We got an email from our cousin that the wedding, originally in June and rescheduled for August, has been postponed again.
This time they said that the wedding will be in 2021, and that they are "shooting for" June 12, 2021.
I feel so sorry for them. What a disappointment.
I do think that they should not be giving a THIRD date, more than a year in the future, especially because it's not at all definite, but it isn't like anyone has to do anything about it, so it's not a problem.
It does look kind of weird to keep pushing back a wedding for which TWO invitations have already been sent. I know they must be excited about the wedding they planned, but in their shoes, I would just get married already and have the big reception in the future (I would think that the convention of not calling it a "wedding reception" if it is long after the wedding would be suspended under the circumstances); I would think that everyone would still come. I know I would.
People do sometimes put off their marriages for a couple of years to save up for a wedding. But once the wedding has already been set -- twice -- and then postponed -- twice -- even where, as here, it is due to circumstances entirely beyond their control, it just seems to me to be a little too much emphasis on the celebration and not enough on beginning their marriage.
She's such a down to earth woman, and so are her parents, so I would totally have guessed wrong on this. Whatever they do, I'm thrilled for them and will be there if we can (by next June we will probably be living overseas, so it might be harder).
Anyway, back to my original question: NOW what should they do about those thank you notes?
The invitation came in February, so that's when I sent my gift, and I presume others already did, too. I don't know whether they had Zola (or the merchants; I don't know how it works) deliver some or all of the gifts people ordered. I do know that Zola says they notify them when someone buys a gift. As I wrote above, I don't think that receipt of the actual gift matters anyway: you are thanking someone for giving you a gift, which they already did, whether or not you instructed the merchant to store it for you (which the giver doesn't even know). So as far as the giver is concerned, you have gotten your gift from them.
At this point I don't think that there is any question: they should thank people for the gifts they have received/been notified about without further delay. Presumably they were waiting until after the wedding (which, as I wrote above, I think is wrong anyway; the thank you note isn't about the wedding, irrespective of whether you also include "so glad/sorry you could/couldn't/can/can't join us"). But if they do that now, it means that some people won't be thanked for almost a year and a half -- at least -- after sending a gift. That just can't be okay, even given the weird circumstances.
This would be another benefit of getting married now and having the reception later.