Wedding Restrictions Lifted on June 21st?
Great news on the surface, but here’s what you need to consider before planning your big day
Weddings have been restricted for so long now that couples have fallen into one of two categories so far this year: DO or DELAY. A 30-person guest limit on the big day you’ve dreamed of for so long is not ideal. Your wedding should be the biggest, most important, joyous occasion of your lives to date. Not having many of your close family and friends there to celebrate with you really sucks the fun out of the occasion. Not to mention the grief caused by the choices you now have to make over who to invite or not invite!
The news that guest restrictions will be lifted on 21st June here in the UK has been greeted with rapturous applause, but there are some considerations to be made because it’s not at great as it seems first glance.
Although there is no set maximum number of guests that can be invited, the venues still have to comply with social distancing rules! So this means:
Venues will still be limited to the number of guests they can host. So this DOES limit the number of guests at your wedding.
No wedding buffets! For those of us that love our food and good spread, that certainly takes a way a huge part of the occasion - the mingling you do with family members, friends old and new as you pick over the delights your hosts have laid on for you. Yep, that’s not happening any time soon. Venues have to provide table service and that is NO fun at all.
Guests still have the wear face masks indoors when not eating and drinking! Urgh. No fun. Just pairs of eyes staring at each other - no smiles and happy faces.
If holding a wedding outdoors in a private setting, you must conduct a risk assessment to determine how many guests you can safely host. Having a marquee? 50% of its walled area has to be open to still be classed as “outdoors”. The word risk assessment should be off-putting enough.
Dancing is restricted and so is singing! No more debates over whether Chesney Hawkes’ “The One and Only” is a better floor-filler than Dee-Lite’s “Groove Is In The Heart”. You will not see your dad’s and uncles dad-dancing to Come on Eileen…
So while wedding restrictions being lifted is good news, because in comparison to the last 18 months it’s progress, it’s really only a small step forward. Many of the things that create the fondest memories at a wedding are still prohibited or severely restricted. So unless one of you desperately needs a green card, if can wait, I would wait to ensure you have the very special day that you and your families deserve.
