How to Cancel a Wedding

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- May usually kicks off the U.S. wedding season. Not this year. According to one estimate, there will be about 662,000 fewer weddings in 2020 than in 2019, a drop of 30%. Many that were called off will take place next year, as love finds a way to triumph over Covid-19.

People who had weddings scheduled for March, April or early May have a strong legal case for getting their money back. Government restrictions forced venues to close, so those couples can’t be accused of backing out of commitments.

Now, the trick is to figure out when and how to move forward while minimizing financial losses. Vendor contracts vary. Some include provisions that protect against extraordinary circumstances, yet determining whether a coronavirus pandemic fits that description actually turns out to be more art than science.

Wedding sites are starting to open, but state-by-state restrictions on the number of guests at social gatherings, travel issues, concern for older attendees, general unease over hosting a crowded event and threats of a potential coronavirus resurgence are overtaking the usual wedding planning stresses of seating charts and menu selections.

Couples want to know: When is a safe time to reschedule? What happens to my deposit? Is insurance worthwhile?

I spoke to attorneys, vendors and wedding planners for guidance. Here's what they suggest.

Kevin Dennis owns a company that provides lighting, sound and drapery for events in Northern California. He said couples should think about which matters more to them: their wedding date or guest count. Those who are dead-set on an approaching date should cut their guest lists substantially.  

Couples committed to lots of guests should postpone the festivities far enough into the future to feel assured that they won't have to deal with another round of rescheduling stress and costs. Many high-end planners in New York and California say they've pushed most of their weddings to mid-2021. The new date will have to work for all the vendors, especially in cases where nonrefundable deposits have changed hands. And if brides, grooms or the people helping them pay have lost income or savings, a long postponement makes even more sense.

Don't be afraid to pare really long guest lists even if a current venue requires a minimum headcount. Leslie Price, a New York planner, said she's spoken to New York City venues that are now willing to relax their typical 200-person minimums. And almost every planner agreed that couples should be open to weekday nuptials as 2021 fills up with rescheduled 2020 events and new ones for recently engaged couples.

Vendors typically charge a fee for rescheduling a wedding, but that seems to be negotiable in the Covid-19 era. It may also be worthwhile to try to negotiate payment due dates. Venues given permission to resell a date are more likely to return deposits and other up-front payments. Remember that vendors are businesses that use deposits as operating capital, so couples should be flexible, too, if they want favorite caterers and florists to survive.

The advice is mixed when it comes to destination weddings. For some couples, planning a wedding overseas may come with too many unknowns and logistical headaches. But Price said that if couples are willing to wait until the end of 2021 or even 2022, now could be a great opportunity to plan a wedding abroad and save on airfare and other costs.

Wedding insurance is another fraught topic. There are several products on the market, including one from Travelers that covers refunds for cancellations caused by issues such as illness or unemployment. But Travelers doesn't list pandemics as a covered emergency, and it's currently not issuing any new wedding policies at all. For big-budget weddings, the smarter move is to buy blanket coverage based on a personal insurance policy.

Newly engaged couples starting to plan now should be prepared for more of the process to be done virtually. Jove Meyer, a planner in Brooklyn, said that it's important to consider bigger venues than originally contemplated so there's plenty of social-distancing space available during the ceremony and reception.

Before signing anything, read what the contracts say about cancellations, rescheduling, grace periods, date-change fees and what's refundable versus nonrefundable. Marcy Blum, a New York City planner, said she's now including contract clauses that require venues to be open at least two months before a scheduled wedding to make sure there's enough time to plan and prepare.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Alexis Leondis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering personal finance. Previously, she wrote about personal finance, asset management and mortgages, and oversaw tax coverage for Bloomberg News.

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