But first, some progress to celebrate.
I don’t drink anymore, so please have one for me. Photo by Cameron Clark.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked with wedding pros from 94 countries over my career and I’ve heard from a ton of them this past month – all with similar questions, stories of lost business, uncertainties of what to say to clients who are completely stressed.
We’re all in this together. If you have questions on Coronavirus and your wedding business, feel free to email me at hello@thinksplendid.com. I’ll be sharing my answers here on the Think Splendid blog so that everyone can benefit. I’ll also keep your name anonymous.
You can read the previous Coronavirus updates and FAQ posts here.
Splendid Progress Worth Celebrating
We're an industry that makes our living by celebrating life's milestones, so I'm going to start each of these update posts with a few positive COVID-19 things we can all smile about:
Global Recovery Rate
The recovery rate is now over 71,000 people, up from 68,000 on Thursday.
#SafeHands Challenge
Mariah Carey’s contribution to the World Health Organization’s #safehands challenge on TikTok:
(click here to view if reading via email or RSS)
Splendid Q+A on COVID-19 and Your Wedding Business
As always, remember that laws and regulations vary by city/county/state/province/country. This is general advice and you should double-check with an attorney when it comes to contract issues.
1. A couple I met with was ready to book and are now hesitant to send in their contract. Is there anything I can do to encourage them to hire me now rather than wait?
One thing you can consider doing is borrowing a practice American Airlines has implemented for those concerned with booking travel right now: if a person books a new ticket by March 31st, the change fee is waived through January 2021.
Adopting a similar practice may help give your potential brides and grooms some peace of mind. It shows that you're willing to be flexible and work within the constraints of government restrictions, public health safety standards, as well as their own anxious emotions and fears of the unknown.
2. Should we adhere to our cancellation policies or should we as vendors be more flexible?
Always err on the side of being compassionate. That said, we can borrow another page from the airlines here: you have to put on your own oxygen mask first in order to be strong enough to help anyone else.
If your clients do make the choice to cancel rather than postpone or relocate their wedding or event, keep in mind that it was likely a very difficult decision for them to come to.
If you are legally entitled to retain whatever payments you've collected so far, run the numbers so you can intelligently consider what returning that income will do to you, your family, and the families of your employees. Consider also if collecting that cancellation fee will help you make payroll.
If you have business savings that can float you through the COVID-19 uncertainties and want to give a refund as a kindness to your clients, that is a great thing for you to do. If there is a standard cancellation fee you are in a position to waive, it would be goodwill gesture to do so.
If you are not in a position to so, it is a kindness to your family and employees to abide by the policies laid out in your contract.
Supply Chain Considerations
Floral Designers
Delta Airlines announced that it would be cutting its flights by 40% and grounding up to 300 planes. If you are in the United States and work with florals in any way, this will impact you. The travel ban to the US from most of Europe will also impact you.
Here’s why: many floral shipments from Europe and other locations come into the United States as cargo on passenger flights, not necessarily on a separate cargo-only plane. This will delay shipments even more than they already have been, and drive costs up as the perishability of flowers makes their freight route especially time-sensitive.
Talk to your local wholesaler about their import plans and whether or not they can source from other regions in the meantime. If you source directly from floral farms and suppliers in Europe, contact them to see if they have alternative freight solutions they can tap into. Keep in mind that many freight companies have been quoting 4-5 times their usual rate, which will drive your costs up and eat into your clients’ budgets.
Wedding Dress Retailers and Bridal Gown Shops
80% of bridal gowns come from China, so you’ve likely already experienced delays related to factory shutdowns there. However, if the wedding dresses you sell are from Europe, or if the raw materials (silk, satin, lace, etc) your local manufacturers and seamstresses use come from Europe, you will likely face delays now as well, if you haven’t begun to already. This is because many of these shipments also come via cargo on passenger planes or are from countries currently on lockdown.
More questions?
I’ll be continuing to work through the questions sent in so far here on the blog so that we can all navigate this together as best we can. Please send any questions you have to hello@thinksplendid.com and remember there is no such thing as a dumb question.
I’ll be keeping the names anonymous so you don’t have to worry about being attached to a question in a Google search or in case you don’t want a colleague or competitor to know what’s on your mind.
Written by
LIENE STEVENS
Liene Stevens, the founder and CEO of Think Splendid, is an author, speaker, and award-winning business strategist. Armed with $2000, a healthy work ethic, and an undeserved dose of privilege, Liene bootstrapped Think Splendid from a scribble in a notebook to a successful wedding business consulting firm with a client list spanning 94 countries.
