#wishiwasthere

You may have noticed a lot of event industry people posting black and white behind the scenes style photos of events this week along with the hashtag #wishiwasthere and #saveliveevents. Event professionals nationwide are banding together as a part of the Live Events Coalition to appeal for federal funding in hopes of saving an industry that has been desecrated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Let me give you a bit of insight as to why this is bigger than it may seem and why many businesses in our industry may not survive long enough to see our reopening phase, especially since private social events are not listed on many reopening plans,

On March 14, 2020 @daughterofdesign posted a graphic that she created the said Postpone. Don't Cancel. #SaveEvents that went viral almost instantly. I shared her post the next day with the caption "No gatherings of more than 50 people for the next EIGHT WEEKS. Postpone Don't Cancel. #saveevents" by that weekend gatherings of more than 10 people had been banned in NYC. That was 18 weeks ago.

By now there are brides and grooms who have postponed their weddings not once, but twice. Many couples have opted to elope or had what The Knot has coined a "mini-mony" to honor their original date with the intention of celebrating with a larger group some time next year, others have just decided to celebrate with a smaller group based on whatever their current local guidelines allow, and as I've posted about, those can vary drastically.

Some of these more minimalist celebrations have been breathtakingly beautiful and no doubt memorable, but while the most outrageous stoop wedding can be incredibly intimate and undoubtedly instagramable, there is one way that it can never measure up to the large celebration that you had once planned, and that is with it's economic impact.

The vast majority of event professionals can accommodate one event a day, that means they have 52 Saturday nights in a given year, so if they work every single Saturday night, they can produce 52 events. While working 52 days a year doesn't seem like a lot, producing just one of those events can be more than a years worth of work. Someone that produces 52 weddings a year is working their butt off and to be honest, may not have the time to provide the level of attention that you are looking for. For a point of reference, some of the top event professionals in the world produce less than ten weddings a year, not because their fees are so high that they don't have to do more, but because the level of service that they provide does not allow for them to spread themselves any thinner. So think for a moment about all of the Brides and Grooms who have had to push their wedding from 2020 to 2021, for the event professionals working on that event, the new date is a loss. There is no opportunity to recoup that income next year. For every event that is pushed to 2021, any profit for 2020 is gone.

Let me remind you that of the 12 million live event professionals, a figure which doesn't include members of major hospitality groups, there are 325 thousand small businesses, many of whom are getting by with the help of the CARES Act incentives like PPP loans and the unemployment booster which is scheduled to end this week. So while it may seem unfair that deposits are being retained and refunds aren't available, please remember that these people, whether they own your venue or are providing you with a service, even at the highest levels are likely operating on small margins with small cash reserves and likely don't have the money to refund to you. In fact, your deposit may be the only thing keeping them afloat. As the world slowly begins to return to normal, event professionals know that the return of events as we once knew them won't come without a vaccine and it is more than likely that "normal" will look very different than it once did.

So while this time is challenging for everyone, please be kind. And perhaps consider booking your 2021 wedding on a Tuesday.