“Even though we have a 10-day window after lockdown, I’m still basing my wedding on five people,” the 31-year old Melburnian says. “This means a small celebration with people viewing via Zoom if they want to, and a bigger reception in 2021.”

“We’ve had to take into consideration so many things we wouldn’t have usually, such as who will drive the wedding car, who will be witnessing our signatures, the celebrant standing away from us.

“It’s really put a huge damper even looking forward to getting married,” she says.

Reducing the guest list hasn’t been easy, either. Ms Licata says she’s had some pushback from friends who didn’t make the cut.

“But we just want a little extra happiness and joy in our lives, even if it’s for three hours,” she says. “We decided early this year we were going to continue on with our lives as normal as possible, which meant getting married during a pandemic.

“At the end of the day, as cliche as it sounds, we see it as a love story between us – it’s no one else's business.”

While Ms Licata and her partner are holding out hope things will improve by the time their wedding comes around, other couples have given up on 2020.

And for those still going ahead, a wedding will look significantly different. Professor in Public Health at the University of Melbourne, Rob Moodie, says the ever-present coronavirus threat has altered not only guest lists, but also the way couples have to organise the day.

“You need to consider things like asking sick guests to stay at home, how to space the room, whether there is enough space between guests, providing lots of sanitiser and that the cake is cut hygienically,” he says.

“You also want to be careful around serving alcohol: the more people drink, the more likely they are to slap each other on the back and get into much closer contact than they would usually.”

Professor Moodie says couples should be thinking about how to make their wedding physically distanced but emotionally engaged, something that is possible with some extra planning.

“Wear masks if you can, and organise to take photos outside before the [ceremony and reception] if you want to avoid people wearing masks in them,” he says.

“And remember: even in a psychically-distanced wedding, you’re not going to be so far away that you can’t have a joyful, goofy celebration. What you don't want is to be at the centre of a new cluster.”

Sydney-based wedding planner, stylist and owner of The Curated Life, Belinda Brett, says the lack of clarity around what is and isn’t allowed at weddings (as well as the ever-changing nature of restrictions across the country) is one of the biggest challenges facing the wedding industry and couples.

“For example, there is currently confusion in NSW about who can dance; we’ve heard the bridal couple and immediate bridal party are allowed to dance, but the guests are not,” she says.

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As it stands, weddings in NSW can go ahead provided they follow the four-square metre rule per person; there are no restrictions on the number of guests provided the venue is big enough.

In Victoria, the situation is more complicated. While it is possible for weddings to still go ahead, as of July 9, weddings taking place in Greater Melbourne can only have five people present, which includes the bride and groom, the celebrant and two witnesses. The rest of Victoria is still allowed to have 20 guests.

Yet it’s not all doom and gloom: Ms Brett says that many couples, far from being depressed about not having a huge wedding, are taking the time instead to think about what really matters to them, and reinvesting their budget into “personalising the event, making table settings luxe and choosing a special location they may not otherwise be able to afford”.

While 2021 is gearing up to be a much busier year, Ms Brett says couples wishing to keep their 2020 wedding date should not lose hope.

“It’s a very uncertain time, but I would advise that couples getting married outside the restrictions period continue making plans as per usual,” Ms Brett says.

“You don’t want to go through all that heartache of having to postpone only to find out you could have had a bigger wedding than you thought.”