My Brother's COVID-friendly Wedding & Shower

It’s absolutely no secret that COVID has ruined a LOT of plans this year. One of the most major of those being all of the weddings that have been planned for months and months. I have countless friends who have made the decision to postpone their nuptials until next year in hopes that they’ll be able to have the wedding of their dreams as planned, but my little brother had other plans! He and my sister-in-law decided the wedding of their dreams was going to happen no matter what, so on July 14, 2020 we made their COVID-friendly dream wedding happen on the beach at Port Hueneme, California.

I was a little nervous to talk about this on IG seeing as it’s understandably a sensitive topic for a lot of people, but then I realized a lot of you are also in this strange middle-ground, and a TON of you wanted answers on how we were pulling it off. So, here we are!

Whether you’re deciding if you should cancel your wedding, postpone until a later date, or to just go through with it with whatever new guidelines you need to implement for it to happen, I hope this post can provide you with some clarity.

I made sure to document as much as I possibly could so that I could share all that I learned after pulling off a very COVID-friendly wedding and shower for my brother and new sister. There are a TON of tips below, and a BTS youtube vlog to walk you through all the fun we had!

THE COVID-FRIENDLY WEDDING

Davis & Bryanna decided to do a beach ceremony with immediate family and a handful of friends in Oxnard, CA at Port Hueneme. If you didn’t know (I didn’t) it’s actually completely legal to have beach ceremonies without a permit as long as you follow the guidelines listed on the city website. There is ample parking near the beach, and so much space for an intimate ceremony away from any beach-goers.

Brennan and myself headed to the wedding site around 1:45pm to set up for a 3:00pm ceremony. We set up 8 blankets, 4 ottomans, and 6 lanterns/vases for the altar. Two of the rules are that you’re not allowed to bring anything for an aisle, and absolutely no arches allowed for the altar. We worked our way around this by creating an aisle by strategically placing the blankets for the guests to sit on, and Bryanna to walk down the sand in between. For their altar we brought all the pampas grass we owned to fill each vase and lantern with when it was time for the ceremony. It was pretty windy during the wedding, so we filled the vases with as much sand as we could so that the pampas grass would be stable – it worked perfectly and there were no mishaps during the ceremony at all!

Music was easily accessible with a portable speaker. This added such a special touch to the ceremony because Bryanna was able to walk down to their song and it of course made Davis cry immediately – we all had ALL THE FEELS.

After the wedding, we headed to an outdoor patio that Davis & Bryanna reserved for our group and had an amazing time celebrating their nuptials. This was great because the restaurant was only technically open for our group, so we felt extremely safe & secluded.

THE WEDDING SHOWER

Before the wedding was planned for July 14, we had already began planning a joint covid-friendly wedding shower for them on July 18. It ended up being perfect because we were able to treat it as a wedding reception and it could not have been a better way to celebrate the newlyweds.

Luckily my parents have a large multi-level backyard so we were confident that we could pull off a party outside with ample space for people to stay distanced and safe. We also made sure to supply hand sanitizer to each table, as well as the most perfect face masks from ForYourParty, the same company that did my amazing bachelorette decor!

We rented 7 round tables and 50 chairs – we kept it at 6 chairs per table so people could be spaced out, and spread the remaining chairs throughout the backyard for people to use as needed.

We kept the food simple and true to a BBQ. Burgers, sausages, ribs, and chicken. The appetizers ranged from a veggie and hummus plate, to a cheese board, to “The Davis Special,” which were mini corn dogs. Since he basically survived off of corn dogs his entire life, we couldn’t not have them there!

The small details from ForYourParty were my favorite part. Since we were limited on how much we could control being that it was my parents’ massive backyard in the mountains in the middle of summer, the decor was going to come down to the small things that made it extra special.

I made sure to focus on decor I know people would actually use – cups, napkins, masks, matches – my biggest pet peeve in planning a wedding or an event were all of the little things that felt like a waste of money. If chances were that it was going to be left behind or forgotten in the end, I didn’t want to spend money on it. At least with these decor pieces I knew people were going to be reaching for them all night long.

Some other cute details I loved were the pool lanterns (not going to link them because to be honest they were terrible quality and all of them broke before the party even started – I had to super glue them back on lol) and the wheel barrow filled with drinks!

Since the theme was “I Do BBQ” we had a bonfire off to the side of the main patio so that people could roast s’mores, which was not only so cute but also another great area for people to hang out without feeling cramped.

And finally, string lights! This major upgrade completely transformed the backyard in my eyes – it added dimension, decor, and not to mention functionality. The lights illuminated the lower part of the backyard making it the perfect spot for our guests to relax even into the night.

COVID-FRIENDLY EVENT TIPS

If you’re going to have an event during COVID, you need to be cognizant of the space you are brining people into.

Above all else, you need to be okay with people RSVPing “no” to your event. I say this with the most love possible: just because you want to have an event and celebrate your love with your favorite people around, doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to expect everyone to be comfortable with this as well. I know people who are still strictly quarantining and that is amazing for them – everyone gets to make their own decision and you need to respect that. I know it’s hard, but these are not normal times and we need to remain aware of that 🙂
Putting your guest’s safety first should come before anything else. We knew that having this event would raise questions for some people, so we wanted to make sure whoever did decide to attend felt as safe as possible. We put giant hand sanitizers on every single table and provided masks to anyone that didn’t have their own. ForYourParty makes THE CUTEST customizable masks and they were honestly a hit.
Remember that we’re supposed to be able to remain 6ft apart from those we have not been quarantined with. If you are looking to have an event in your backyard, be realistic on the amount of people you can safely have in your space with keeping social distancing as an option top of mind.
If you are serving finger foods (which we did) make sure to have ample serving utensils. Every item should have it’s own utensil so that no one is touching the food with their fingers. Also be sure to supply hand sanitizer on or close to the food table.
ForYourParty makes the cutest customizable party supplies and were the cherry on top to all of our party details and decor. We customized stadium cups, sparkler sleeves + matches, cocktail napkins, custom coozies, and the sweetest custom mason jars for the Mr. & Mrs. to use. Not to mention the “I Do BBQ” masks I told you about – they were my favorite! These small details make such a difference. They’re also realistic party favors for people to take home afterwards, and don’t feel like a waste of money that goes unnoticed. They’re 10/10 worth it and will catch everyone’s attention!
Don’t forget to tell your neighbors what you’ll be up to! It helps to be ahead of this because if you opt for keeping it a secret, you may have disgruntled neighbors calling the police for noise, or reporting a large gathering. Since this is a very big deal right now, it’s best to keep open communication with everyone around you so that they also feel respected during your event. At the end of the day, it’s a win-win for everyone.
Most of all – HAVE FUN!!!! COVID can’t stop love, and it can’t steal your happiness away. Whatever your dream wedding looks like, do your best to make that happen if you’re looking to move forward sooner than later. Best of luck my beautiful brides-to-be!!