A RAY of hope was shone on the wedding industry this week as Nicola Sturgeon announced that 50 guests will be permitted at ceremonies and receptions from April 26 onwards.
It is a development welcomed by those operating within the struggling sector across the region.
However, frustration remains over the the First Minster’s decision to announce the Government’s indicative timetable for the lifting of restrictions three weeks later than Boris Johnson — a move which some say inflicted further damage on the industry.
William Duncan, whose Dumfries-based company Queensberry Event Hire provides marquees for weddings all across Scotland, called Tuesday’s announcement a “massive relief”.
He added: “I haven’t worked for a year and it’s been extremely difficult. Boris Johnson’s announcement and the roadmap giving the 21st of June was huge, giving us something to work towards. And then Nicola Sturgeon didn’t give us any dates – it was crippling to have to wait from then until now, but it’s been a massive relief today.
“It’s all about confidence for our customers; all of our events are booked minmum three months in advance so even though it’s just a month away it means all of our clients later in the year have confidence that their events are going to happen.
“We’ve lost work from April, May, June already, we’ve already lost August, September and October this year but it means that we might retain some of those – people that have cancelled and tried to move to next year might actually come back.
“Hopefully this gets us back to some kind of normality because we’ve just had a year of rescheduling, cancelling, rescheduling, cancelling, and it’s been pretty dark – so this actually feels like we’ll get our jobs back and be able to put events on.”
Photographer Graham Edwards, who snaps weddings around the region and runs a portrait studio in Dumfries, added a similar caveat to other’s reaction, commenting that he’d “liked to have heard that three weeks ago.”
He said: “It’s great news today to see something there, I appreciate it’s subject to data and where that goes but it’s going to be good to get people back into weddings, or at least 50 people. The challenge is going to be for the couples though, and even at that we’ve still got 50 people between the 26th of April and the 17th of May, and between those two dates they’re not allowed alcohol at the reception, and there’s no clarity on whether they’ll allow a DJ and music for the reception.
“There’s nothing to say whether or not guests will have to wear face masks or anything like that, but at the moment we’ve got 50 back which is fantastic news and I’m really pleased.”
Reflecting on what he described as a “crippling” year for those who work in the sector, Graham added: “A lot of people cancelled. To put it in perspective, in 2020 I should have shot 53 weddings and I shot six. On the 26th of December, I had 43 weddings booked for 2021 — that was existing bookings I had for this year, and I already had and weddings that had transferred. Between the 26th of December and now that 43 has dropped to 19 because those others have all moved to 2022 and 2023 because of uncertainty and a lack of announcements.
“I’m hopeful now that the weddings I’ve got left for May, June, July, August and September are going to stick with their dates and move forward because they’ve got some light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Scottish Wedding Industry Alliance (SWIA), which recently lobbied the government to raise capacities to 50 by April, said: “SWIA welcomes the route map updates announced today by the Scottish Government which herald the reopening of the Scottish Wedding Industry.”
They plan to now seek clarification on details about the prevailing restrictions, such as if suppliers will be counted in the parties of 50, if music will be allowed, and what the rules are on serving alcohol at receptions after May 17.
