#whataboutweddings

[Workyticket]

Thousands of people are gathering for the Euros and at Edgebasten.

Pissed people hugging and dancing in pubs when someone scores

Boris and his pals flying in from Amber countries had a lovely garden party.

BUT weddings are super spreaders apparently and it's looking like we'll miss out on having friends and family at our OUTDOOR wedding by 3 days if pushback rumours are true.

250,000 couples are waiting for tomorrow's announcement. Could these businesses are facing closure..

#whataboutweddings

@LouNatics

What about funerals?

Ive buried three family members over the covid restrictive period. None were able to have the type of service they would have wanted or expected. One was young sadly and sudden, some ceremony around her death would really, really have helped us and her children. We have been sat here unable to get together with grieving relatives or even give a bereaved parent a hug.

Funerals are things you definitely only get once, and cannot be planned for certain seasons, postponed or done another day. Weddings, barring the legal part, are far less important.

So why focus on weddings?

I'm sorry for those who've had restricted funerals. I have within my family

But I started my thread about something that's on my mind today.

Weddings can be arranged such as that those attending are separated from everyone else, and you have enough time to arrange a Covid test (as you have to for some of the large trial events). Funerals can have social distancing in church or crematorium and the remainder of the ceremony be out of doors.

So I think they should be able to be held with more than 30 people.

Yup. I absolutely could get married and have a small do - better than when we weren't legally allowed

BUT when this is allowed I want parity. I don't need it ut I want it.

Weddings contribute an estimated £14.7 billion annually to the UK economy, whereas Sport generates an estimated £39 million. That probably has something to do with it. I expect the bean counters in the civil service did estimates and a part of what is and is not allowed has an economic factor to it.

Yes it’s very sad as I’m sure many Wedding related businesses will go under, but that probably represents a lesser macro economic hit overall. However these sectors will recover over time as there will always be a demand for weddings. It just might not be the same businesses you see in 10 years that exist now.

Anyway that’s just a shot in the dark I obviously don’t have have the data to do a deep dive, but it’s simply an educated guess.

@tornadosequins

I sympathise, but people claiming that "nobody" is talking about the impact on weddings must have spent the last year and a half under a rock. The impact on weddings has had a huge amount of press coverage every step of the way.

Nobody has bloody forgotten the impact on weddings. We haven't been given half a chance to forget about weddings.

It's on the first page of the BBC news website at the moment

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57443284

so I agree that it's wrong to say that no-one is talking about it.

@EuroTrashed

12 attendees plus spouses at G7, outdoors on a beach. A wedding like that would be fine to go ahead.

What about all the media and security. There is a cruise ship full of police out in the bay that has already had a Covid outbreak.

Not much celebrating at Edgbaston, tbf.

@Workyticket

Yup. I absolutely could get married and have a small do - better than when we weren't legally allowed

BUT when this is allowed I want parity. I don't need it ut I want it.

Not defending the football and cricket...but there is a difference between allowing some matches to take place (not all like the photo you've shared) and giving everyone in the nation the green light to throw 100+ parties (not just weddings)...surely you can see that?

No - pubs in every town and city have fans dancing and hugging wearing their colours. Social media is literally covered in the photos

There are various control measures for those attending football matches - social distancing, negative covid tests and so on.

There's nothing stopping you getting married. What you're not able to do is have a massive party, and neither is anybody else.

#whatabouthospitalsbeingat95%capacity

Sorry but I don't really buy the whole "other people are being irresponsible, so I should get to, and the rules shouldnt apply to me". (Also try watching the england match instead rn at Wembley and it might calm you to see the distancing in the crowd that is the actions that are actually 'allowed' rather than random people in pubs breaking rules)
However, well have to agree to disagree.

I'm really sorry you're feeling that your position is unfair, OP. I hope you get your big wedding soon, and most importantly, I wish you a long and happy marriage

My husband owns a wedding industry business. It's galling that he's going to suffer at least another month of no income in part due to flights from India were banned far too late. Feels like the government completely mismanages everything and leaves the small people to pick up the pieces

When you’re in the crowd at a match you are all facing the same way with a big field in between. At weddings people face each other.

@bourbonic are you genuinely looking at the fan photos and believing what you're saying?

This pic is a pub 10 miles from our outdoor venue. No need for a negative covid test to jump about here.

Oh - and my original post mentions the 250,000 couples affected. Dont let that stop you pretending I think it's all about me though.

@Workyticket

Yup. I absolutely could get married and have a small do - better than when we weren't legally allowed

BUT when this is allowed I want parity. I don't need it ut I want it.

Now, having just received an email to cancel my tickets for England v Sri Lanka in a fortnight’s time, I’ve had a little look into this. Most sports venues are running at 25% capacity, including the Ageas Bowl where I was supposed to be using the tickets I bought In 2019 for 2020 but which were rolled over to 2021 and now, with only 2 weeks to go, have been rolled over again to 2022. So I was surprised to see such busy stands. When I looked further into it, I discovered that the Test match at Edgbaston was a pilot event, trialling Covid testing for large events. Every spectator was required to carry out a Covid test within the 24hrs prior to attending, to show evidence of a negative test on entry, and have been asked to carry out further tests and feed back results on days 2 and 5 after the event in order to allow the researchers to effectively track any Covid found as a result of the fixture taking place. Such pilot events are being held (including in the nightclub in Liverpool which was on the news a while back) in order that scientists can evaluate the possibilities for opening things back up. But you are unlikely to be able to ask for weddings up and down the country to be just allowed again without some kind of evaluation process into large scale events being carried out, and that cricket match was one such event. So for that reason, you are being entirely unreasonable to be sulking about the crowds at the cricket being unfair because you want your wedding.

Having been involved in putting on one of those sporting events this weekend, the steps being taken to reduce the risk are considerable - different entry times for people which they have to agree to when purchasing a ticket, not being able to congregate after buying refreshments and having to take them back to their seats, careful ticket sales to maximise space between people, temperature checks, masks even outdoors, all staff having to take lateral flow tests before attending work, its very well organised and enforced.

I do think some decisions though about what is allowed to take place and what isn't don't take into account the rhythm of life, births marriages and deaths, and the balance between physical and mental health. For instance they could allow socially distanced wedding ceremonies of larger groups but with no reception (you could have that later) as it is more risky to have gatherings without the infrastructure of mass public events, but it would allow people to tie the knot with family witnesses.

DH is part of the wedding industry- he’s had a bloody nightmare moving cancelled weddings around, some four times!

He has had no work throughout, and has been hung out to dry by the government. He’s doing another job for now, plus the admin caused by the rules changing. He’s had to give back so many deposits, whilst we’re utterly skint.

I’m now doing three jobs.

We walked through Manchester last week and saw thousands crammed into a park, in the sunshine, with very few visible masks.

I’m fucking angry #whataboutweddings

It has been widely reported this week that if there is a delay in lifting restrictions, weddings will be exempted and the 30-person limit on wedding ceremonies and receptions and christenings will end regardless on June 21.

Also building on what @backinthebox says about Edgbaston - the biggest issue there was the beer snake - mainly caused by happy intoxicated people wanting to have some fun. That was stewarded and stopped, but who would do that at a wedding reception? Who would want that at their wedding reception?

@yassss it’s also been reported that gov are being advised against it and they’re being called potential super spreader events

@Imissmoominmama

DH is part of the wedding industry- he’s had a bloody nightmare moving cancelled weddings around, some four times!

He has had no work throughout, and has been hung out to dry by the government. He’s doing another job for now, plus the admin caused by the rules changing. He’s had to give back so many deposits, whilst we’re utterly skint.

I’m now doing three jobs.

We walked through Manchester last week and saw thousands crammed into a park, in the sunshine, with very few visible masks.

I’m fucking angry #whataboutweddings

I really feel for you and your husband. I'm selfishly caught up in it from a planning side but you and your family have genuinely suffered.

Everyone we booked for last year was luckily able to just transfer our deposits to our 2nd then 3rd date whixh we really appreciated

Covid took the wedding we wanted but ultimately, very soon, cancer will take DH's life. Covid took his rapid diagnosis and it is still taking his right to good treatment. I am angry about a lot more than just weddings.

Yep you can only catch covid at weddings and funerals amd have to sit alone as apparently masks work

@bloodywhitecat- I’m so very sorry. Your situation really puts ours into perspective.