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Ireland’s best-known wedding planner, Franc, fears that much of the event industry may disappear next year.
Ether ‘Franc’ Kelly, of ‘Weddings by Franc’ fame, said the companies behind weddings and festivals could have a hard time surviving the pandemic.
The event organizer believes a special task force should be formed to save service industries such as florists and catering companies that have seen nearly a year of work wiped off their calendars.
“It is a massive crisis,” he said. “A big chunk of the events industry may not even be there next year because it’s a really jobless year.
“They are just emptying their accounts and the money they receive for staff is not even close to what they are paying.
“The events industry is a huge industry, from lighting and sound companies to companies that lay roads for events like the plow (National Plowing Championship) or the Electric Picnic.
“There are fencing companies, security companies, catering companies, cake decorators, invitation people, musicians, theater people … it’s huge.”
It is estimated that the events industry is responsible for employing 35,000 people in Ireland and generating more than 3.5 billion euros for the economy annually.
In the first eight months of 2019, 13,227 couples were married; During the same period this year, only 4,169 couples exchanged vows, a 69% drop in weddings.
“Most of my partners moved in the next year,” Franc said. “Every three weeks it changes, so it is very difficult to plan something.
“Normally there are around 22,000 weddings a year.”
He said he would love to be part of a task force assigned to get the Irish events industry up and running again.
“I’m on a global advisory board, the Destination Wedding Planners Congress, so I have information from the top planners from 45 countries and how they are managing and what they are doing to restart their country,” he said.
“America is worse than us and England is really bad, so I think Ireland has a chance to lead.
“We have such creative people in Ireland who really solve problems.”
He believes there must be a plan for the holiday season and lessons could be learned from open-air Christmas markets in places like Germany.
“There is going to be a huge appetite for the holidays at Christmas and we must be prepared for it.
“Otherwise, people break the rules. But if you design it right, people can have a good time without breaking any rules. There should be more to telling people how to do it, how to put roofs and what walkways to use.” .
The TV star said there must be a common sense approach to restrictions around weddings and other events.
“If you tell people that you can’t drink later than 11:30, you’ll end up having 20 or 30 people together in a bedroom,” he said. “It does not make any sense.
“I think the hotel and wedding industry always have to have a plan A, B, C and D. In Ireland we are very quick to solve problems and maybe things happen very quickly.
“People say, ‘How can you watch people on the dance floor?’ To be honest, every hotel in the country controls what is happening on the dance floor anyway.
“Of all the areas, the events are the most watched. People come individually, sit down and eat and then leave. It’s a controlled environment. “
He said youth also need alternative controlled events.
“They are breaking up because there is no one to facilitate how they can do this in a different way and educate them.”
During the pandemic, he launched his own online store houseoffranc.com for people hosting weddings and private parties, and has been designing interiors and landscaping for outdoor spaces across the country.
The wedding planner, who starred in RTÉ’s Don’t Tell The Bride, predicts that smaller weddings will become more popular after the pandemic.
“I think the trend will be smaller weddings or micro weddings,” he said. “I think even before the pandemic, the numbers were going down and spending was going up.
“I don’t follow trends, but what is in fashion now are personal style weddings.
“I always said, ‘Don’t follow trends, do it yourself.’ If you do the things you love and celebrate who you are as a person, people will love the wedding.
“A wedding for 40 can be as fun as a wedding for 1000, it really depends on the people who are in it.”
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