Welcome boost for wedding venues

Rural leaders say they hope lockdown rules restricting  on-farm wedding venues will be eased further after a partial relaxation last month.

On-farm venues received a boost after the government said it was scrapping the 30-person limit on the number of people who can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions from 21 June.

But receptions will be table service only. Guests must wear face coverings indoors and venues must still comply with social distancing. Dancefloors are forbidden inside and dancing outside is strongly advised against – although not illegal.

The Country Land and Business Association said rural wedding business owners and soon-to-be-wedded couples would have breathed a sigh of relief at the announcement after a disastrous 15 months.

CLA president Mark Bridgeman said: This is testimony to the excellent work of the UK Weddings Taskforce, which the CLA has been helping on behalf of members operating wedding venues.

With some 320,000 weddings said to have been postponed or cancelled since March last year, Mr Bridgeman said 2020 was a catastrophic year for an industry that endured heavy financial
losses of around £7bn.

“Weddings for 30 people aren’t financially viable so the removal of a cap on guests is much-needed as the industry tries to recover from Covid-19,” he added.