The wedding day is supposed to be one of the happiest days of a couple's life and it usually takes months, if not years, of meticulous planning and organisation.
But hundreds of couples have been forced to postpone their big day because of the coronavirus crisis and right now it's hard to tell when things will get back to normal.
Fabricio and Chiara were supposed to get married this Saturday, March 28.
"My boyfriend is from Argentina, but he has lived in Rome and Naples and I am Italian. We are hotel entertainers and we met 10 years ago,” says Chiara, whose mother is a Medical Doctor in Senigalia, a town near the Adriatic Sea.
"We decided to cancel the wedding when about 20 of my family and friends couldn't come here, long before the State of Emergency was declared in Spain. Now we are experiencing this nightmare twice: first through Italy and now from Majorca," she said.
Fabricio and Chiara haven’t decided on a new date for their wedding yet.
"We will see how things are at work first, then decide." says Sonia Hernández, the Wedding Planner for their big day in Portocolom.
"I have already cancelled another wedding planned for 266 people on May 2 in ses Cases de sa Font Seca. What I'm telling couples is that they have to be careful, because we are now in quarantine, at least until April 12 and then we will see."
Laura and Borja should already be married, their date was set for March 21.
"When we were denied a visa to Vietnam a few weeks ago we knew that something strange was happening," says Laura. "I work in the Tourism Sector and I started seeing cancellations for different destinations as well as airport closures so I thought the worst."
"As soon as one of Borja’s relatives in Madrid and Badajoz, told us that the flight had been cancelled we decided to suspend the wedding and now we will get married in late October, also in Morneta," she says. We were offered other dates, but we think the weather in March and at the end of October will be similar."
Charo Vadillo has been in charge of Catering Bon Gust for 10 years, mostly for weddings, company events and hospital menus.
"Everything concerning businesses and weddings has been cancelled until we see what happens in May, which is when the high season really begins and we also have to wait and see what the economic situation is like then, because an event is not an obligation,” he says.
In the meantime, Charo is preparing for a wedding on May 16 at the Son Burguet Estate in Puigpunyent and the happy couple, Vera and Marcos, from Llucmajor, are optimistic that all will be well.
"To this day I think we can get married. If not, Charo has managed to book us in for another date on June 20, but that could be a problem for family coming from Extremadura if they need to change their tickets,” says Vera. “We will wait and see what happens. Our parents told us to postpone it, but we prefer not to and our trip is booked for January in Thailand,” explains Vera.
Cancellation Advice
The first step is to contact all the contracted suppliers like photographers, florists, bakers etc, and because of the exceptional circumstances, professionals are doing all they can to guarantee a future date.
But just to be sure about what the cancellation policies are, it’s best to check the contract for options regarding total or partial refunds. The most important thing is to reach an agreement that suits both parties as soon as possible.
All the paperwork that's needed to say “I DO” is valid for three months, but the Government has warned that "in exceptional situations the normal terms are suspended and the deadlines for administrative procedures in progress are interrupted” so it’s best to contact the Civil Registry or Church to check that your papers are still valid.