16 May What The Latest Government COVID-19 Announcements Mean For Your Wedding
There’s certainly no denying that there has been a fair amount of confusion surrounding the government’s latest COVID-19 announcements. Many people have been left wanting clarification and specific timescales, especially those with an upcoming wedding. Not a lot has changed in light of the latest announcements; social distancing is still paramount and social gatherings are not allowed. This means that, currently, wedding ceremonies and reception parties are still not permitted. Anyone with an upcoming wedding has a difficult decision to make, to go ahead with a much smaller celebration, in due course, or wait to have the day they envisioned.
Are Weddings Allowed During COVID-19?
No. On 23rd March the government announced a ban on all weddings.
Couples in England could be allowed to hold their weddings from June, after the government announced it is looking at ways small ceremonies can be facilitated safely.
As disappointing as that is, it is understandable and we expect that even when weddings are allowed, the numbers of attendees permitted will be still significantly reduced. If you had planned a large wedding with family and friends in attendance, this very likely won’t be able to go ahead as originally envisioned and so it’s important to consider (I’m sure most of you have already) your options.
Scale it right back to the reduced amount of guests allowed. Potentially no physical wedding reception after but this doesn’t mean you can’t still get a DJ to spin some tunes and everyone tune in and have a boogie plus some drinks via a video sharing platform suck as Zoom or Skype. You can always have a blessing and party next year with all your favourite people………or not perhaps. It’s a brilliant way to save money and still be married!
Postpone until 2021 or further.
At this stage, if you’re postponing then it makes sense to go into 2021 where most certainly rules will allow for larger celebrations. We think that, for the remainder of 2020, social gatherings and leisure facilities will continue to be heavily restricted.
Overseas Guests and International Weddings
There was some mention of quarantine periods for people who travel internationally. This could scupper plans for international weddings for everyone – not just Brits. If you plan to invite guests from overseas they will very likely be required to quarantine for a period of time upon arrival into the UK and then again upon return to their home country. This simply won’t be feasible for a lot of people and makes the mere idea of attending a wedding abroad quite daunting. Similarly, couples who planned a nice beach side wedding abroad are going to run into similar problems. Depending on where you get married, there’s a high chance that you and your guests will be subject to quarantine upon arrival to the country and when returning to the UK. Again, this makes travelling abroad for a wedding difficult and won’t be practical for a lot of people.
It’s still unknown what the impact will be on flight and hotel prices too so there’s that to think about.
COVID-19 Will Probably Mean Making Changes to Your Wedding
Regardless of the type of wedding you have planned, you will probably need to make some changes to ensure it follows COVID-19 guidelines.
In a nutshell, if you aren’t happy with settling for a smaller wedding, you need to think pretty quickly about rescheduling or cancelling your wedding. Start by liaising with your wedding venue to check whether you can change to a 2021 date and start speaking to your insurers (fingers crossed you took out insurance). Not all wedding and travel insurers are paying out, so it’s important to know what you are entitled to before making any decisions. If you don’t have wedding insurance, don’t despair – a lot of venues and wedding suppliers are offering flexible terms to accommodate so put on your game face and get to negotiating!
There’s a lot that’s unknown at the moment, but we will continue to provide updates as more clarity is given regarding COVID-19 and government restrictions on weddings.
Let us know how it’s going and what what you’ve decided to do.
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