Wedding restriction lifting gets mixed response from venues
From Monday, the 30-guest limit will be removed
The lifting of some restrictions on weddings in England has been met with mixed emotions, according to the manager of a Berkshire wedding venue.
From next Monday, the 30-guest limit will be removed for the first time in months - but venues must still follow social distancing rules, which will effectively limit how many people can attend.
The updated guidelines aren’t all change. Dancing and singing will still not be allowed, and face coverings must be worn by all guests and staff (but not the married couple) whenever they aren’t eating or drinking.
Jonny Bann, who runs The Swan at Streatley, says dozens of couples have weddings booked at his sites in the next four weeks.
“With so many postponements over the last year, a lot of them will have been holding on to try to squeeze them into the summer months this year.
“So with still some restrictions on dancing and face masks and things like that, which are understandable, it’s just not the wedding they booked a couple of years ago. For them, emotionally, it’s difficult.”
He adds that finally being able to increase capacity is a lifeline for many wedding venues.
“To be able to make a profit on those,” he says, “venues do need to have X amount of people attending.
“I think with the capacity percentage coming in to play, it does allow for those venues that can accommodate larger numbers to get back to a more cost-viable number.”
The delay to lifting lockdown restrictions comes after a surge in cases of the Delta variant, which Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week causes around 9 in 10 of all cases in the UK.
Surge testing for the Delta variant has been underway in recent weeks in areas including Reading and parts of North Hampshire.
The Prime Minister only confirmed the extension of coronavirus restrictions on Monday evening, exactly one week before they were expected to be lifted.
“I have friends in the wedding industry who have changed careers and moved into different jobs, which is heart-breaking because emotionally they love what they do."
Mr Bann, who also runs weddings at the Great House at Sonning, says leaving the announcement so late has had its disadvantages.
“It does cause extra admin of increasing all the numbers for the wedding at the last minute. Getting those orders to our suppliers, getting the orders into the kitchens so they can prepare and deliver it.
“It is a step forward – I don’t want to be negative about it, it is a good step forward. But to the same degree, these things take time to plan and organise”
With wedding venues either forced to shut or run at a very limited capacity for over a year, Mr Bann warned restricting weddings has knock-on impacts on other businesses.
“Florists that are specifically wedding florists etc. – those are businesses built on venues being able to deliver weddings. And if they can’t deliver, then a lot of these sole traders begin to struggle financially, and they already are, to be fair.”
He added: “I have friends in the wedding industry who have changed careers and moved into different jobs, which is heart-breaking because emotionally they love what they do.
“People do weddings for the love of it – less so for the money, because they’re not going to be millionaires out of it. They do it because they love the journey and the adventure with the couple.
“Couples only do it once in a lifetime, usually, so it’s a special thing to be involved with.”