WEDDINGS can be such a joyous occasion in one’s life, but there are times when things just don’t work out and a wedding has to be cancelled. There may have been a death in the family or the bride and groom may have decided the marriage couldn’t go forward.
A planned wedding could also be cancelled due to weather or venue issues. It is an unfortunate experience when you have to cancel a wedding, but you can make the best of the cancellation by taking the right steps to alert your guests of the cancellation.
Determine how much time is left before the announcement date of the wedding, figure out if you have months or days to alert the guests.
This will determine how you are going to contact them about the cancellation.
If there is two months left before the wedding day, word can easily go round, if you will send text messages about the cancellation it should be simple and since it is up to you how specific you want to be in your reason, if any. If you decide to use television make sure this is done in the evening when many people are home, while for radio the best time is in the morning when the majority are going for work in their cars or buses they will hear about it.
You can request your announcement to be put before news or before or during a programme that more viewing and listening audience or immediately it finishes as people are still with that zeal to see more or still thinking and talking about how good it was, they usually don’t change the channel that fast with what they enjoy.
The newspaper announcement should be big enough and eye catching even for those who skim through the pages will not miss it. If you feel comfortable enough, you can include a phone number for guests to call for further information or if they can use phone number on the cards that’s fine.
Plan to call the guests personally if you have to cancel the wedding less than two months ahead of time. A call would be most polite, since some people may have to cancel their leave days, airline and hotel reservations.
If you had planned a large wedding, split the duty of making the phone calls between family members. Divide the phone list according to who they invited, this may make the uncomfortable job of calling friends and family a bit easier. Tell them that the cards are still valid and they will be informed in advance the date when the wedding will take place.
Plan to send back any gifts you received which were sent earlier. It is not polite to keep gifts that were sent to celebrate a marriage after the wedding is cancelled completely and will not take place.
If the wedding is cancelled right before the ceremony is about to start, make sure that neither bride nor groom is seen near. If such a scenario happens the best alternative is having either the bride or groom’s parent break the news.
Be prepared to answer some uncomfortable questions from certain guests, some might be curious to why the planned wedding was cancelled. Rehearse your reply in mind so that you are not caught off guard.
Although a couple has already started planning their life together, sometimes things happen that cause a wedding to be cancelled.
Canceling a wedding is never a happy time for any couple and their families, but following the appropriate etiquette can. As you can imagine this isn’t a favorite topic but unfortunately sometimes weddings are called off.
The bride and groom must effectively control the damage, when the wedding day is canceled, whose wallet hurts most? The research which was conducted by the wedding planners and consultants shows that the bride’s parent and grooms parent put money toward the cost of a wedding 58 per cent and 32 per cent of the time respectively. But the bride and groom have the most cash to lose, as they contribute 77 per cent of the weddings.
Emotional trauma of canceling a wedding always outweighs its financial repercussions, there are still lots of money related tasks that need to be taken care of and fast, the service providers will have to be refunded, although they demand a certain percentage from the money paid.
Your best bet is to rely on the sympathy of your suppliers rather than take an argumentative or confrontational tone when you ask about the possibility of a refund.
The engagement ring has to go back to the donor. If the bridesmaids and groomsmen have already bought their outfits, crucial they might force you to refund them. There is no wiggle room on this one.
If the bride and groom change their mind or you are left alone at the altar, decide to hold the party anyway. Some reportedly dance with abandon, seemingly unconcerned that there wasn’t a ceremony before the reception, the majority are depressed and rushed to hospitals while others go mad.
It is traumatising for both bride and groom as they need time to regain their composure.
Just like a divorce, sometimes the ex-couple makes bad decisions out of anger or hurt. Take a break from interacting with each other until you are both calm; then you can talk about it.
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