What You Need to Know About a Socially Distanced Wedding

Are you finally ready to plan your in-person wedding? With more venues opening for live events, the wedding of your dreams is on the horizon — almost. Even though you can have a ceremony and reception with friends and family, you may still need to social distance. Before you plan, take a look at what you need to know about a socially distanced wedding.

What Are the Venue’s Policies?

The first step to planning a socially distanced wedding is to learn more about the ceremony and reception spaces. Ask the staff about the current guidelines and what to expect from the venue. With rapid changes, these requirements may change before your big day. This means you may need to prepare for strict mitigation measures or have the opportunity to relax and have a more back-to-normal event.

The venue should follow all applicable state or local orders, mandates, or other pandemic mitigation requirements. Along with social distancing, these may also include face coverings, food service guidelines, or overall event size limits. Some venues may go above and beyond, adding their own measures to ensure guest safety during events.

How Many People Does the Venue Hold?

The state’s or local area’s group gathering maximum is only part of your guest list equation. Even if you can have 200 people outdoors or a similarly high number indoors, you may need to limit your guests based on the size of the venue.

To adequately social distance, you need at least six feet of space in between guests who don’t live in the same household. The overall square footage of the reception space will dictate how many tables you can fit into the area — maintain a minimum of six feet from table to table. After you calculate how many tables you can fit into the venue, you can start to calculate a guest list number.

You may need to scale down your extra-large extravaganza and plan an intimate wedding — especially if the venue is smaller or doesn’t have a high maximum capacity. An Intimate wedding allows you to place reception tables far away and provide plenty of walking or moving space.

Who Can You Seat Together?

A large table with two guests seated six feet away from each other is a safe way to go. But this option won’t add to the aesthetics or the excitement of your big day. Create a seating arrangement based on people who live together. You can gather four, six, or more household members at one large round table.

To effectively social distance, you need to place non-household members at least six feet away from each other. You may need to ask the venue about different sizes of tables. While a large round table would work for a family of five, a smaller two-seater is often necessary for a couple attending together.

What Are Your Reception Food Service Options?

The pandemic has changed many things almost everyone took for granted — including the way a venue serves a wedding lunch or dinner. A packed buffet doesn’t allow your guests to social distance effectively. This pre-pandemic event staple isn’t the ideal wedding meal service idea. Instead, ask the venue staff about table service. This safer option allows your guests to stay socially distanced and seated while they enjoy a multi-course meal.

Along with the meal itself, talk to the venue about the cake options. After you cut the cake, the servers may need to hand-deliver each piece to the guests. Again, this reduces the number of people walking around the venue or gathered around one shared buffet table.

Do you need to book a wedding venue? Contact Pristine Chapelfor more information.