Putting your wedding on hold is something you may decide for a myriad of reasons, some personal, some because of timing, and some because you’re feeling a whole lot of unusual stress and anxiety. No matter what your reason was, the next thing you’ll have to do when you’ve made this decision is let your wedding guests know. To make that part as awkward-free as possible, here are 5 suggested ways to go about postponing your wedding.

1. Ask a Friend to Take Charge
If you feel strange or even embarrassed letting your guests know that your wedding is being put on hold, ask a close friend or even family member to help you out by spreading the word. Give them direction on what you’d like them to say and even what the alternate wedding date is, if you’ve already gone ahead and found one.

2. Make it Laughable
Though putting your wedding on hold is nothing to laugh about, you can make this change of plans something you let your guests know about in a funny way. Adding humor always helps lighten situations and takes the focus off some of the awkward energy surrounding this notification.

3. Go With Email
Picking up the phone may feel like a punch in the gut during this time and sending out something in the mail will just cost you too much extra money. Instead, go with an easy option and send out an update to your guests through email.

4. Stay Vague
No matter what the reason was that you decided to postpone the wedding, you can stay vague and just let your guests know that as of right now, your wedding has been put on hold. You’ll be in touch with an update soon! Take any and all emotion and explanation out of it, if you don’t want to over share.

5. Act Fast
Alerting your guests about this change may be the last thing you’re in the mood to do at this time, but the longer you wait, the longer you risk some of them making travel arrangements that’ll be costly for them to change.