SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Vanessa Haynes is just weeks away from her wedding and she says the planning process is stressful.
"We've had to go over switching venues, we've had three different dates, we've had to cut our crowd down, our invitee list, we've had to set up COVID protocols at our new venue," Haynes explained.
Now, her guests will have to get their temperatures checked, use sanitizing stations and keep their distance on her big day. Haynes says she has had a great team behind her amid all of these changes, including her wedding planner Maya Dennis.
Dennis has gone through a lot of changes within her business, Blueprint Events, over the last year.
"It was just a lot of managing and putting things together on the back in so that everyone felt safe, everyone was safe, it ran smoothly, but it was a lot different,” she said.
Whether it’s a wedding, shower, or birthday party, Dennis says she’s had to get creative.
“A wife wanted me to decorate for her husband, and have a small picnic just for her,” she said. “Things are getting creative and people are trying to find ways to get outside and do something different.”
She says business is already booming and she expects to get a lot more calls come June when California's economy is expected to fully reopen.
“They’re ready, they’re ready for that green light from the governor to say ok, go.”
Although restrictions are lifting, Dennis doesn’t think things will change right away. For example, a lot of wedding venues are restricting buffets. Dennis said the caterer she works with will still allow a buffet but the servers plate the food and then give it to guests to pick up.
She said bars are mostly cashless, meaning they only accept Apple Pay or other digital ways of payment. As for dancing, many venues aren’t allowing any besides the important ones like the first dance or father-daughter dance.
Dennis says she believes as more people get vaccinated, we’ll see plenty more celebrations.
“I think people are going to celebrate just because more often because they took it for granted and they’ll be able to just take advantage of that now,” she said.
