Wedding firms fear closures as 100,000 events called off

MORE than 100,000 weddings have been postponed or cancelled during lockdown, according to campaigners, amid fears a quarter of businesses in the industry could close.

A report published today has outlined the scale of the impact on ceremonies, caused by the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced many couples to delay their nuptials planned for this summer.

According to lobby group #Whataboutweddings, at least 107,000 weddings have been postponed or cancelled since the nationwide lockdown was introduced in March.

Campaigners said the restrictions meant 4,452 weddings would not take place today, which historically is the busiest wedding day in the calendar.

The group warned that, with many venues and suppliers losing out on income this year, around a quarter of businesses, the majority of which are female-led, that cater to weddings could close unless they received a financial lifeline.

Nina Beer, a wedding coordinator and #Whataboutweddings campaigner, said: “The wedding sector was one of the first impacted and we are now one of the last to open. We have lost hundreds of wedding days.

“Hundreds of thousands of businesses, individuals and livelihoods are affected, and these numbers don’t show the real human cost behind the loss of the summer wedding season. On

‘The wedding sector was one of the first impacted and we are now one of the last to open’

Bank Holiday Saturday, I should have been coordinating two weddings … The irony is that we’ve not lost the business – it’s moved to next year in the vast majority of cases – but the sector faces months with no income before we get to those 2021 dates and my business needs to still be there.”

Claiming the wedding sector is worth £14.7 billion to the UK economy every year, the group is calling on the Government to help businesses stay afloat during the crisis so they can help with any financial recovery.