevada, visit https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/.
