"It doesn't make sense" - anger from South Yorkshire wedding industry after funeral limit lifted
There are calls for weddings to get the same treatment
South Yorkshire couples and businesses say they can't understand why guest limits will be lifted for funerals later this month, but not for weddings.
On Monday the government announced it'll scrap the 30 person cap on mourners on 17th May, in a change to the planned roadmap.
That's as long as the number of people at services can safely fit inside the venue socially distanced.
But the planned 30 guest limit on weddings will remain.
South Yorkshire wedding planner Nicola Smith says it's not gone down well:
"I absolutely cannot see a difference between thirty people queuing to get inside Tesco, thirty people queuing to get inside the crematorium and thirty people keen to celebrate someone's wedding. I absolutely do not think it makes sense at all.
"With these recent restrictions being one rule for one and one rule for others, it is extremely difficult for clients to trim down guest lists.
"When originally they would haved planned for 60-80 and an additional 80 -100 in the evening, you cannot simply trim that down to thirty - it's an awful predicament to put them in."
The campaign group What About Weddings, which was formed by businesses in the sector, has described the changes as "discrimination".
It says it has always campaigned for capacity to be based on venue size and social distancing, as it will be for funerals from 17th May.
It's also angry weddings haven't been included in the Events Research Programme, which saw full crowds at a sports fixture, outdoor gig and club night this weekend in efforts to find out how events can safely return after 21st June.
Nicola says the current restrictions are having a huge effect on businesses:
"The industry now is bit like a lady in waiting whilst we wait to see if things do recover. From a hospitality point of view, is it worth them staffing and opening a venue for less numbers which means less revenue? Businesses are obviously suffering in a huge way - even your big franchised hotels like your Holiday Inns and Marriots.
"Why would there be a higher risk of transmission at a wedding than there would be at a funeral? It doesn't make sense, people don't understand it, there's a lot of confusion. And after everything that these couples have been through over the past sixteen months or so, it would just have been a step in the right direction to ease the restrictions on both."
A Government spokesperson said:
“We are working with the wedding sector to facilitate a return to as near as normal as quickly as possible and understand the need for certainty to plan for the summer season.
“We continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review. As set out in the roadmap, the Government will increase limits for weddings and wedding receptions to 30 people at Step 3."