What in the World is a New Normal?
2020 has been a year like no other. It started off with the usual resolutions and expectations for being a fantastic year. Yet by mid-March, it was clear that 2020 had other plans entirely.
This year due to the pandemic, you may have become slightly ill, very ill, lost a job, a loved one or simply been inconvenienced. If you were planning a wedding reception, the vision for your event was likely affected by gathering-limits or by family unwilling or unable to travel. Couples have pushed their wedding dates out months, pared down guest lists and some have even eloped with the hope of holding a reception sometime when “ things return to normal.”
If you have ever lost someone close to you, you are familiar with the term “new normal.” The term is used to describe trying to return to life as you knew it before your loved one passed. Of course you likely soon found that life is not the same and will never be, henceforth, finding having to find your “new normal.”
Since March 2020 everyone on Earth has had to get used to a new normal, wearing masks in public, hand sanitizing after touching…everything, no hugging, sitting every other seat in a doctor’s office --with no magazines in sight and temperature checks when entering offices.
Weddings, of course, have been deeply affected too. If you are planning your wedding in 2021, we certainly hope things will return to pre-pandemic normalcy, but isn’t better to be prepared rather than having to cancel your big day, possibly for the second or third time?
You can still have a memorable wedding during this unsettling time. It may take an enormous mind-shift, but it can happen. The new trend of eloping is sweeping the industry. Other terms like mini-mony, micro-wedding or express wedding still mean you will marry the person you can’t live without, but without adding tumult to the process.
The term elopement, colloquially speaking, refers to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion. Now it is used to describe an intimate ceremony with few or no guests, often just the couple a photographer and the officiant.
Now more than ever, eloping makes sense. You still marry your partner in life, but with less stress and much less cost. Less cost does not mean it will be less memorable. Hiring an experienced officiant who can capture your personal love story in a well-crafted, well-read ceremony is all that is needed, Of course, you can add lovely outfits, rings and a professional photographer for good measure. All in all, the final outcome will be the same; you safely marry your best friend, just without going into debt!