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- Couples around the globe face tough decisions about canceling or postponing their weddings in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
- President Donald Trump's 30-day travel ban for most travel into the US from Europe complicated plans for couples and families traveling across international borders.
- Many couples we talked to said they are struggling to get refunds for flights, vendor contracts, and hotel bookings.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A couples wedding day is often one of the happiest they share, but for some, the coronavirus is throwing a wrench into their day of bliss as family travel plans, venue rentals, and hotel bookings fall into disarray.
Many couples with weddings scheduled in April and May are grappling with the decision to cancel or postpone their weddings because of the virus, but not everyone is able to get refunds for all the moving parts of the event.
President Donald Trump declared a 30-day travel ban for most travel into the US from Europe. after The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic Wednesday.
The restrictions have made travel for some weddings impossible and have frightened others about maintaining their wedding plans in other countries in fear of further travel restrictions.
Susan Taylor's wedding in San Diego, scheduled for March 20, was canceled because of the travel ban since her fiance who lives in France could not fly in along with his family, who were also supposed to attend the wedding.
Taylor said the entire wedding was non-refundable.
"Everything was paid in full!" Taylor wrote in an email to Business Insider. "We will lose $5,000 and can't yet reschedule due to the current circumstances. We are heartbroken and broke!"
For Lucero Serrano, who planned a destination wedding for May in Aruba, the threat of coronavirus threw her wedding plans into question.
"On our end, we don't know what to do anymore, this is truly out of a Bride's nightmare," Serrano wrote in an email to Business Insider. "It took over a year to plan the perfect wedding, all of our vendors are paid for, and still we don't know what tomorrow holds and if we are even going to be allowed to exit/enter California on our way back home."
But for Victoria Hale, her March 21st wedding is supposed to continue on schedule because of vendor contracts and booked hotels.
"They don't have any refund policies, etc. for this because it isn't an act of God or a natural disaster," Hale wrote in an email to Business Insider. "Nor is it either party's negligence. Very odd situation indeed."