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The level four blockade came at the end of the 2019-20 wedding season in New Zealand.
The New Zealand wedding industry is in economic crisis thanks to the coronavirus, but there is a possibility of relief as couples avoid destination weddings in favor of marrying locally.
And experts predict an increase in small weddings or even escapes when couples seek to save money.
Alert Level 4 saw a ban on weddings that came at the end of the wedding season, which generally runs from November to April.
On level three, restricted weddings are allowed. Only wedding ceremonies are allowed and each service is limited to 10 people. You cannot serve food, and the reception can take place.
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Owner and managing director of Kauri Bay Boomrock wedding venues in Wellington and Auckland, Ollie Ormond, said he needed a $ 250,000 loan to stay afloat until the end of May.
Ormond said: “The venues will be closed now. There will be some that will in a month.”
Samantha Collins, co-owner of Winehouse, based in Queenstown, said she feels she is in crisis management mode regarding deferrals and cancellations.
For Winehouse, border restrictions are the most important factor. Collins said 80 percent of the business was determined by those restrictions and that the majority of his foreign guests came from Australia.
“So the Australian border for us is very important. It is make or break.”
Other sectors of the industry have also felt the impact.
Jenny Nicholls runs For Heaven’s Cake, a cake studio in Devonport, Auckland. During the wedding season, she discovers that 75 percent of her business is occupied by wedding cakes.
Nicholls said the industry was lucky that the blockade occurred at the end of the season, when most of the work was already done.
Kauri Bay Boomrock has an average of 97 guests at each wedding, but Ormond predicts a 20 percent drop in the number of guests, making it “almost impossible to operate.”
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Some wedding experts suggest that more leaks will occur due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Collins has felt the same uncertainty. Like Ormond, he found it difficult, but is hopeful based on how fast things move. “A lot has happened in six weeks. If we just hold on for another six weeks, there could be more clarity.”
Founder and editor of the wedding magazine, Together DailyGreta Kenyon hopes the size of weddings will decrease.
“One trend I was seeing even before Covid-19 was that weddings were starting to shrink. I was seeing much more intimate weddings, many more destination weddings, and many more escapes.”
Kenyon believes that wedding costs are the main reason for the trend, but he also thinks that more intimate weddings are more emotional. She said that intimate weddings can be easily captured in photos or movies, which makes good content shared on social media.
She hopes this trend will continue as long as the wedding caps stay in place, and having a smaller wedding is a huge money saver.
Fortunately, Kauri Bay Boomrock still received reservations during closing, and some were originally weddings abroad in Australia and Bali. With travel restrictions, these couples chose Kauri Bay Boomrock as their local alternative.
“It is exciting to think that there is something positive,” said Ormond.
Kenyon said couples who had their hearts set on a foreign wedding will now have to search locally.
Rachel Sloane, founder of jewelry design house Naveya and Sloane, is positive about the future of the industry, despite low sales.
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Sloane said, “When a disaster occurs, or in a pandemic, they bring people together a little bit. It makes people really think about who their loved ones are and it really ties that household together.”
Kenyon agreed.
“I imagine that (the wedding industry) will be a bit disturbed this year, and that we will see a larger number next year, and then probably settle again.
“I feel really positive about the future even though it is difficult right now. I think we will be successful. People will always get married.”
