So your dreams of getting married this year were crushed? Well, join the club ‘cos you’re definitely not alone! But… we’re here to answer the topmost questions on your mind – what about post COVID Weddings?
Planning post covid weddings or the new normal in weddings isn’t an easy job! We got speaking to some of India’s top wedding planners, and here’s everything you need to know…

Picture Courtesy – Cinelove Productions
If you’re planning a wedding anytime soon (assuming it’s allowed by the government on your chosen dates/location), here’s what you need to read, save and follow!

Picture Courtesy – Hitched & Clicked
1. Do’s and Don’t’s of Post Covid Weddings – Wedding Guests, Venues and Functions
Shorter Guest Lists –
Intimate and home weddings are the only way forward as of now. Cut your guest lists to bare minimum and include only close family and best friends (read 30-50 guests). The best part is that our generation was already rooting for intimate weddings, weren’t we!

Picture Courtesy – Snapped Studio
So now you can enjoy your wedding with the ones you actually care for. No more annoying ‘chachi ki maami ki beti’ gorging down your desert counter!
But this also means you cannot invite international guests or plan a heavenly destination wedding anytime soon 🙁
Tips to Cut lists smartly –
Tough time cutting short? Shyamalee Thevar suggests removing the elderly and children from your guest list first as per government guidelines.

Picture Courtesy – AS Photography Studio
If you wish to invite both friends and family, split your guests by functions suggests Vivaha Wedding Solutions. So call friends for cocktail party and family for the wedding. Simple and sensible!

Picture Courtesy – Ghazala Shaikh Photography
Lesser Number of Wedding Events
You must cut down on the number of events and ask guests to join only for the main events at your wedding. For everything else, there’s video streaming!

Picture Courtesy – Fotowalle The Story Folks
No more week long celebrations for post covid weddings please! Think of a day-long (or two max) marathon instead! No more “extra” functions either – stick to the basics like simpler times of our great grandparents. And stop complaining sweetie, if you really want to be together – that’s all that matters at the end of the day, doesn’t it?
Go Local
It’s not a great time to travel and ask your guests to travel either. So plan a home wedding or explore wedding venues which are within driving distance. Avoid the risk of cumbersome travel completely.

Picture Courtesy – Shaadi Squad
Avoid importing or sourcing niche products for your wedding. Stick to local raw materials and products to stay safe this wedding season – suggests Designer Events.
Property Bookings
Choose venues with larger open spaces to accommodate the norms of Social Distancing. Panodrama Events suggests going with simple solutions like open-air outdoor weddings that allow your guests to maintain the desired physical distance. It also reduces the risk of breathing recirculated ac air.

Picture Courtesy – F5 Weddings
If you’re going with an intimate destination wedding at a nearby resort, then make sure to choose a boutique resort and book the complete property says Tina Tharwani of Shaadi Squad. This can help minimize contact with non-wedding guests and meet your sanitization requirements.
2. What you MUST DO differently – FOLLOW THESE Guidelines!
Enable Social Distancing
Can you really stop people from eating together, dancing together or hugging each other at a wedding?!! But, it is important that social distancing rules are followed at post covid weddings. Bigger venues, larger and open spaces are recommended by all wedding planners.

Picture Courtesy – Paran Singh Photography
For home weddings, manage each event’s guest list according to the space available says Tina Tharwani of Shaadi Squad.

Picture Courtesy – Photographick
Better planned seating arrangements, bigger tables to maintain space between guests, limited seating and extended spaces to stand and dance can be helpful aids.
Thermal Screening at Entry Point
Thermal screening of all vendors and guests at the entry points is mandatory. If anyone’s running a temperature, they must not be allowed entry at any cost.

Picture Courtesy – Snapped Studio
Set up Sanitization Desks
It’s a must to set up multiple ‘Sanitization Desks’ at the venue offering face masks, sanitizers, disposable gloves and garbage bags to ensure safety and hygiene during the celebrations.

Picture Courtesy – La Escondida
Minimize Contact Points
Panodrama Events suggests opting for smarter ideas like digital or e-invites, adding live cooking stations in your menu to keep hygiene and safety levels intact. Disposable, biodegradable cutlery and pre plated meals are other good options to reduce repeat contact.

picture courtesy – Kaagaz & Co.
Travel Safe
Wherever travel is required, make sure your travel partners and guests abide by the government permitted rules. Allow only the permissible number of guests in a vehicle, sanitizate the commute and maintain proper hygiene throughout.

Picture Courtesy – The Little Red Bus
DIY Décor
DIY is definitely the way to go for your wedding food and décor. It reduces risk drastically, is also cost effective, more personal and there is lesser risk with lesser labor involvement says Mallika Agarwal of Panodrama Events.

Picture Courtesy – Purple Tree Events
Personalization
With lesser guests, you can have a more meaningful and intimate wedding. This means your guests can enjoy a much more personal experience with customized gifts and favours that are memorable and tailor-made for them.

Picture Courtesy – Oak Knoll Creations
3. Food Safety and Precautions
‘No Buffets’
Panodrama Events suggests replacing buffets with pre-plated meals and sit-down dinners. Spread out your live food counters and ensure that food servers have got complete safety gear on.

Picture Courtesy – Panodrama Events
Themed Food Stalls
Having an intimate wedding means you can have fun with the décor and make it more about you and your persona! Since it’s a close gathering, you can opt for chic themed food stalls like a flea bazaar vibe or a “how we met” story theme instead of regular tables.

Picture Courtesy – The Picture Patch
Vendor Precautions
“Hotels must sanitize the entire property and all other touch points,” points out Tina Tharwani, including smaller seemingly insignificant articles such as keys, desks, door handles, hotel umbrellas etc.

Picture Courtesy – Ayesha Makeup Studio
Ensure that all vendors including house-keeping staff, caterers, decorators, planners, photographers, makeup artists etc, maintain utmost sanitization and hygiene. Full body protective gears are a must.

Picture Courtesy – Weddings by Lilac
TIP – A supervision team to strictly and constantly check every nook and corner – Shyamalee Thevar
For more IDEAS, TIPS and INSIGHTS to plan your POST COVID WEDDING in a SAFE way – DOWNLOAD the Latest “Covid Weddings” Issue of our Wedding Magazine!
4. DEETS for making a Post Covid Wedding Fun!
Technology Enables
Technology brings you closer! Why not use it to celebrate with all the other guests who cant make it physically to your wedding. Live stream your ceremonies, have them all dressed up and dance virtually on your sangeet or share a same day edit video with them.

Picture Courtesy – Gautam Khullar Photography
Another idea by Panodrama Events takes it up a notch – get the exact same food safely delivered to your far-away guests simultaneously!
Game on
If the lockdown has brought back anything, its the return of gaming in our lives! So put on your thinking caps for unique entertainment ideas. Tina Tharwani suggests social distancing games such as “Guess who’s behind the mask” to lighten the mood, break the ice and reduce the botheration we feel due to our masks.

Picture Courtesy – Vivaha Wedding Solutions
Vivaha Wedding Solutions has come up with an innovative game called – “Build your Bae” – a puzzle of your partner. Whoever makes it first wins, everyone maintains social distance and it is also super fun for the guests to watch!
Virtual PhotoShoots
Online photoshoots and videoshoots via face-time and other apps are trending hot says Purple Tree Events. Make your wedding more unique with more such ideas to capture your memories forever!

Picture Courtesy – Weddings By Lilac
Raise the Entertainment Bar
With smaller number of guests at post covid weddings, Emcees can engage better and perform a more tailored content.

Picture Courtesy – The House On The Clouds
Dancing on the spot (instead of a dance floor!) is another suggestion by Vivaha Wedding Solutions. Cuz covid or not, everybody knows, our weddings and dancing are inseparable!
Details and Customizations
Tina Tharwani suggests taking care of minutest decor and food details to delight guests. With a reduced gust list, more personalized gifts and favors can be easier to execute.

Picture Courtesy – Bridal Luxury Hub
Customized cutlery, personal notes for guests, etching your wedding logo or hashtag on the masks or sanitizers can make them less mundane. Fine-tune their experience, agrees Panodrama Events. Going with a home wedding? Customized slippers are just another idea to keep it fun yet clean!

Picture Courtesy – Tanya Kaur Makeup Artist
5. Go Green with Post Covid Weddings!
Think Sustainable
In this era of more eco-friendly affairs, it is advisable that you think about hosting a sustainable wedding with everything from décor to gifts being green and bio degradable.

Picture Courtesy – Flourish Bomboniere & Flavours
Choosing greener, cleaner options over traditional ones (think potted plants as wedding favours!) can gradually reduce the adverse effect that each big fat Indian wedding leaves on the environment.
6. All about NRI Post Covid Weddings
Venue
With an increase in travel risks and restrictions, it is advisable to stay put and put off your India wedding dreams. Quite rightly, Kaveri Vij of Designer Events points out that given the risks involved in foreign and air travel, we’re likely to see a decline in NRIs choosing India as a wedding destination.

Picture Courtesy – Charming Affairs Decor
Wedding Shopping
If you’ve always wanted to shop for your wedding from India, it is best you do it online. Your wedding trousseau needs time to be selected, tailor-made/customized and shipped, so get started now. Plan ahead with the assumption that your chances of coming down to India for a whirlwind shopping trip are null.

Picture Courtesy – The Pinckards
Vendor Selections
If you want an Indian style wedding abroad, start researching for local vendors known for their work at Indian weddings. You can always plan another reception in India a few months later when things get normal.

Picture Courtesy – Dipak Studios
Overall, a lot of people are also considering options like “Marry Now, Wedding Later ” (kind of a MINI-mony) or a “Shift Wedding” – that lets you go with the core intimate wedding now, and celebrate at a grander scale later.

Picture Courtesy – Emotiongraphers
While these ideas and suggestions are all that you need to get started with planning your intimate post-covid wedding, our suggestion is to keep thinking out of the box and work out smart solutions towards what you really want your wedding to be.
These are splendid ideas. I am often consulted by my clients for ideas to implement a covid safe wedding with small gatherings. One challenge is to maintain the gaiety and fun of a wedding and conduct all the weddings. I loved all the ideas presented here and am sure it will impress clients.