As the world continues to deal with the ups and downs of the pandemic, it can feel like a rush to get back on track and ensure you have a sustainable wedding planning business for the future. Many of us have been waiting 12+ months for a shift to normality and to put this global pandemic in the past. 

Whether you are new to the business of wedding planning or you have lived through the pandemic as a wedding entrepreneur, here are 4 key details to consider that can save you headaches down the road and help make your wedding planning business better prepared if another pandemic or unexpected disaster occurs. 

4 Key Strategies for a Sustainable Wedding Business:

1) Solid Contracts for Long Term Sustainability

Is there anything we learned more about during the pandemic than the importance of contracts? It showed us how extremely important it is to have a solid wedding planning contract in place. 

Since we are still in a bit of a grey area in terms of ever-changing event restrictions and mask recommendations, you should consider reviewing your existing contracts frequently. In your review, you should check to see if your policies and pricing concerning cancellations and postponements are clearly stated and addressed.

It’s also a good idea to have your contracts reviewed by a licensed attorney. This could include your service contract with clients, independent contractor agreements, and employee contracts.

2) Safety Protocols

Your business should have clear safety protocols that are communicated to all clients and to your staff. These could include: 

• Stating that all applicable state and local restrictions must be adhered to by both the client and their guests. This will help reinforce the expectation that whatever restrictions are in effect on the date of the wedding, you and your staff will follow them and expect compliance from clients.
• Hygiene protocols for your team.
• Mask requirements for your team.
• Here is a great article about the Non-Negotiable COVID-19 Policies for Wedding Planners.

Masking has been a highly visible symbol of the pandemic. As restrictions are lifted, there are differing opinions about how wedding planners should handle masking for the foreseeable future. We asked event planners from around the world about their feelings and their plans for themselves and their staff. Opinions ranged from wearing masks for the foreseeable future, asking clients what their preference is with regards to staff wearing masks during the event, keeping masks on hand for when you cannot socially distance, to wanting to lose the mask completely after being vaccinated. 

There is one opinion that most planners seem to all have in common: they understand that although things are still evolving with the pandemic, we need to continue to be careful and adaptable to the ongoing change occurring in our industry. 

3) Considerations for Destination Weddings

While the general wedding industry was severely impacted by the pandemic, the destination wedding market was decimated. With travel being brought to an abrupt halt, borders closing, and differing restrictions around the world, destination weddings virtually disappeared in 2020.

With the rollout of the vaccine continuing, this hopefully means that travel to other countries will start to reopen, and people will be more likely to travel for in-person destination weddings. While this is great news for the destination wedding industry, wedding planners in this segment of the wedding industry have important considerations to contend with as they return to working with destination clients. 

If you and your staff travel to plan destination weddings and events, consider outlining and sharing the following protocols with potential clients, current clients, and staff:

• Where your company will and will not travel for weddings and events.
• If you work in specific regions/countries, make sure that you understand the applicable local rules/regulations/requirements for all incoming travelers. Your clients will be relying on your expertise and knowledge to help navigate them through the destination planning process and communicating these details to their guests.
• Travel requirements for you and your staff should be clearly communicated with your clients. If you are travelling out of the country, know the requirements of the destination country in terms of vaccine requirements, testing, quarantine rules upon arrival, and quarantine and testing rules upon returning to your home country. If you are going to have to spend extra time in quarantine on either side of the event, think about if and how you will be charging for that additional time. 
• Cancellation and event rescheduling policies should be clearly outlined in your contract. 

Related post: 5 Things Wedding Planners Need to Know About Destination Weddings

Finally, if you are a destination wedding planner, be aware that even though some guests are excited to travel, there will be wedding guests who do not feel comfortable attending in-person. As the planner, this is an opportunity to offer services that make the VIP guests feel included even if they are sitting in their homes on the wedding day. Consider offering a live stream of the ceremony and parts of the reception and also offering services such as sending special gift boxes to virtual guests. 

People’s comfort levels will likely be on varying levels for years to come, so having these pandemic-friendly services are an opportunity to serve your clients and their guests in a thoughtful and intentional way. You can find more creative ideas to make virtual guests feel included in this blog post: Pandemic Weddings: 7 Ideas for an Engaging, Unexpected, and Unforgettable Wedding Celebration.  

4) Client Requirements for Event Insurance

Whether you are starting to book weddings as a new planner or you are an experienced planner getting back to booking weddings post-pandemic, one of the most important things to consider requiring from your clients is that they purchase an event liability and cancellation insurance policy. 

Markel event insurance offers both event cancellation and event liability insurance for weddings. Although Markel’s event cancellation coverage does not provide coverage if the event has to be canceled or postponed due to an infectious disease, epidemic or pandemic, it does offer insurance protection for your clients if the wedding needs to be canceled or postponed due to such things as extreme weather, venue bankruptcy, or military deployment.

Event liability coverage can help protect your clients if they are held legally responsible for property damage to the venue or bodily injury to someone injured at the event. Markel event insurance can be a great solution for your clients with policies starting as low as $75, and a free event insurance quote from Markel takes only a few minutes online or on the phone. Get more information now on the Markel Insurance website.

Related page: Read more articles on event insurance and download Markel’s event insurance brochure

*this post is sponsored by Markel Service, Incorporated

This blog is intended for general information purposes only, and should not be construed as advice or opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. The content of this document is made available on an “as is” basis, without warranty of any kind. This publication is not intended to be legal, underwriting, or any other type of professional advice.  Persons requiring advice should consult an independent adviser.  Markel does not guarantee any particular outcome and makes no commitment to update any information herein, or remove any items that are no longer accurate or complete. Coverage is provided by one or more of the insurance companies within Markel and policyholder services are provided by the underwriting manager, Markel Service, Incorporated, national producer license # 27585, in California d/b/a Markel Insurance Services, license # 0645481.  Certain products and services are provided through various non-admitted insurance company subsidiaries of Markel and are offered through licensed surplus lines brokers or through Markel West Insurance Services California license # 2E11302.