Moms and Dads

Struggles of Wedding Planning in a Pandemic

by Kevyn Gohu
March 20, 2022

Wedding planning has its moments as heaven and its moments as a logistical mess during the pandemic.

A lot of our kids from the Millennial generation are tying the knot. Some of them have been together with their partner for more than 5+ years, waiting for the opportune moment when they’re financially stable to tie the knot. But then, the pandemic hit. During the first half of the pandemic, pictures of couples getting engaged popped all over social media. While it’s one a big “congratulations!” to the soon-to-be-married couple, there’s also that crazy dread of planning a wedding during a pandemic. Here’s a story for you to relate to.

Clash of Traditional vs Pragmatic

Weddings nowadays try to keep it as simple as possible ever since the pandemic. Unfortunately, not many families can be that understanding. At times, there’s the need to play politics. It keeps the drama you and your daughter don’t need to a minimum even if it does hurt the wallet. Sometimes, we’d want to keep the guest list tiny but then, we remember: not all our relatives can function independently. There are some people who get strung along and we end up inviting them because we don’t want to offend them.

That’s unfortunately how a guest list from 30 can skyrocket to 50.

Managing Expectations

Not only is there the scheduling with suppliers, but there’s also making sure the suppliers deliver. While social media exists and provides a lovely online portfolio, sometimes the expectations aren’t met. That’s what made it extra hard. As the lockdown levels would jump back and forth with cases not being predictable either, it’s hard to fight the anxiety especially when one knows that members at home get sick easily. As a host for a wedding, your guests’ welfare is your responsibility. Unfortunately, there are just some guests who can be extremely stubborn and insist on going despite being the top 1 candidate in becoming COVID-19 positive.

That’s why getting COVID-19 antigen tests became a thing now for weddings during the pandemic. Some guests are willing to do it themselves. Others hire a medical technician so the results aren’t tampered with.

The worst can come out during the pandemic

Because of all the stress, it can bring out the worst in us, our kids, and their partners. Sometimes, our own kids are scatterbrained and not sure how to plan this grand event which infuriates us to no end. Another is how their partner can be so clueless about certain traditions that it leaves us so confused. However, we have to remember that every parent has their own way and culture. It may sometimes get our blood up but everything’s pretty new at this point. The old way for weddings may not be as feasible as it was before the pandemic.

Planning a wedding during the pandemic: It’s a struggle

We want nothing but the best for our daughters especially since weddings are usually a once-in-a-lifetime event. But the pandemic made wedding planning a big struggle. While we do have our own ideas of what a wedding should look like, we need to hold ourselves for a bit and make sure our daughters and their partners have a part in it too. It is their special day after all. But know that even if there are arguments, our millennial kids are thankful for the help.