Wedding industry ravaged by coronavirus, will recover in 2021

August 13, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

Brides and grooms all over the world, were left shocked, disappointed and stressed when the COVID-19 pandemic infected our world and put their weddings on hold.

Restrictions were put into place back in March limiting gatherings of people, indoors and out.

With the pandemic beginning at the end of winter, beginning of spring, the wedding industry was hit tremendously.

“As a wedding planner, summer is the busiest time of year for us. Our season usually kicks off in late April-early May and is typically very busy until Thanksgiving long weekend in October. Unfortunately, the pandemic has completely changed the wedding season this year, as many couples have postponed or cancelled their wedding,” said Founder and Principle Planner of Dash Events and Co. Sonia Kohli-Tamber.

Dash Events and Co. serves the Peel and Toronto regions from full or partial wedding planning, destination weddings, consultations and customization. With the doom of cancellations and postponements, Kohli-Tamber says the wedding industry has been hit hard.

“This has caused a very big financial strain for all businesses in the wedding industry as our livelihood is dependent on weddings taking place,” she said.

On June 13, the provincial government announced the easing of restrictions on group gatherings for special occasions including weddings and funerals. Later, when Peel region entered Phase 3 of reopening of the province, group gatherings were extended to a maximum of 50 people indoors, and 100 people outdoors.

Kohli-Tamber explains that with the specific, and strict guidelines given by the government, it was challenging to be able to organize and plan safe events, but also lean towards what the soon-to-be-married couple wanted.

“Planning micro or intimate weddings while keeping up with changing government guidelines. These are unprecedented times and unfortunately, none of us have the answers we wish we did. As we navigate through the pandemic, it’s been difficult to plan a wedding with a certain set of rules and then those rules change a few weeks later,” she said.

With the uncertainty of what was to happen, and the fear surrounding the virus, almost all of the couples working with Dash Events and Co. cancelled and postponed their events back in March.

“In a matter of weeks, 90 percent of our weddings from April-September 2020 were all postponed. From an emotional perspective, it is an overwhelming experience having to postpone your wedding and many couples were feeling anxious and saddened by the whole situation,” she explained. “No one saw this coming.”

At the beginning, the panic was high, and the stress was higher. But as soon as Dash Events and Co. were able to gather their spirits, they did all they could to help their couples postpone and even cancel.

Now, weddings are beginning to start back up, but more cautious than ever.

“Currently, all of our meetings have been hosted virtually and should we need to meet with clients in person, we adhere to the social distancing guidelines. During events, our team members all have personalized masks, clipboards and pens that are not shared with others. We also have included extra protective and sanitary items into our emergency kits for our couples,” said Kohli-Tamber.

But one question comes to mind. What will next year look like?

With weddings being cancelled or postponed, 2021 is looking busier than ever for the wedding industry.

“The pandemic is affecting business for 2021 as well. Inquiries have declined for two reasons; the uncertainty for what the government guidelines will be for 2021 and the influx of weddings from 2020 being postponed to 2021, said Kohli-Tamber.

“If all goes well, 2021 will be extremely busy with postponed weddings from 2020 and newly engaged couples planning their weddings,” she said.

We may even see more virtual weddings, or smaller and intimate celebrations as opposed to the large and eccentric events.

“We encourage all of our couples to follow the safety guidelines in preventing the spread of the virus,” said Kohli-Tamber. “I also foresee that live-streaming will be very popular for the next two years to invite guests digitally.”

For more information about Dash Events and Co. please visit dasheventsco.com.