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Mercury Retrograde 2021 & Wedding Planning: 4 Tasks to Put on Hold

How will Mercury Retrograde 2021 affect your wedding planning? Here’s what this planet’s transits mean, and the problematic wedding tasks you should avoid to keep your sanity.

same-sex female couple interracial couple holding hands up close
Garets Workshop/Shutterstock

same-sex female couple interracial couple holding hands up close
Garets Workshop/Shutterstock

All it takes is a simple scroll through Instagram or Facebook to feel the familiar chills when friends and family begin to post about the dreaded “Mercury Retrograde.” But, what does that even mean? Why is it so terrible, when does it happen, and—most importantly—how should you adjust your wedding planning when it’s in effect? Consider this your official primer on Mercury (the Roman god), Mercury Retrograde 2021 (the planet), and which wedding planning tasks you definitely need to forgo during this period. 

What does Mercury Retrograde mean, really?

OK, so, it’s pretty simple. Mercury is a planet in our solar system, and, just like Earth, it rotates around our sun. Compared to Earth, it’s a speedy planet, taking only about 88 days to rotate the sun, therefore passing us a few times a year in its orbit. As Mercury passes, it stations (i.e. briefly pauses) directly next to our planet and appears to spin backwards on its axis. This backward spin is called retrograde and astrologers believe it activates some of the more negative personality traits of the god Mercury—see exactly what we mean below. According to the Farmers' Almanac, here are the upcoming Mercury Retrograde 2021 dates. 

Mercury Retrograde in 2021:

  • January 30–February 19
  • May 29–June 21
  • September 27–October 17

Why fear Mercury?

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, was named after the Roman trickster and messenger god of communication. (He was known as Hermes by the Greeks.) If you think it’s weird that the same person tasked with delivering important messages was also prone to pranks, you might be starting to see how Mercury Retrograde works.

Astrologers see Mercury as a key influence over our ability to communicate, think, and relate to information. When this planet is doing one of its regular backward spins, all things related to relaying messages, reasoning skills, and critical thinking abilities are subject to the trickster’s effects, which could result in messages being delayed, lost altogether, misconstrued, or totally taken out of context. It could also mean we become less rational and less able to reason, thereby assuming the worst of those around us.

couple wearing cozy cable knit sweaters hug in a forest
Tom the Photographer/Unsplash

How can Mercury Retrograde 2021 affect wedding planning?

It’s safe to say that the fear around Mercury’s backward cycles is normally unwarranted. It’s not an inherently negative time period, but it’s not the time to do some crucial wedding planning tasks. Here are a few to avoid or proceed with caution:

Popping the question

When you’ve found the one, it’s not so much a matter of getting a “no” that’s the worry. It’s fear that you’ve sent the proposal photographer the wrong address, and therefore you’ll have no snaps of the event. Or, the risk that your partner’s buddy who you’ve enlisted to help has the wrong day, and doesn’t show up. Avoid the potential for a major communications snafu by waiting a few days to propose.

Meeting the in-laws for the first time

If you’ve met your future MIL and FIL before, don’t cancel a dinner because Mercury is retrograde. However, if it would be the first introduction to any of your future spouse’s close family members, you might want to rethink the date. In addition to basic messages being a challenge during this time, you, your partner, or their family might feel pricklier than usual about any number of dinner conversation topics. Leave this sensitive balancing act for a later date.

Signing contracts

You’ll have a written agreement with all of your wedding vendors that outlines what they’ll do, how much you’ll pay them, and when the money’s due. While fairly straightforward, wedding contracts are just as binding as any other legal document, and you always want to make sure you, your partner, and anyone else fronting the money are clear on terms. If possible, ask for a few days to read over a contract if you’re given one toward the end of Mercury Retrograde 2021. If you need to sign a contract and won’t have time to wait, make sure you grab a couple extra pairs of eyes to read over it and prevent hiccups.

Bach planning decisions

Deciding where to celebrate your bachelor or bachelorette party, or what to do when you get there isn’t something you want to tackle during this heady period. Planning major bachelor or bachelorette party decisions can be fraught with emotion on the best of days, so when astrological transits are causing communication hurdles, it’s more likely that you or your crew won’t feel heard, leaving room for resentment to bubble. More mundane planning can proceed as usual.