Local vendors lost much of their business related to weddings since the virus made its way into Frisco last month. Venue Verona Villa rescheduled 17 weddings for March and April, owner Jason Young said.
“It caused everything to be put on hold,” Young said.
Each wedding has at least eight vendors involved, Young said. The venue’s team has spent their hours rescheduling with each vendor while working through each couple’s emotional disappointment, he said.
Young said it is difficult to tell when a new date can be set due to the rapidly changing nature of the outbreak. Events and weddings in May and beyond are still scheduled, he said.
“It’s hard to prepare for something that’s so unknown,” Young said. “All we can do at this point is go with the information that we have.”
Couples who are still planning their weddings can virtually tour Verona Villa via FaceTime, Young said.
Frisco-based bakery Just Cake It! has postponed as many as 15 wedding cakes since last month, said co-owner Jamie Terry. Some couples have postponed their weddings until next year, she said.
“This has affected all of our clients, but especially weddings,” Terry said. “It’s been hard.”
From conversations with May and June brides, Terry said many are looking at this month to make final decisions on whether to postpone their weddings.
Just Cake It! has started offering no-contact deliveries and pickups and is looking at other creative ways to keep going, Terry said. These times are especially difficult, she said, as the bakery is a small, home-based business.
“I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I’m also a business owner,” she said. “My husband is a teacher. He doesn’t make a lot of money as a teacher, so we rely on our small business to help offset what his income doesn’t cover.”
Natalie Roberson, who co-owns a photography business serving Frisco, said she fears for her brick-and-mortar store in Celina because business is dwindling in the time of the virus. Two weddings in March and four in April have rescheduled their photography sessions.
“I’ve worked for the last 10 years to build the business and this brand,” Roberson said. “Just to see it come to a halt [for] something that’s out of our control is just panicking.”
While postponed weddings have put a strain on business for Natalie Roberson Photography, Roberson said it is best for couples to reschedule through at least the middle of the summer. Funds from a previous session can be transferred to a new date, she said.
“Go ahead and just reschedule, just to play it safe, because you don’t know how long that this is going to be going on,” Roberson said.
Terry said it is important for couples expecting to reschedule to notify their vendors as soon as possible. Just Cake It! also allows its clients to transfer funds to a different day, she said.
“I feel like everyone will be respectable and understanding because we’re all dealing with the same thing,” Terry said. “We’re all in this together, so we have to work together and communicate.”
Wedding vendors across the board are being flexible with rescheduling, Young said. Verona Villa is allowing couples to postpone their date at no cost.
“We put a banner up in front of our building that says, 'Love will prevail,’” he said. “And we just really believe that to be true. And we’re just excited for when we will be able to open our doors and celebrate a wedding, and we just know that the party is going to be huge.”
