What was that book that was so popular a few years ago? "Love in the Time of Cholera"?
Call this new version "Love in the Time of COVID-19."
I'll state this frankly. The wedding industry is experiencing unprecedented changes really fast and really painfully.
I had a full calendar of weddings for April and May and I'm suddenly looking at a lot of free time as those weddings get pushed to the fall. The fall. The busiest wedding month in Texas is October. That and September are now filling up fast with the weddings that were supposed to be in March, April and May. Not just for my weddings but for all the weddings of all my industry friends.
What does this mean for you if you're recently engaged and were hoping for a nice fall wedding. It means you better move fast of you're out of luck. It means all these venues and photographers and caterers and florists, and cake makers and DJs and bartenders are suddenly booked up.
But the problem with those of us in the industry -- and this will hurt us for a while -- is that they're not filling up with new business. They're filling up with old business. It means the income we expected for this spring won't be there, but it'll be moved to this fall.
For some of us, it's not as bad as that. It's worse. Think of the florist who had to order the flowers for that late March or early April wedding and now that order will arrive and there will be nothing to do with all these fresh flowers. They've been paid for. But now they'll go to waste with a loss for that florist, or that floral company. Think of the caterers who already ordered all that food for that late March or early April wedding and now that food is not needed.
Think of the venues that will sit empty this spring. A date with no wedding is a date that can't be gotten back.
Who knows what this will mean in the long run. It could mean many in the industry will be forced to get other employment if they can find it. The servers who are hired by the caterers will be let go. They'll have to rehire old staff or bring in new staff when this is all over.
For us photographers it will mean some lean times. I won't be taking a vacation this summer that's for sure. I'll be happy to pay my bills but I can't plan on anything extra. That will hurt the travel business even more than this virus already has. I won't be able to eat out so much or buy nice new shoes. That will hurt the people in those industries. This just sucks all around.
So that brings me to my point of this lovely letter in the first place. Newly engaged lovebirds. Book now for that future wedding. The industry could really use that retainer or deposit. And be patient with us. We really really want to fit you into our calendar, but we're stuck having to reschedule a lot of dates.
On a brighter note it's the perfect time to schedule senior portraits. The kids are out of school for who knows how long. I suddenly have plenty of open dates. And senior portraits require little close contact. I use a long lens and we can maintain a distance of 6 feet at all times as we shoot our session in a lovely outdoor setting.
You can also use this time to purchase photography gift cards for you or your loved ones. Once this virus is finished with us I know you'll want to grab life by the horns and capture those beautiful faces of your family. Knowing that you made it. That you survived the scare. Use this link to take advantage right now and look forward to brighter days.
Get your gift cards here!
Here's to all of use. We'll get through this.
Lisa On Location Photography
