Couples planning to get married this week have expressed frustration at the lingering curbs on their big day as large crowds of fans gather at sporting events like Euro 2020 and Ascot.
One bride-to-be said she was “stunned” that fans could attend sporting events but couldn’t dance with her children, while another, who had rescheduled her wedding twice, said she “felt abandoned” by the government calmly”.
While the easing of restrictions in England, originally planned from June 21, was delayed, the government lifted the 30 guest limit for weddings.
However, the size of the guest lists will depend on how many people the venue or space can safely accommodate, with social distancing measures in place and with organizers carrying out a risk assessment or a fine of up to £ 10,000.
The risk assessment should be carried out by the organizer and someone who can take the practical steps necessary to enforce social distancing rules, which the guidelines suggest could include the couple themselves.
Dancing is off the table, aside from the couple’s first dance, as is eating and drinking while standing. Staff and guests are required by law to wear masks indoors, and singing should be restricted to a small number of people in larger, well-ventilated buildings.
Sarah Balfour, CEO and founding director of Orchid Events, an event planning company, said, “I had to move everyone’s weddings and parties to September and October this year or March and April next year.
“Many wanted to wait until all restrictions were lifted.
“Music and dance are so important. They help get the party going and are an integral part of a wedding. “
She also knows how the brides are doing, having had to postpone their wedding three times. She originally planned to get married on August 30, 2020 and now hopes to get married on October 3.
Chelsey Rowe, 23, and her fiancé Nick Brown, 24, a carpenter, both from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, are due to get married on Thursday, but the bride-to-be admits it won’t be quite what she imagined.
Operations representative Ms. Rowe said, “I’m glad we can spend our day with 30+ people, but it’s still annoying, it won’t be the day we wanted to dance with all of our friends and family.
“It’s a lot of money that you have to spend in a day not to have it the way you imagined it.
“I think the most important thing we miss is the dancing. We paid a lot of money for a DJ, which is essentially a waste of money as our guests cannot enjoy it.
“It amazes me how you can see thousands at a soccer game or horse racing, but we can’t have our loved one celebrating a major milestone in our relationship.”
The sight of crowds attending sporting events or fans filling the streets ahead of big games like England versus Scotland was also frustrating for Melissa Jane, 28, who is going to marry her fiancé Benn Elliott, 31, a hairdresser, on Saturday .
The couple originally planned to get married on May 16, 2020 but had to postpone until December before settling on June 26.
Ms. Jane, an insurance clerk, said, “We had to switch venues and some suppliers due to the restrictions and lockdowns, and we ended up losing a lot of money.
“We personally feel let down by the government as a wedding, which can be a very Covid-safe controlled environment where we all know and could ask anyone to have a lateral flow test the morning before, is viewed as unacceptable will, but people gather in the street and nothing is done.
“We cannot afford to postpone, so we will continue our day as planned – obviously adjusted to government restrictions – as we could not cope with the stress of postponement.”
The Swaffham, Norfolk couple are also upset by the decision to ban dancing.
She said, “We paid a DJ to basically play background music now. I would have liked to dance with our children Winnie (three) and Herbie (five months), but it’s not allowed.
“We have come to the conclusion that it will never be the day we wanted, but we can’t feel the pain of waiting for the ‘what if?’ or ‘what could have been?’ You just have to decide what’s important, I guess.
“One day we will all be able to dance with our family again, it just won’t be what we hoped it would be.”