Lauren Marino and Derek Sweet, of Southfield, planned to be married on April 4. Marino and Sweet decided to make different plans.
The Southfield couple moved their wedding day to June 2021, “partly because I highly doubt this will be an issue then,” Marino said. “Of course, it’s sad, but what can you do about it? It is what it is. We were only two weeks away from the wedding and we were very prepared to be married. My fiancé and I have been together for over seven years and it won’t change a lot. We intend to be together forever.”
The reception and ceremony were going to be at the Inn of St. John’s in Plymouth. All the vendors from the photographer, to the deejay, the wedding coordinator and so many others have tried to take the sting out of the wedding day change for Marino and Sweet. The couple planned on having 170 guests and that’s still the same count for next year.
“Everyone has been very, very accommodating,” Marino said. “We didn’t cancel the wedding. We are only postponing it. Everyone has pretty much gotten onboard.”
Putting the pandemic in perspective with her marriage, Marino said, “It doesn’t change our relationship at all. One of the reasons it’s happening next year is because we are particular about the wedding and we didn’t want to compromise at all. We’re going to wait for the wedding we planned. We didn’t want to scrape it together and have a sense of loss or anything.”
St. John’s Inn has worked with the couple in every regard to make the change doable. Even the hotel room reservations for guests at the Inn of St. John’s have been transferred to the new wedding date.
“It’s actually been very easy,” Marino said. “It’s just been delayed for a year.”
Vendors feel the pain
Her wedding planner, Tracie Morris, owner of You’re The Bride in Farmington, said the social distancing recommendation caused by the virus has a ripple effect on all the vendors involved in weddings.
As far as losing business while the coronavirus is a threat for people in crowds, Morris said, “It’s definitely a big problem. We realize that brides and grooms could be out of work and they have to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads. People are worried. They have to pay for their fixed expenses before they go into the luxuries.”
Vendors will take “a hit,” Morris said. “It affects our livelihood, too. We’re trying to take it day by day and help each other as much as we can. There has been a drop in inquiries because everyone is afraid to do anything. Right now, we’re going with guidelines with what the governor is saying, and that’s eight weeks.
“We rely on brides and grooms to put food on our table,” Morris said. “It’s just horrible. It’s just so unknown. There is definitely going to be rebuilding when this is over.”
Morris said she is looking at booking weddings in late 2020 and 2021.
Venue offers help
Kim Dix, event sales manager at Silver Gardens Events Center in Southfield, said all the March and April events at the venue have been canceled. The next wedding currently on the books is May 23. Couples who have upcoming weddings have “been offered alternative dates later in the year,” she said. “Their wedding dates were quickly approaching and it didn’t look like they will be able to have it on the original dates they booked. They’re scared they will be in quarantine and their guests wouldn’t be able to attend. We are offering to keep a date open for the reception when all this has passed. Some have out of state and out of country people coming in for the wedding.”
The social distancing mandate, Dix said, is different than any other issue Silver Gardens management has needed to deal with before. They quickly pulled a plan together.
“We are being very flexible and not having a date change fee,” Dix said. “We have to be human first. What’s fair to them, as well as fair to us. We know it’s heartbreaking for them. We are allowing them to walk away without losing their money, because of the situation.”
Down payments have also been refunded.
“We’re going to get through it together and that’s how we approach every situation,” Dix said. “Once you book here you are part of our family. It’s a relationship-based business.”
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