Couples are nervous about their weddings and honeymoons as the coronavirus continues to spread

Emily Webb and her fiance Kevin Beach are getting married in San Diego in early April. Many of their guests for the 200-person wedding are based locally, but a few dozen of them are planning to fly in from across the country.

For many couples getting married this spring and summer, there are so many unknowns with the coronavirus continuing to spread. That’s prompting anxiety, and in many cases, a “wait and see” approach. Weddings are expensive and can take months to plan. Postponing or canceling them might mean that couples are on the hook for thousands of dollars in lost deposits for vendors.

The Knot, a wedding website, estimates that couples in the U.S. on average spend more than $30,000 on their ceremonies and receptions.

“I keep wondering how this could all snowball and impact everything from the bachelor party to the honeymoon, to the wedding,” said Webb, who works in public relations, by phone. “But as far as we can know right now, we’re sticking to everything as planned.”

The couple are planning to communicate to their guests that it’s not worth it to attend if they feel uncomfortable or potentially unsafe about traveling to California, which now has reported about 60 cases of the coronavirus. Many Americans are increasingly wary about getting on a plane as the coronavirus continues to spread, and carriers are starting to cancel flights. The coronavirus recently surpassed 100,000 cases globally, and at least 14 people have died in the United States.

The wedding industry is among the industries that has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus. Many industry professionals rely on dresses shipped from China, which first reported cases of the virus. And flights are being canceled to popular international destinations like Italy.

Moreover, many wedding insurance policies won’t cover health outbreaks, especially if there are still flights available for guests to travel. That lack of certainty is prompting some couples to postpone their weddings until the next year. 

“I think a cancellation would be considered a choice that the couple is making, so couples may be less likely to get refunds,” said Samantha Capone, a New Orleans-based wedding planner with Three Little Words (Capone also happens to be this reporter’s own wedding planner). Capone notes that could change if the situation takes a turn for the worse. 

“If travel restrictions prevent the couple or most guests from attending the wedding, that would be beyond the control of the couple and they would be more likely to get refunds if they have to cancel,” she said. 

Capone said she’s monitoring the situation “day by day” and advises couples at this stage to look into their vendor contracts to assess their policies around postponement and cancellation.