If you can't have a civil exchange with your ex, Leah Weinberg, a Queens attorney and author of “The Wedding Roller Coaster,” suggests having a mutual friend or family member who has a good relationship with both parties handle the matter. logistics to reach suppliers and guests. If the couple can't agree on one person who should do that for them, then each person could name a personal “representative,” and those two representatives could work together, Weinberg said. And if you have a wedding planner, most will arrange to contact vendors if you ask.
“It's helpful to have a margin of safety” when you're not in the right headspace, he added.
Notify your suppliers
Alerting wedding vendors should be your first task. “The money you lose increases the closer you get to the wedding,” said Cathy O'Connell, founder of COJ Events in Palm Springs, California. If a couple is “thinking about canceling, it's better to do it sooner.” that later,” she said.
Couples should also know their suppliers' cancellation policies from the beginning. “Understand the cancellation provision your provider has in the contract,” Ms. Weinberg said. There is always a deadline after which an outstanding balance is due, she added.
“I always encourage couples to explain to vendors that they are canceling the wedding because they are no longer together,” said Sara Bauleke, owner of Bella Notte, a wedding planning company in Washington, DC. “You get a gesture of sympathy.”
Alert wedding guests
“Have a strategy for informing guests,” Weinberg said. This is another task to consider outsourcing to a friend or family member. Whatever you do, don't delay telling your guests, who may have booked travel and accommodations.
But, he added, “you don't owe your wedding guests a big explanation.” Write an email as you would a press release, she suggested, and end with something like this: “We appreciate you respecting our privacy.”
