WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER, AS AN INDUSTRY, AS SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

It’s the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me yet in my 41 years … this feeling of the unknown, the perfect fear, the questions that don’t have answers … I have zero clue how to handle myself … I feel calm while at the same time out of control … I feel nervous while at the same time at peace … and I think the reason I’m able to have all those polar opposite feelings at once is:

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

If I’m unable to pay all of my bills at the end of this month, there are probably 5 other people I know who are in the same boat. If my business is slowing or coming to a stop, I’m sure I know at least 5 other people who are dealing with the same thing, and each of those 5 people probably know 5 other people too! And while knowing that someone else is in the same horrible situation doesn’t make me feel good, what it does do is: make me feel like I’m not alone. And that has a very specific type of comfort associated with it.

THE WEDDING, EVENT, ENTERTAINMENT, AND FOOD INDUSTRY IS BEING HIT HARD BECAUSE OF COVID-19

And while we are feeling it the most right now, the domino affect will cascade down and everyone will feel this. We, as business owners and employees in this industry, SPEND MONEY … and if don’t have an income to spend … well, that’s a very slippery slope.

I reached out to many different business owners from all over this morning … and I got a quote from them on what life and business feels like RIGHT NOW … today, March 16th 2020 … whether these bring you comfort, know that what you are feeling, what I’m feeling, what these business owners are feeling … is what we are all, as a community, feeling … we have to ride this out … and it will probably get worse before it gets better.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has turned our home and business upside down. In the thick of the outbreak, our community has suffered and we’ve seen shops and restaurants close up shop - we’re also now teachers as school is closed for six weeks while trying to manage our business and keep our clients calm. While the personal stress has been great, it’s also been truly heartwarming to see community band together to get through this feeling “digitally gathered” together, which will help to keep up all continue to roll along. I am thankful that we are able to be home with our kids and grateful for those who are on this forefront of this in health care and public service.”

— SEATTLE WEDDING DESIGNER

“My emails have come to a stop, whereas before I would get close to 100 per day. The new inquiries have stopped as of mid last week and clients who had asked for a retainer to get on my calendar have emailed to tell me they can’t pay it. My income has completely stopped as of last Wednesday being the last day a client paid their invoice.”

— SEATTLE WASHINGTON WEBSITE DESIGNER SPECIALIZING IN THE WEDDING AND EVENT INDUSTRY

“In just a few short days every single client I had on the books has either canceled or postponed their event. What does that mean for me? Lost wages on money that I was counting on to pay bills with. Do I get still get paid by my employer while this shit storm happens? No, because I am MY OWN employer and now I am left without the ability to pay myself. And I can only hope that people will once again feel comfortable to start planning events, but when that is, I can’t predict, but I fear it will be a lot longer than we all think.”

— SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INVITATION DESIGNER

“As things remain uncertain and continuously changing I am having to reschedule all of my clients weddings who are getting married in March, April & May while remaining up to date on my current clients weddings who this isn’t effecting yet. It’s a lot!”

— RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA WEDDING PLANNER

“As small business owners in the event industry, our future has never felt so uncertain. There are moments when we feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty, and moments when we feel consoled by the tremendous support of our business community. In a way it feels like time has stopped, and we are all suspended in air. We do our best to remain hopeful that we will soon find our footing again, and that life will return to normal.”

— BAY AREA, CARMEL VALLEY WEDDING FLORIST

“As a wedding planner I feel like a marriage counselor at times, now I’m a self proclaimed life therapist trying to keep clients, team members, and vendors calm. So many mixed emotions. Trying stay positive while on the inside I’m sad to hear about people being laid off, lonely hospital patients can’t have visitors, seeing thousands of flowers being dumped since there are no buyers or events. Devastated for the hospitality industry as hotels and restaurant are closing, some could be permanently closed. Trying to tell my daughter social distancing is temporary and hugging will be the norm again. Just hoping clients postpone to a time they feel comfortable. In the meantime and always “be KIND whenever possible. It is always possible” - Dalai Lama”

— ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA WEDDING PLANNER

“Although I do stationery and graphic design I have felt the financial hit of COVID-19. Day of stationery for both social and corporate functions have been either cancelled or postponed for all of my March and April production schedule. Social invitations, although those events are much later in the year I have clients signed contracts but now nervous to put down retainers due to financial uncertainty. I totally understand them and it also is worrisome to not know if that income will come in. Graphic design jobs have been put on hold as companies are scrambling to figure out what will happen next. This is affecting everyone in some way.”

— SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STATIONERY DESIGNER

“Ew, Covid-19. That’s how we feel down here in Nashville. We are not done cleaning up from the tornado that swept through here 2 weeks ago. Our hospitality industry lost businesses, buildings, and homes.
We are staying up to date as the CDC recommendations are ever changing and being proactive with our Spring weddings: giving clients the option to reschedule to the Fall before it possibly becomes mandatory.
With luxury weddings, we typically have 25+ vendors involved so juggling everyone’s schedules is going to be a process. Other considerations are the items we already ordered with the client’s wedding date: Ketubahs & kippot for our Jewish weddings, custom napkins and signage, etc.
We are staying positive and calm so we can help our clients navigate this process thoughtfully as this has been truly devastating for all involved.”

— FÊTE NASHVILLE, WEDDING PLANNER

“As a wedding planner this virus is really difficult to deal with. We’ve never had anything like this before and I’m crossing my fingers that we never do again … Given that this is very uncharted waters it’s hard for me to really advise my clients what to do past postponing, but not canceling, their weddings and events. As a mother and a wife I am now working from home and my husband is doing the same. As anyone else who is in the same situation knows, that’s a fairly difficult situation. Both of my kids are home from school and my husband and I both still have a fair amount of work to do in addition to making sure we have enough supplies for the house and making sure everything is clean. I think the most frustrating thing about this virus is that it has given everybody the gift of time to do those things you always wanted to do, which in my case would be to do things like update my website and blogs and things like that… But when you have kids and you have a spouse that also works that time doesn’t necessarily exist.”

— ROTHWEILER EVENT DESIGN | NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA WEDDING PLANNER

“As someone who is primarily destination weddings to my region there is so much uncertainty for my clients. We are looking at most likely reduced guest lists for summer weddings and postponement for spring weddings. I am trying to discourage my clients from stopping the planning all together. ”

— COEUR D'ALENE IDAHO WEDDING PLANNER

“While things in Utah remain relatively calm, we have spent our entire morning canceling meetings upon meetings that were on the calendar for the next three weeks. While an inconvenience, we are concerned for the safety of our clients and team. The majority of our clients are destination wedding couples and we see no value in asking them to take unnecessary risks to travel here for appointments at this time. We have also made it clear to our clients that we will do everything in our power to work with them regarding postponements and the rescheduling of planning appointments and/or scheduled event dates. Everyone’s health and safety is our top priority right now and we are doing what we can to flatten the curve!”

— MICHELLE LEO EVENTS | UTAH WEDDING PLANNER

“With the uncertainty of this Coronavirus situation, event cancellations, restaurant and venue closures, and recommendations to socially distant oneself are all appropriate measures. We must all be considerate of those most vulnerable in our community and do everything in our power to protect them.
The event / hospitality industry has begun and will continue to suffer drastically. Events which have been booked for months or longer are cancelling one after another … In many cases, preparation has already taken place and deposits / full payments have already been collected; hundreds, thousands, tens-of-thousands of dollars instantly wiped off of the books. For many small businesses, the refund of deposits / payments is very difficult or nearly impossible. We will get through this … the event / hospitality industry will bounce back!”

— OPEN AIR ENTERTAINMENT | NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL PHOTO BOOTH COMPANY

“It has affected our business with decreased sales and some orders placed on hold. My family is now home while trying to find childcare for my children, with hope that they won’t get infected at these childcare facilities.”

— PERSONALIZED PARTY FAVOR DESIGNER DELIVERING EVERYWHERE

“We are social distancing and are ready and prepared to be hanging out here for at least another couple weeks too, so all good on that front. My biggest hope is that we can stop the spread of this thing before it hurts more people or our economy even more. It’s pretty crazy to experience something with everybody else in the world that none of us have experienced in our lifetimes and we’re all trying to figure it out together… it’s bananas! Through it all though, we need to be thoughtful, be responsible, and be kind. ”

— NAPA VALLEY CALIFORNIA STATIONERY DESIGNER

“Luckily no future weddings of mine have been compromised yet - I had a wedding last weekend which drastically effected their guest count but the party went on as planned. Two weddings I was in this summer in May have been postponed until further notice. My husband’s work (both jobs) are cancelled for a month so we are trying to figure out the next steps for him to collect unemployment.”

— SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDDING DESIGNER

“The effects are more of a worry. The what if this than that scenario. We are rescheduling for our clients where we can. That really all we can do. We are implementing sending our specials for past clients to buy product from our image gallery. But really if it goes more than 8 weeks we and or we get sick it will be very detrimental.”

— SEATTLE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY COMPANY

“My emails have stopped completely. Clients are not making any further plans. But we will make it through this. I am taking time to focus on my family and keeping positive! That is the key ... keep positive!”

— NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDDING PLANNER