Photos by Amy Little Photography

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“If you are shifting from the big wedding to a smaller micro wedding it can still be your dream wedding and safe,” Hattar said. “Just because you’re having a micro wedding doesn’t mean it can’t be uniquely memorable, lush and lux.”

Here are some of Hattar’s Blissful Events Guiding Principles for safe weddings and elopements:

1. PLAN WHO IS GOING TO ATTEND AHEAD OF TIME AND REQUEST THAT THEY SELF-QUARANTINE 14 DAYS BEFOREHAND.

If possible, have them be tested for COVID-19 before attending. It’s critical to prepare the guests beforehand.

2. EXPAND WEDDING CELEBRATIONS TO MULTI-DAY EVENTS TO ALLOW MORE TO ATTEND IN-PERSON SAFELY.

Want more people to attend in person? Have a multi-day event, and invite different people to each day. This allows the number of attendees at an event to stay within local guidelines, and to increase the number of people that can participate. Hattar emphasizes that it is critical for the wedding event planner and vendors to either replace or sanitize all the surfaces people have access to between events. At her events, Hattar said she changes table lines, place settings, and freshens floral arrangements between the days, which has the added benefit of changing the whole environment from one day to the next into a new beautiful luxurious and safe experience.

3. DESIGN THE FLOW OF EVENTS, SEATING ARRANGEMENTS AND GATHERING SPOTS TO MAXIMIZE SAFETY.

A general rule of thumb is that people should be seated 6 feet away from each other, but having advance knowledge of the attendees can make it possible to seat those that already live together at the same table. At a recent COVID-19 safe micro wedding Hattar planned, everyone had assigned seating that avoided putting anyone in close contact with new people. Additionally, she plans out the natural walking paths of attendees to ensure everyone has plenty of safe space to wander, and blocks off areas likely to become foot traffic jams with artful wreaths and floral arrangements.

4. HAVE FEWER VENDORS ON SITE DURING THE EVENT.

It’s possible to minimize the number of people present at an event without skimping on the luxury experience. This can be achieved by planning when vendors arrive at the event. Host the event in an environment that you can control and have access to before, during and between events. For example, Hattar said she coordinated with the florist to arrive well before the event and set up the floral decorations before anyone else arrived. Additionally, musicians playing live music can be positioned far enough away from guests that all maintain a safe distance.

5. HAVE INDIVIDUALLY PLATED HORS D’OEUVREs.

Open salad bars or hors d’oeuvres heaped on plates that require everyone to grab their own servings present needless risk. Hattar instead instructed caterers to create individual plates with each hors d’oeuvre for all attendees, which ensured that everyone tasted each treat. Additionally, each table has their own bottles of wine that they can self-serve.

“It elevated the experience,” Hattar said. “This is how I’m going to be doing cocktail hour from now on.”

7. MASK USAGE SHOULD BE PLANNED AND COMMUNICATED TO ALL AHEAD OF TIME.

Vendors should wear masks at all times, and any mask removals should be planned ahead of time for the safety of all. The times when masks are removed by the wedding party for photos or to eat, should be carefully planned ahead of time starting with them all being quarantined for 14 days before the event and, if possible, tested for coronavirus. At a recent event, vendors at the event kept their masks on for the entire event except in the case of the officiant who had quarantined herself for 14 days before the event so that she could be photographed and filmed without her mask just during the ceremony. Those in the same households should be seated together. Tables, chairs and wedding party locations should be positioned strategically to maintain proper distancing. Also, it should be planned when masks can be removed safely for some wedding photos based on who is in the portrait and sharing households.

8. CONTROL ACCESS TO THE FOOD AND DRINKS.

“No one was allowed to touch anything at the bar except the bartender,” Hattar said. “Everything had been sanitized. I still have dry spots on my hands from sanitizing  everything so many times!” 

9. SAFETY RESTRICTIONS ENABLE US TO DISCOVER WONDERFUL NEW WAYS OF EXPERIENCING EVENTS.

It made sense at the recent wedding of Sabina Steinberg and John Giffin to plan the event so that attendees spent most of their time seated with family and loved ones of the same house. So, a fantastic way to elevate that experience was to turn it into a 4 course meal. This meant more chatting at the tables, more bonding and more toasts to the newly married couple.

“It was really sweet,” Hattar said. “Almost everyone there gave a toast.”

The happy couple Steinberg and Giffin wrote to Hattar on Instagram, “Because of you we remember our wedding as one of the BEST days of our life.” 

So much of creating a safe, memorable and beautiful experience that enables a couple to share the uniqueness of their love and relationship is in the planning, custom details and flow of the day. Hattar often has attendees say to her, “This wedding is the best wedding I’ve ever been to. I can’t put my finger on it, but the flow of the day has been so flawless and perfect, it feels like magic.”

Nothing delights her like working with couples to help them identify and bring to life their vision of their special day. Creating an entire shared experience that encapsulates everything from the carpet, to the table linens, to the flowers to the unique events – it all layers together to create a memorable event.

To learn more about Samar Hattar’s Blissful Events Guiding Principles and experience them for yourself, contact her at 415-497-2280,  SAMAR@BLISSFULEVENTPLANNING.COM or here.

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Photos by Amy Little Photography.