One of the advantages I have as a career wedding photographer is…well…I see A LOT of weddings first hand.  In fact, I have one of the best seats in the house.  In fact, I have been to over 400 weddings and I definitely have opinions about what to do & what not to do.  I am definitely an opinionated individual, ask my wife:)

Guess what?  People are still getting married on a relatively regular basis.  Definitely the numbers are down considerably but a lot of brides & grooms want to go ahead with their wedding – albeit in a very responsible manner.   Many of us are a little reluctant to share some of the images of any gatherings as they may provoke backlash.  I am not saying people are having illegal large gatherings on a regular basis, although some are.  We have all heard of the one in San Francisco & the one in Maine.  I am saying that weddings with 10, 15, or even 20 family members are happening legally.

There are many elopements going on in Big Sur, Carmel, Cambria & Paso Robles.  An elopement is about 10 people or less.  90% of the time it is just the bride, groom, officiant & photographer.  But more recently people are doing up to 20 for the ceremony, with the chairs spaced out of course.  And everyone except the bride & groom wearing a mask, or, as a few of my awesome officiant friends are doing, keeping distance between them & the couple at all times.  It really isn’t a big deal if you are careful.  The other thing to consider is what your photographer can do.  It’s actually pretty easy to wear a mask & keep my distance.  In fact, you want your pictures taken from more than 10 feet away.  A long lens flattens the field of view & makes you look thinner –  yep that’s a fact.

I think the more limiting factors are what a venue will allow.  What the local laws currently are.  Legally, if you are violating county or city code an insurance policy is probably not valid.  99% of the time this isn’t an issue, but, I’m sure at some point it will be a problem & it’s best to follow the rules and avoid any code violations.

I actually have a few friends getting married next year.  They are on a budget & have basically no experience in planning an event.  At this point I am telling them to plan for 15-20 close family, with social distancing respected, and let the balance of guests know they would love to have them if they can.  That is just what I would do right now.

Here’s what a recent client had to say about a wedding during the pandemic, “Peer is incredible! We originally booked Peer before COVID hit and he was great about rolling with us in the months prior as we decided what to do. When we finally decided to have a much smaller wedding, he was all for it and had no problem social distancing. He made us feel at ease and we had a lot of fun taking pictures. We got such a great variety and the pictures far exceeded my expectations. We couldn’t be happier with Peer and his ability to capture all of our moments throughout the day. I couldn’t recommend him enough!”