Epik Weddings and Events hasn't hosted an event since mid-March.
"We've been taking a lot of this time to work with many of our couples and helping them understand that love isn't canceled," said owner Erik Riekenberg.
Unfortunately, a lot of their weddings for the season are. That's why Riekenberg looked into the Paycheck Protection Program, a forgivable loan through the Small Business Administration. That funding came through a couple of weeks ago.
"It was huge," he said. We weren't quite sure how we were going to be able to function over this time periods with no income coming in, and with the Paycheck Protection Program, it gave us the breathing room to say, for the next two months, let's just focus, day by day, on how we can get through this and pivot the business to keep afloat. How we can still help people have the biggest celebration they're going to have in their lives as they go into a new chapter."
Many couples are postponing their nuptials, some have canceled - but some are still going through with their big day. Epik is working with those couples to make sure that as many people as possible can still be involved in the big event.
"We're hosting a wedding at The Grove in South Reno at the end of June and we're going to live stream it for all the people that can't be here in person,' Riekenberg said. "We'll live stream the toasts afterward and then we'll create a full video for them. In a year, they're going to show that video at the reception."
It's a way to still celebrate love even though some loved ones will have to watch from afar right now. Riekenberg is confident that his business will survive and says everyone in the industry is looking forward to the day when they can all celebrate together.
"I know that we're going to get through this," he said. "We've been through things that are much more difficult. Even though this is a war with a virus, it's not a war with each other, and we just have to help each other out as much as we can."
For more information, visit:Â https://epikweddings.com/
Â
