Postponing Your Wedding During COVID-19

An interview with Chelsy from The Gathering Co

I’ve been really wanting to offer advice and also peace for anyone postponing your wedding during COVID-19 quarantine. But ultimately I didn’t feel like I was the best expert in this department. So instead I decided to interview Chelsy Ferguson, lead designer and planner from The Gathering Co. in Raleigh, North Carolina. Here is a quick overview of all the things we chat about during our time together!

 

 

How does a wedding planner help during a crisis such as this?

If you’re in the middle of postponing your wedding during COVID-19, then having a single point person to take care of you, that has the experience of navigating hard situations between you and your vendors is going to relieve so much stress for you. A wedding planner is emotionally invested in you and your day, and to be able to step in and not only be on your side, but also funnel all communication to the rest of the vendors is an honor. We respect both sides – our couples and the other vendors. We love our clients, but we also love and repeatedly work with these other vendors and want what’s best for both sides. Hiring an expert to navigate this for you helps make an easier transition with rescheduling.

What is the best advice you can offer to April and May couples who are having to postpone their wedding during this quarantine?

I would advise to first start with your venue and your coordinator. You need your location and you need the person who’s going to communicate everything to the rest of your vendors. My second piece of advice is to choose a couple of new dates you would be happy with, not just one. Be open-minded about other couples going through this, too, as well as your vendor team. We would hate for them to not be able to be in business after this is all over with! Have grace in your communication, in the dates you choose so you can keep your vendors, and have grace in your chosen dates. Know that we all still want to give you the wedding of your dreams, just on a different date.

 

What is your advice for June & July brides when we don’t know what the situation will look like then?

It’s really a case by case basis, but the bottom line is – you need to think about your guests. If you have a ton of traveling guests coming in, there might not be enough available flights coming in by then, even if the wedding is able to be held. If you’re feeling nervous, I’d suggest sending out a Google form or an email to your guests, polling them on their feelings. Let them know that their safety is your number one concern. Then give them three options to choose from: 1. We’re coming as long as we’re able to 2. We’re a little nervous/unsure 3. We won’t be coming. This will give you some great feedback to help you make your decision.

If most of your guests have a positive reaction and you decide to go forward with your summer wedding, you can provide some peace for your guests on your website. Put up a blurb about each of your vendors and how they will be handling their business and their work to ensure safe and healthy procedures during your wedding. This will help instill trust in you and your guests.

We hope to keep all our summer brides on track for their wedding dates. But if you’re feeling unsettled, there’s a few things you can do. We can have “Change the date” or “Move the date” cards made up, that we just hold onto in case they’re needed. We can start looking at “backup dates,” and put a soft hold on those dates with all your vendors.

 

How has this changed the way you will operate your business or approach planning in the future?

We have really dug into our contracts, our cancellation policy and rescheduling policy. This is protect ourselves, but also our clients. We have taken a lot more time with prospective 2021 clients to really walk them through our contract so they know how we would handle this should it be an issue for their own wedding. It’s made us stronger planners and also strengthened our relationship with fellow vendors. I think addressing those fears, even though it likely won’t be an issue for their wedding, allows us to connect with our clients on a deeper level, and they appreciate our wisdom.

 

What would you like other vendors to know in regards to how they can best serve their clients and couples during this time?

Instead of brushing off their fears, take the time to really address them openly and honestly. And, on the other hand, to not be the one to instill fears in your clients! Make your clients feel calm. Instill peace and wisdom into them instead of fear and panic. If you have a concern, try to reach out to their coordinator first (if they have one) so that they can lead the communication and everyone can be on the same page. Our couples have likely never planned a wedding before, but as vendors, we have been through this process so many more times than them! They are looking to us for guidance, so let’s be a calm leader for them to trust.

 

How can wedding vendors and other creatives keep their business pressing forward during the quarantine, when other businesses are closing down?

Take a look at the outlets you already use for your branding and business and rev them up a little bit! On your website you can have a little note when they first land on your home page, that you’re still operating and you are willing to walk them through the process. Address the problem everyone is dealing with! Offer different solutions such as payment plans or a soft hold on your date until they feel more confident in booking you. Be open and honest in your social media. We need to have a bridge between ourselves and our clients. We want and need more inquiries, but our audience is scared and nervous with everything going on. So closing that gap by staying active on social media, addressing it on all your online presence, while still keeping your personality and brand what it always has been.

Put your best foot forward with every email and every phone call. Make the most of moments to connect. Try to step back and really see those opportunities for connection.

 

Prefer to watch watch the video with Chelsy and I? See below!

 

 

Be sure to follow Chelsy and The Gathering Co on Instagram here!

If you’re looking for more advice during this COVID quarantine, check out my post on How to Remain Emotionally Well During the COVID Quarantine.

If you’re looking for more advice for couples planning their wedding, start with:

The First 6 Things to Do After Getting Engaged

How to Make a Realistic Wedding Budget in North Carolina

 

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Below is the transcript from our interview, if you prefer!

Meghan [00:00:00] So hey, everybody! It’s been a few weeks since my last Instagram TV, and the reason for that is because I really wanted to speak into the hearts of my clients and couples that are dealing with this Covid crisis. And I didn’t feel like I was the best expert on this. So today I brought in Chelsy from the Gathering Co. And we’re gonna be chatting with her a little bit about things that we can do to help during this time, help our clients and also help ourselves as creatives. So this is Chelsy Ferguson. Her company, The Gathering Co, is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Chelsy, just introduce yourself to us.

Let us know how you got started with your wedding planning business and anything you want us to know about you?

Chelsy [00:00:43] Sure. Well, yes, I’m Chelsea. I’m the owner and lead designer here. And our main focus is weddings. Of course, we do other events if that comes across our plate, it seems like the right fit. But mainly weddings from event management to partial to full planning. How I get started -I feel like it’s a long story … But just the short version. But I really grew up with my whole family being in the industry. So one of my sisters lives in Wilmington and she used to be a coordinator. So I kind of got a little background from her, just seeing her do her passion in weddings. One of my sisters actually opened up a venue, which is where my husband and I got married and we were the first couple there. And that’s really where it was confirmed that I want to do wedding planning. Our mom, just like always had events happening at our house or just like hosting things in the community. So I really got to see the process of what it took, my entire life, to pull together an event – who’s coming and to craft it around who is coming and what the event is about. It certainly instilled a sense of community and a sense of just love for people and gathering for a purpose to serve others. So I like to say it was really all along, really just like knitting that love of weddings for me. But I will say, when I got to college, I actually fell in love with marketing and branding and like just the whole concept that it could be anything that you wanted it to be, it could be sales. It could be branding. Or, you know, Instagram, really anything. So I studied that for four years and graduated and went straight into a corporate position. And thought my path was actually more of like working to be a CEO of a marketing empire and like all this other stuff with the corporate ladder. And a few years into working within that industry,  during that time I got married and got to see the event industry a little closer. From that specifically towards weddings, but also seeing my sister build up her venue during that time. So I know that sparked that thought. And also, I just was never happy. Every day going into work was a struggle for me. And not just like, oh, I got to go to work. Like, really affecting me emotionally every day. It got really bad and I just decided, OK, I need to just go for this or I need to be OK with where I’m at right now. And luckily, I have a husband who is super willing to put that faith in me and was like, let’s do it. So I did  – I quit my job and went right into The Gathering. So I started about six months prior to quitting. And actually I mentioned this in a recent podcast I was on. But not a lot of people know, I actually started The Gathering Co to be a small party planning company, which is very interesting now in retrospect But just I wanted to plan showers and fun little get togethers, like dinners. And really that was just because my full time job would not allow me to fully step into what I thought I wanted to do. But I did get my first wedding inquiry through that. And just putting out a Web site that worked and could get my message across definitely looked a lot different from where we are now. But that first wedding inquiry is what got me thinking about changing it towards weddings. I just loved the conversation that I initially got to have with the bride and all that took place during that time, planning just in those initial steps. So I did my due diligence. I researched. I worked weddings. I actually worked at a venue before I started the Gathering Co. So I really did take my time to get to know the industry enough to be able to be an expert in my field. So, yeah, it took off after that. I’m so thankful it did. And, you know, I realized after six months, I have to choose between this just being a little side thing, I take a couple of weddings on a year ,or if I really want to jump into this. I chose to jump into it, and then I just really worked really hard on it, styled shoots, working my brand up, investing in my website, investing in who I wanted to be as a company and really diving into connecting with other vendors so we can learn continuously, which is what we try and do all the time. Even now, being a business for a few years and still looking at continually learning for our clients and what’s coming next for the industry, so you can always be helpful to people. So I’m so glad to be here. But yeah, that’s again, a long story.

 

Meghan [00:06:10] No, that’s awesome. And you mentioned your husband being a big supporter of you, and he is actually an officiant as well. Is that right?

 

Chelsy [00:06:23] Yes! He is getting his master’s of divinity and works within our church as a pastoral figure for pastoral counseling. So he actually does a lot. But while he’s in school, he works full time as CRM director and he’s also a professor. So him taking time to officiate with the Gathering Co was actually a cool thing that started with a wedding we did for a really good friend of ours and he really enjoyed the experience. So he dug a little deeper with it. Just what he wanted to do with it and how we can work together because he has a during the week schedule and I work during the week as well but also the weekends. So having him at one or two weddings every couple of months is really cool.

 

Meghan [00:07:09] Yeah, that’s super awesome.

Would you say that your own marriage has shaped the way you run your business at all?

 

Chelsy [00:07:19] Yeah, absolutely. I know it’s still a learning process, but I would say I work a lot and that’s my own fault. When you run a business and you want it to grow and you want it to look a certain way, and especially with my personality being just so high strung and always having to be doing something – it took a lot for us to learn. It does take a lot to run a business, learning together, having these conversations together so that I could in turn respect our personal life, but also the business. And now with having employees and an assistant, how can I still give to them and the business while still giving to us? So it was definitely a lot of conversations that we had to have about scheduling. Being good with time, carving out specific points of our weeks or months to have time for each other. And it’s still a learning curve, especially when things like covid are thrown in your way. Or you’re going to have an incredibly busy fall after it was already incredibly busy. So I think it’s a lot of prep and a lot of communication. So it’s definitely shaped who I am in the last year and it’s definitely shaped us together. And in return, I shape the business because we’ve had to put processes in place. I’ve had to say, okay, I’m going to delegate a little bit more and let go a little bit more. So that’s been a big learning curve for me.

 

Meghan [00:08:56] Yeah. Awesome. So you mentioned Covid, which kind of brings us to what everybody’s talking about right now. You know, I always tell my couples that they should be working with a wedding planner. It takes so much stress off their plate. And if they weren’t convinced before, now I’m hoping that they will be after this situation.

What role have you played as a wedding planner in a circumstance such as this? How have you been able to walk your clients through this confusing time? What are some of the things that you’ve been doing?

 

Chelsy [00:09:28] Yeah, I love this question. I definitely agree. I think just from being a bride before and just the love I see from my clients, I agree that I think having a point person that can take care of you and has the experience level of – maybe not dealing with covid because all of us have not had the experience of dealing with it – but hard situations and how to navigate those for you and with your venders. So I think that’s the biggest thing, is that we’ve been able to step in and be a reference for them and just a sounding board and have their personal conversations becase we are completely invested in their day and we’ve been with them at every appointment, for full planning, and talking to them all the time. But even if they’re just event management, we have been with them throughout the whole year in some capacity, for rental appointments to meeting with them and to being a reference for them for other vendors. So it’s just an honor and it’s a need, I think, to step in and be that person on that side, but then to be able to turn around and funnel their communication through just one person – which is us – out to all these other vendors, and promising both sides that we’re respecting their feelings. We’ve worked with both sides multiple times. Clients we’re super emotionally invested in them and we hear them and we’re gonna try and do all we can. But then turning around to communicate that to vendors and saying, we repeatedly work with you and we’re in the same boat with having to deal with this. So here is how they’re feeling. What can we do for them? So I think the skills of being a mediator is really important and for them to be able to have that or hire that, now that you have the chance, I think is so important because we are used to dealing with hard conversations if we need to or negotiating for clients if we need to. We’re always looking out to balance both and in our job. And I think hiring an expert to do that for you during this time is definitely a need to create a very stress free or as best as possible, easy transition with rescheduling, so they don’t have to talk to everyone and hear all these different opinions. You’re really with one trustworthy person who you trust to communicate with and for you.

 

Meghan [00:12:01] So you’re saying that even if they hadn’t been working with the wedding planner before this,

Do you think it would be smart for them to start working with somebody as they’re working on postponing?

 

Chelsy [00:12:12] I do. I do think that. Obviously, that’s a personal choice. Definitely not pushing anyone that can not afford that or even just rope that into their brain space right now to hire someone. But I would say it’s an investment that would return for you. I think if you hire a planner that you trust and you interview them and you really feel like they can communicate for you well – I always say trust and your natural vibing with each other is so important because you don’t want them to be interpreting your words, your personality, and then putting it out a different way. So if you do want to hire someone right now, I think you will then in turn have an outcome that you’re very happy with. I think the return is worth the investment in a coordinator. It doesn’t have to be a planner. You can hire a coordinator who’s obviously more than willing to help with your transition and then show up for you for event management a few months down the road and celebrate all the hard work that you just put in. So I I definitely think it’s helpful. It really helps them be able to focus on their work or if they’re just trying to make it through this like we all are. You have a person who you can just vent to, tell them what you want, your end goals, and they can help with the vendors and make that happen.

 

Meghan [00:13:48] So I have had almost 10 weddings in April and May that are postponing.

What would you say is the number one piece of advice you could offer to couples that have to postpone their April or May wedding date?

 

[00:14:04] Yes. So I’m going to speak just from a point of view of clients that obviously have a planner and coordinator. And what we’ve been doing for really any and all of our clients, I would give the advice to first start with your venue and your coordinator, not to say you have to choose dates that they’re immediately available, like for your coordinator, but that starts at the top. You need your location and you have that person who’s going to communicate that to all your vendors. So I would just say, please, please, please start with your venue and your coordinator. It really helps the client not be confused about all these different opinions and processes. It really helps you stick with one very fluid and just easy going process. Immediately after we choose a couple dates with them, we will then start to send that out to all your vendors. Again, just funneling through one person and we can guide the conversation from there. Always taking it back to the clients who then come to an agreement where hopefully everyone is transitioning to a new date. My second piece of advice – If you haven’t already rescheduled or you are looking to reschedule, be sure to pick a couple of dates, don’t pick just one day. Be open minded about other couples that are dealing with this too. And know that your vendor team is really, really trying to make this about you and protect what they can provide at the same time. We would hate for other venues or vendors to not even be in business by the time the wedding comes around. So just having grace in your communication, grace in the date you choose, and know that we truly are all trying to work towards you having your wedding day with all the vendors that you booked so it can truly feel like it’s the same day on a different date. So that would be my advice up to this point of just what we’ve seen the last couple months.

 

Meghan [00:16:19] Yeah, for sure. I love that. So when we’re looking beyond the April, May dates, I’m looking into June and July and we’re kind of in this weird gray area. We don’t know how long this is going to last for. We have no idea if our June and July weddings will need to worry about rescheduling.

What are your thoughts on that when couples aren’t sure if they should postpone now or if they should wait it out until we know for sure?

 

Chelsy [00:16:45] Yeah, I have to say, with us all going through this for the first time, it’s definitely been a lot of give and take and a lot of conversation, and I think it’s a case to case basis. And the bottom line is, if you have a ton of traveling guests coming in – I would first look at your guest count and what that situation is, because obviously there’s a lot of prep for June weddings where you might have a ton of flights coming in that may not be available until the last minute. So one thing that I actually was advised to do and has been a great turnout for my clients is, if you’re feeling nervous and you’re in that June or July bracket, maybe you send out a Google form or email to all of your guests just saying, we are aware of the situation. We love you and we want to celebrate with you. But your safety is our first priority. So how are you feeling about the wedding? And then not allowing it to be this over-pour of opinions, but attach a form to it that’s just three options with how they’re feeling. For example, We’re absolutely coming if we’re able to, we’re feeling a little nervous, or we won’t be there. And then, of course, backing that up with putting something on your Web site that we’ve come up with – and it’s more of a “Get to know our vendors” through this page. So just creating prepping moments for this while you’re considering, before you pull the trigger. Weighing first, your guests and how they’re feeling. Putting that out there, if you’re really and truly on the fence, will give you enough feedback to say, OK. My guests are confident. 80 percent. We’re gonna move forward with this thing unless we absolutely cannot. I will say, I have a lot of brides on that side, where we’re gonna ride this out. We’ve actually worked with calligraphers to craft a new save the date or moving the date for them. So there is a lot of things that we’ve been able to calm them with and calm that fear by saying, we’ve done it, we’ve re-scheduled if we have to, but we don’t want you to lose out on your dream day if you don’t have to. So we are hoping to hold onto our summer brides. But of course, if your circumstance says otherwise and you’ve polled your guests, then we then start rolling into rescheduling and we look at dates, we hold your dates.

 

Chelsy [00:19:30] But I would say that’s the biggest thing to first look at your guests. And then secondly was that vendor page I was talking about. And we’ve actually created just a little blurb where you can put your caterer and your bar tender, your coordinator, your venue. And then beside it, you can say a little bit about them and what they’ve been doing for Covid. Some vendors have even worked small weddings or right when this started, they worked weddings where they had to take extensive precautions. You could put what they’ve done for that in there just to create that safety net around your guests and create safety for you. Even just reading it so that you you can still trust if they were to come still in June or July, they have experience and they’re taking safety precautions to assist your wedding day and making sure they feel safe. So I would say to implement that for peace with your guests and maybe refer them to that page.So those are our first two things. And then thirdly, go ahead and get a date together that you’d be okay rescheduling to. Even though we’re not advising to immediately reschedule, we are advising – I think it would make them feel better – if we went ahead and looked at dates. I’m more than happy to put a soft hold on that date. Of course I will address it with you if we ended up having an inquiry for that or we had to reschedule a date that was before you. But at least having a date that you would be happy and okay with so that the negotiation part of that is out of the way.

 

Meghan [00:21:10]  I think those are great ideas for them to be thinking about. So as you think beyond the situation, because we all know it will end one day, we will see the end of this crisis and life will return somewhat to normal. But obviously things will have changed. How do you feel this whole situation has changed the way you approach your future couples?

Do you think that it will alter any advice that you give them or anything that you do in your business?

 

Chelsy [00:21:47] Absolutely. I’ve learned a lot. So I think first I would just like to address vendors. We have greatly changed our contracts for what to prep for a pandemic in the future, if that were to ever happen again, or if we would see this rise again ever in a different way. So I would just advise vendors to look at your contracts and your cancellation policies and your rescheduling policies and see if there’s any holes in there. Where if a couple, way down the line, who should not even be thinking about scheduling right now, maybe jumps on that and tries to get in on the re-scheduling loop. Do you have that to look to and refer to? To then answer them in a very honest way and to protect the client as well? So we are now walking them through that. I think everyone that’s booking right now is thinking about what if this happened to my wedding? So we’ve actually taken a lot more time to talk with our clients and I think they really appreciate that. I know we’ve got a couple more weddings for the end of this year and early next year and just walking them through how we’ve tackled the situation. And it’s made us stronger planners and our relationships with the vendors that are working on your wedding day are stronger now.

 

Chelsy [00:23:19] And we walk them through cancelation every schedule and how we’ve done that and what the contract means for them and what that means for us. And so I think that process and just being super open has really impacted future bookings and future clients, because whether they’re a year, year and a half from now, it’s probably running across their mind.

 

Chelsy [00:23:46] And so I think that truly shows like even though this will end, and not all these weddings would be affected, it’s still a point and I think an opportunity for you to connect with your clients on a deeper level and for them to appreciate your wisdom and just you thinking about them, whether they’re new or someone who you book for later, taking that extra step and walking them through what this looks like and walking them through how this could affect them. But, we’re hopeful it doesn’t, but we would be ready to. I think it’s definitely opened up an opportunity for us to get closer to our clients, but also to make sure we’re aware that they’re probably feeling this even though they know I’m not going to be affected. Fear is such a contagious thing. And so I think addressing that right away is something that we’re going to see a need for that.

 

Meghan [00:24:41] I love that so much. How can other vendors be helping their couples during this time? I know you kind of touched on that a little bit. And I think that what you just said was really important, just taking the time to really walk through with them, one their contract, but also just everything that we’re doing to be thinking about them.

Is there anything that you want to add to other vendors in regards to them helping couples during this time?

 

Chelsy [00:25:09] Yeah, I would kind of go back to what I just said about openly talking with them. Especially if somebody reach out – and I have to remind myself of this, too. But if someone reaches out and they’re like, a November wedding and they’re fearful – not to be quick, to just be like, “Oh, I’m done with that. Don’t even worry.” Instead, taking the time to really address their fears. If it was your important day or you’re hosting a workshop and it was in jeopardy, in addressing them, even though you’re not rescheduling it.

 

Chelsy [00:25:43] I think it would create miles of appreciation just for you to take that time to explain why they should not be fearful at this point. And I would say, vendor to vendor – and this immediately affects your client – I think is going back to what we appreciate and what we’ve seen work best for clients that are needing to reschedule or thinking about a postponement date, is not being the one to instill the fear into the client and saying, oh my gosh, I think you’re gonna need to reschedule. We had that actually happen to us. We were on that line of reaching out to them, saying, I think we do need to start thinking about a new date. But they had gotten a call from one of their other vendors that was basically saying we’ve had all of our weddings rescheduled, we need to reschedule yours. And [my client] admitted that’s what sparked that fear of like, we need to get going. So I think I would just say make sure your clients feel calm. The reschedule is possible, this is all a process. We’re gonna get through it. No need for panic and fear. It makes it so much worse.

 

Chelsy [00:26:59] So please instill peace and wisdom into your clients instead of fear and panic. And then try and reach out to the coordinator first if they have one, because they’re going to end up being the leader of the email. They’re gonna send out the big things for all of the vendors. So if you can help it, not to say your relationship with the client is not as important, I think it is just as important. But maybe talking with the vendors first, instead of going to the clients first so we can all be on the same page and move forward in that same step for them.

 

Meghan [00:27:46] Yeah. I love how you said that we need to instill that peace in them because they’re looking to us as experts and as the leaders in the industry. They’ve never planned a wedding before. But we’ve been through it several times. So they’re looking for that wisdom in us. I really, really like what you said there.

 

Chelsy [00:28:03] I’m glad that you agree. I just think it’s so easy for us to get panicked sometimes. And we all have those moments where we’re just like, I can’t do this anymore. But, have your moment, maybe connect with other vendors and then bring back more knowledge, more peace to your clients and just say, here’s the steps we’re going to take. We have a five step process we do. We’re gonna get through all these with you and then you’re gonna have a wedding. It’s gonna be awesome. I think that’s a better approach than what we have encountered just a couple of times, where a bride has come to us panicked because of some other conversation they’ve had. And that’s the last thing we want for ourselves or for them.

 

Meghan [00:28:53] So lastly, if we think about other vendors and other creatives during this time, how can we keep the lights on our business, so to speak, during this time? How can we let everybody know that we’re still open, we’re still operating as well as we can while everything else is shut down?

How do we press forward during this time?

 

Chelsy [00:29:15] I think a lot of vendors, and I needed to hear this too, but I think we have seen kind of a lull in inquiries or official bookings, just because the unknown scares people. Or they think, I don’t really want to hire someone right now and I don’t know what’s going on with my job and everything like that. So I think looking at the outlets that you already use for your branding and revving those up a little bit. So social media is such a huge platform and people really do look at that even though they they reach out to you in a different way. But maybe on your welcome page, on your Web site or you have a link or at the top [of your website] you have COVID 19 link. And within that, you just directly address the problem: Hey, right now I know we’re all in the unknown. We are looking forward to a bright future. And we will love to chat with you and see what would work for you during this time, whether it’s payment plans or looking to hold your date and then move forward later once this calms down.

 

Chelsy [00:30:23] So I think just directly addressing it on your Web site and having a very easily seen tab or something that, you know, they can get to easily. And then on Instagram, Facebook, things like that, having relateable posts where you’re like, we’re still open and booking, so feel free to contact us to talk through what you’re looking to do. I think still trying to move forward like normal, but also maybe having a couple of outlets that you’re okay with sharing the right feelings with everyone about what’s going on.

 

Meghan [00:30:58] Yes, I love that. Just addressing it. Not hiding behind it, not pretending like it’s not happening and just letting them know where you’re aware [of their concerns].

 

Chelsy [00:31:06] I think we do need to figure out a bridge. We [vendors] are over here like, oh, okay, I would really like to see more of that flow of inquiries coming in. And then the clients are over there saying, we’re scared. We want you but we can’t or we don’t know if we can. So, trying to create a place where that bridge can meet I think is really great. We have one on our Web site right next to booking so that they can go to that. And then we’ve been trying to stay active on Instagram and not over killing it with every post being about covid, I think it’s so important to address it on Instagram and address it on Facebook and whatnot. But to also throw in your personality and your brand still so that they can still get that from what they’re looking at.

 

Meghan [00:32:01] Well, Chelsy, this has been great. I feel like you’ve offered a ton of insight and given me a lot of great ideas. And so I just want to ask, is there anything else, anything that we missed or just any last minute advice that you want to add, either just to anybody listening or couples or clients to know?

 

Chelsy [00:32:20] I think at the end of all of this, I would say watch out for each other and put your best foot forward for every single e-mail you’re sending to your clients and every single call. And if you can maybe even make time for phone calls for our clients that are rescheduling or have that fear so that you guys can just bond together a little bit more. And even if it’s a venting call and nothing comes of it, it’s still moments of connection. So I think whether it’s moments of connection with vendors or clients, just to really take a step back and and try and see those opportunities.

 

Meghan [00:32:59] Awesome. Well, thank you, Chelsy. Thank you for taking time with us today. I hope this was helpful for couples and creatives alike. I hope that it gives you some ideas and also it just gives you a little bit of peace, that we’re all in this together and that we’re all trying to figure out the best way to move forward. So if you know anybody that this would be helpful for, feel free to tag them in the video below. Know that us vendors, we are on your team. We still want you to have the day you’ve been dreaming of, even if it’s on a different date. I hope everybody is staying healthy and well and safe and that we are able to kick this virus to the curb sooner rather than later. Thanks for tuning in, guys, and we’ll chat again soon.