The Impact of the COVID-19 on Spring & Summer Weddings

It has truly been an unusual moment as we all navigate this new life in the era of Coronavirus. There will be a particular impact for those with weddings scheduled for this Spring or Summer of 2020. Regardless of whether you decide to keep your original date or postpone your wedding, it is important that you keep a positive approach and be opened for different alternatives than what you have planned so far.

PROMPTLY COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR WEDDING PLANNER

Your wedding planner should be able to review your contracts, discuss alternatives and guide you through this challenging moment. Early and clear communication with you and your planner, venue and vendors is key so that you have more options.

RESCHEDULE, DON’T CANCEL.

Be mindful that most retainer fees are non-refundable. If you cancel your event, you risk losing this deposit. By rescheduling your wedding for a later date, you should retain the deposit. Speak with the venue about alternative dates and work with your vendors to confirm their availability. The earlier you decide and advise about your new plans, the better to obtain your new desired date. Given the latest CDC recommendations, no event over 50 people should be held in the U.S. for eight weeks as of 3/15/20 due to COVID-19. If your wedding is scheduled during this period, rather than canceling, you may want to reschedule for another day.

REACH OUT TO YOUR VENUE AND VENDORS.

As at the beginning of your wedding planning, you will need to define a new wedding date with your venue, so that you can then approach all the other vendors. Be flexible and consider alternative as weekdays and Sundays. As such, the more chance you will have to keep the same team.

KEEP YOUR GUESTS UPDATED WITH YOUR PLANS

Once you have decided on your new date of your wedding, consider using wedding websites such as the ones provided by Zola or Weddingwire to keep your guests informed about your plans. If you opt not to have a website, send emails and for close friends and family, use traditional calls.

REVIEW YOUR WEDDING INSURANCE

Contact your insurance company to determine if your wedding insurance covers expenses incurred and/or liability in case you need postpone/cancel your event due to Coronavirus. Most likely, even if you have purchased wedding insurance, the consequences of changes in your event due to Coronavirus may not be covered. WedSure Liability is our recommendation for couples who want to purchase a wedding insurance.

MOVING FORWARD WITH YOUR WEDDING

If your wedding is scheduled for after 5/15/20 and you decide moving forward with your wedding date you still may need to re-evaluate your plans.

- Work on back up plan with your vendors so that you are prepared to ensure CDC recommendations.

- Verify who is on your guest list. Can you host your wedding with a few guests missing? Where would your guests be coming from? Are they considered within the high-risk group?

- What are the new cleaning guidelines in place from vendors such as venue and catering? It is important to discuss with them about their proactive approach to the virus and how they are following CDC best practices, which would include implementing strong procedures for the cleaning and disinfecting of the venue; ensuring the presence of sufficient hand sanitizing stations for those attending; Training venue's employees on proper hygiene as recommended by the CDC and having venue employees stay home and not being at the wedding if sick.

- For Catering services, would the menu be affected due to products that will be facing difficulty to enter/or be produced/handled in the U.S. market?

- Will may need to redefine with your florist your flower designs according to the floral market availability.

We hope you find this guideline helpful. Our goal is to keep our communication with all clients and partners and work together with grace and responsibility to overcome this difficult time.

Stay safe and healthy.

Warmly,

Carol Guedes

All You Need to Know About Place Cards & Escort Cards

At Flying Little Birds, we create ways to display our signature handcrafted sachet favors, which work double duty as escort cards or name cards. Our favorite part of designing weddings and events is incorporating our sachet favors matching not only the theme of the celebration, but also adding your personality and style to the wedding/event décor.

I know there are many questions regarding the differences between place cards and escort cards: Do I need both of them? Is it one per guest? How should they be addressed? And so forth… If you are planning your wedding and have similar questions, this post is for you, as I am sharing tips on planning these items for your big day.

But first of all, let’s talk about the main differences between an escort card (or seat chart) and place card (sometimes referred to as a name card or name tag). Escort cards will assist in directing your guests to a designated table, while place cards are set on the table at the guest’s predetermined seat.

Ok, but which one(s) should I use at my wedding? Well, it will depend on a few facts; so let's check it out!

Escort Cards:

If you have a large guest list, having escort cards can be a particularly great idea. You will be able to previously preset the seat of your guests and avoid unevenly distributed tables or empty seats. Most weddings have escort cards placed at the entrance of the reception area as it makes it easier for the guests to find a table. The escort card will give piece of mind to your guests and prevent large parties from having to seat separating for lack of space at a particular table.

In case you decide to skip the escort cards, just have in mind that guests tend to spread out and sit with those that they already know. Besides the fact that this may create empty spots that would not look good in photos, you may also have extra costs at your wedding reception in order to keep all parties together.

Working on an escort card / seat chart can be an extra planning step on your agenda, but I recommend that it be done. It is best to start doing so as soon as you start receiving your RSVPs. And would we need one per guest? Nope! Actually, we normally have one per family, couples (married or not married) and single guests (with or without company). Here are a few tips when it comes to addressing these cards, depending on the formality of your reception.

Married Couples:

"Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith" - Formal

"Robert and Catherine Smith - Less Formal

Unmarried couples:

"Jennifer Sloan and David Smith" - Alphabetize the guests according to their last name

Singles:

Anna Sinclair

Anna Sinclair and Guest - If the person is bringing a guest

Family:

The Guedes Family

Place Cards or Name Cards:

When talking about place cards or name cards, this item will bring a bit more formality to your event. A place card designates where each guest will be seated at a wedding reception, pointing each guest to his or her particular seat at the table. Although place cards are optional, if you are planning a plated dinner offering more than one entrée, place cards can be very helpful for the serving staff to bring the correct meals to the guests. Have also in mind that every guest should have his or her own place card.

Normally, if you decide to have a place card at your reception, you may also consider having an escort card, in order to avoid having guests walking around at the reception looking for their names at each table. However, if you are hosting a small intimate reception with a long family table, you may only have the place cards skipping the escort cards.

Check our Wedding Favor Collection for more inspirations!

Would you like to know more about Flying Little Birds tips in styling and design events? Send your questions or comments!

XoXo, Carol Guedes

Event Design: @flyinglittlebirds

Flowers, Favors & Signage: @flyinglittlebirds

Venue: @501union

#weddingfavors #weddingdecor #weddingdesign #escortcards

The Brooklyn Easter Celebration

I believe that love is shown by small details. Since my Flying Little Birds Chloe and Lila were newborns, every Easter is celebrated with a handmade décor that I especially create for them.

The idea behind The Brooklyn Easter Celebration photo shoot was to capture all Easter décor memories created for my daughters, who are also my Flying Little Birds. This Easter handmade décor tradition turned into an incredibly sweet keepsake collection. From fabric baskets filled with colorful fabric eggs, to little bunnies to go along with the baskets, each year I created a new addition, such as crayon cases, jordan almonds sachets, ears’ bunny bag and more.

Last year, I invited the photographer Oye Atama for a family photo shoot to celebrate the Easter in our favorite park, The Brooklyn Bridge Park. As we live in Brooklyn, having the NYC skyline as a backdrop was a perfect location for this styled photo shoot. Besides the keepsake items, I also invited Rafaela, from Baked by Rafaela Capellan, to bake lovely Bunny Cookies.

Flying Little Birds is an event planning and design studio based in Brooklyn, and specialized in thoughtful events with creative décor. The essence of Flying Little Birds Event Design services is based on capturing the personality of our clients styling thoughtful events with creative décor and unique favors for weddings, baby shower celebrations, memorable birthday parties and other social celebrations in the greater New York City area.

Happy Easter everyone!

Planning & Design, Flowers & Favors: @flyinglittlebirds

Photos: @oye_atama

Cookies: @Bakedbyrcapellan

Love,

Carol Guedes

#Easter #HandmadeDecor #eventdesign