With the COVID pandemic, so many bridal showers, weddings and pre-wedding events have been canceled and postponed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), group gatherings are one of the ways that provide a higher risk infection and the spread of the COVID-19. You should therefore restrict any gatherings to less than 50 persons to protect other individuals and communities and prevent further spread of the pandemic.
The COVID pandemic has paralyzed many of these events, but gradually, people have grown to a new norm and incorporated some changes to make these events successful. Some minor adjustments have had to be made in most of the traditional bridal shower events which involved fun games, the opening of gifts, food and drinks. The adjustments were made to ensure that safety measures were followed to curb further spread of the virus. The good thing is that you can still engage in a fun outdoor bridal shower even during the pandemic with several safety measures in place. Here’s everything you need to know to plan a bridal shower in a pandemic.
Chapter Overview
Make a small guest list
Narrowing down your guest list is one of the most exhausting parts of wedding planning. While you might want everyone close to you to attend your bridal shower, you still need to make a guest list. The guest list count will be determined by your set budget and the venue size. Limiting your guest list count will enable you to check all the essentials you’ll need like chair rentals, catering among others that you might need and get an estimated cost.
Utilize an outdoor space
Due to the pandemic, one of the top rules is avoiding congested areas and spaces. According to experts, an outdoor space is much safer compared to holding your bridal shower indoors. Find out the best outdoor space for your bridal shower, which can either be a backyard that is large enough for your guests to maintain distance. Backyard/outdoor events might also require you to put up temporary fences, it is essential to checkout some temporary fences rental services, like Viking Rental.
You can also book a park, but remember to acquire the necessary permits to host the event there since it’s more public. Other public spaces include restaurants or venues with large outdoor spaces. One of the most important things when choosing an outdoor space is having tents on the venue in case there is a change in the weather. Outdoor spaces also provide a great opportunity to interact with nature.
Notify guests of safety guidelines
With the pandemic, most people are a bit hesitant to interact in crowded spaces. It’s best to notify your guests of safety guidelines and measures that you have placed before the event day. Let them know how many guests will be attending and whether you will have some of the safety tools like masks available or if they will bring their own. You also need to tell them how food will be served and reassure them that social distancing will be enforced. You can insert these safety measures in the invitation cards or send an email outlining them for your guests to decide how comfortable they will be attending.
Ask for gifts to be sent earlier
It’s common in most traditional bridal showers for the guests to bring gifts to a bridal shower. However, when a pandemic, such as the COVID pandemic is declared, it’s safer and much better for the shower gifts to be sent before the date of the bridal shower. As the host, you can ask your guests to ship the gifts directly to your house. If you are one of the guests, by sending your gift in advance, the likelihood of you getting in contact with other guests and the guest of honor is low. It’s also safer in case the guest of honor opts to open the gifts on the day of the event since the gifts would have been stored for several days.
Serve boxed meals
Food and drinks are a must-have at any bridal shower. However, due to the emphasis put on having no contact with others, serving plates and cups should be omitted. The recommended way to serve your bridal shower guests is by enlisting a caterer or local restaurant to deliver boxed meals for each guest. This will ensure that everyone in your guest list can safely eat without contact and thus protected from any infection.
As you can see, planning a bridal shower with the pandemic is a bit tedious but keeping you and the guests safe is still possible. Their safety should be the ultimate goal here. Get more bridal shower ideas from these bridal shower articles to be able to throw a fun and memorable bridal shower.