A detailed document outlining Manitoba’s new specific public health orders has been released. The document includes what restrictions newlyweds can expect on their big day.
According to the new rules, wedding receptions held in licensed areas will be required to follow the same rules as restaurants. This means guests will have to show proof of vaccination.
Face masks will be required for guests unless they’re seated, however Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, says reasonable exceptions will be made.
“If we’re talking about a bride walking down the aisle, the bride and groom at the front doing the vows, reasonably tells us that at that point they wouldn’t have to have masks on for that period of time,” Roussin said.
Third-party vendors, such as a photographer at a wedding, will be counted as an employee, not a guest. This means they don’t have to be fully-vaccinated.
The new rules for weddings have been given a grace period and won’t start until Sept. 7.
Andrea Mancini, owner of Soiree Event Planning, says tight turnarounds have been nothing short of a headache.
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“Our industry is so excited to be back doing events again and we’re loving that these couples get to get married, but it is a pressure none of us have experienced before,” she says.
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“We’re sending out emails at midnight and getting responses at midnight from other vendors because there’s just more required than what we have the manpower to facilitate.”
Last-minute decisions are something with which Travis Dominey is also familiar. He and his soon-to-be wife are getting married in late September, but he says it’s been hard to make any firm plans.
“We have to adjust our numbers non-stop. We have to tell the caterer how much food we need and the decorator how much stuff to bring up, so it’s always changing,” Dominey said.
The new rules mean Dominey’s best man isn’t able to attend.
“The best man can’t come, some of her family can’t come. But we’re not giving them a for sure answer yet because like I said, we don’t know.”
“It’s disappointing just for the simple fact that you want to have your wedding your way.”
His guest list has gone down from 95 to 120 because of the new rules.
“The people should be there, you just feel like they’ve almost been taken away from you and you can’t do anything about it,” Dominey said.
Mancini says couples need to have patience, as things can change very quickly.
“There’s just a lot of stress for these couples, and truly my clients want to follow the rules and we want to follow the rules and we want everyone to be safe,” Mancini said.
Meanwhile, Dominey says he and his fiancé plan to get married no matter what.
“With everything being so up in the air and less than three weeks away, it’s just really stressful.”
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