What to expect if you need to postpone your wedding

Postponing a wedding primarily involves notifying your guests and vendors, including your venue, florist, catering, and bands or DJ as soon as you know your wedding needs to be moved. When you contact your vendors, find out if your deposits can be transferred to your new date. If you purchased wedding cancellation insurance and your deposits can't be transferred or refunded, and your circumstances qualify, your insurer may reimburse you.

What happens to your deposits if you postpone your wedding?

Some vendors may be willing to work with you to apply your deposit to a different date. But others may not, which means you'll lose your money, unless you have wedding cancellation insurance. Learn how wedding insurance works and what to do if your wedding venue cancels on you.

Factors to consider when postponing your wedding

If you have no choice but to postpone your big day, consider these factors before speaking with your vendors:

How far away the wedding date is

If you need to postpone your wedding, vendors who are willing to transfer your deposit to a new date may still charge you a postponement fee.

Why you're postponing

If you need to reschedule for personal reasons, your vendors may be willing to work with you. But if you want to delay because of a significant event (e.g., a natural disaster) that's affecting other clients, vendors may be less willing to work with you.

How the contract is written

Some contracts have a force majeure clause, which gives you and your vendor an out if either of you can't meet your contractual obligations because of an "act of God." Just keep in mind that what qualifies can be a gray area.

How to postpone a wedding

If you need to postpone your wedding, follow these steps to make the process as smooth as possible for yourself and everyone involved.

Let your guests know

Even if you haven't set a new date yet, let your guests know your wedding won't occur on the originally planned date. This gives your friends and family more time to adjust any plans they've made. As soon as you book a new date, let your guests know, so they can put it on their calendar and make any necessary travel arrangements.

Contact vendors

Start with the vendors that are top priorities to hire for your rescheduled wedding date. See what other dates they have available, and work around their schedule. Some vendors may be able to accommodate your new date. If they can't, you'll probably lose your deposit.

Ask for recommendations

If vendors you previously booked aren't available on your new date, ask if they can recommend someone who might be.

Ask for a credit or contact your event insurer

If a vendor won't give your deposit back, ask for a credit to use another time, so you don't lose out completely. Or, if you purchased wedding cancellation insurance, it's time to file a claim to get reimbursed for your lost deposits.

Consider getting wedding cancellation insurance

Wedding cancellation/postponement insurance reimburses you for non-refundable expenses if you need to cancel or postpone your wedding due to events beyond your control. You would need to have purchased a wedding cancellation plan and have it in place prior to postponing or cancelling the event, and before filing a claim.

When you purchase Progressive® Wedding and Event Insurance by The Event Helper, Inc., you can add cancellation insurance. Plans from The Event Helper must be purchased at least a week before your wedding date.