You can still marry your life's love during COVID-19, and shockingly, there are more advantages than you may think. Many states like Maryland are allowing gatherings of 50 or less, which may seem like the end of the world for brides that were initially having a larger wedding, but changing your perspective can allow you to have the wedding of your dreams with a much better price tag!
Hotels, Wineries, Breweries, Amusement Parks, and Beaches the options are as endless as your imagination! Some even offer open outside cocktail spaces & socially distanced dining options, which are ideal during this challenging time. If you are looking for onestop shopping and would like all your events in one location, venues offer additional discounts and will do most of the planning for you! Many are offering incredible savings that you would typically never find with flexible cancellation policies as well. At Dunes Manor, there are several options available. Imagine a romantic ceremony on a sandy beach to a rooftop deck at sunset overlooking the water for your first look photo/ welcome cocktail party, a festive Ferris wheel aglow as your backdrop for photos, or a decadent farewell brunch for your guests to commemorate the incredible wedding weekend they just enjoyed. Truly a unique venue ideal for a local wedding destination.
Many venues like Dunes Manor have joined the virtual revolution and offer tours of their event spaces online to select your place, book your vendor(s) & plan the details of your wedding all from the comfort & safety of your home. Sites including Wedding Wire, Weddings 411 & Eventective have virtual assistants that can direct you to venues in your area, assist with your wedding website, help with budgeting, do seating charts and even have checklists to help with planning. Vendors are using Zoom for face to face client meetings, and even bakeries are offering tastings to go. Schedule your one on one planning session via Zoom today!
Maybe you were initially planning to offer a beer & wine bar to save costs, but now you can upgrade to a premium bar plus have extra $$$ to spare as some venues such as Dunes Hotel are doing a complimentary bar upgrade to book a Friday or Sunday Wedding. From lower food and beverage minimums for booking multiple wedding events, waived room rental fees for inside ceremony spaces in case of inclement weather to complimentary signature cocktails & chair covers; what seemed once out of budget could now be your good fortune!
You may have thought a videographer was not in the budget, but consider this: invite the local or immediate friends and family to your wedding celebration then post the video link to your wedding to your website for the guests that you couldn’t invite to enjoy! Images of your special day are forever, so capture those precious moments by a professional. This is one wedding cost that is well spent. We have a preferred vendor list at Dunes to assist with booking all your wedding professionals that we include upon booking.
Most vendors are accommodating couples should the state that your destination wedding is occurring in suffer a spike or setback that impacts your big day. Make sure your contracts have a force major clause or COVID-19 clause should anything happen. Dunes Manor has shifted many wedding dates for couples at no penalty and has lowered food & beverage minimums should guest counts lower due to COVID-19.
Who says social distancing has to be impersonal? Instead of large round tables of 8-10 for dining, research other options like square tables of 4, high cocktail tables of 2 or smaller round tables of 4-6. Incorporate other spaces that you wouldn’t normally consider for cocktail spaces, welcome parties, showers, or brunches both inside and outside. Ask the venue if a bar at each end of a deck, for example, would be an option. We offer all of these choices at Dunes Manor. Let us help plan your wedding utilizing all of our unique seating and event space options for your wedding celebration!
