Wedding planners ‘ over the moon’
Easing COVID rules on larger events would mean business for florists, venues and more
Ruth Ridgeway spent part of her Thursday afternoon walking a couple through their upcoming bridal arrangements.
The three discussed the Greenwich duo’s vision for their wedding day and talked about the design, decor, lighting, and floral arrangements they wished to have at the event.
Ridgeway’s job, which also includes prop building, fabric drapery and other affairs, was challenging, at best, before COVID- 19. And the pandemic has impacted almost every part of her business, forcing her, at times, to calm down couples who become distraught about rescheduling their wedding. It has also forced her to find creative ways to host events despite the pandemic.
“We’re always booked. And in one day, that just shut down,” Ridgeway said about temporarily closing her Fairfield- based floral and event design company back in March. “It just stopped. We were basically asked by the state of the Connecticut to stop doing what we were doing, and of course, we obliged.”
On Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont said his administration is considering expanding the capacity of private, social, and recreational events at commercial venues on March 19, if COVID- 19 infection rates remain low and stable, which seems likely. On Wednesday, Connecticut’s daily COVID- 19 positivity rate fell below 2 percent, the lowest single- day figure since mid- October.
If the positivity rates stay low, and if the easing of restrictions on commercial events is approved by the governor, the expansion would cap attendance at 50 percent capacity, or 100 people, at indoor events. It would also bring capacity at outdoor venues to 200 people max, the governor said.
If approved, the change would affect scores of business owners and their employees around Connecticut, including florists, musicians, photographers, tenting and lighting personnel, transportation businesses, hair and makeup artists, caterers, design staff, wedding planners, and more.
“Everyone is so happy and over the moon,” said Ashley Douglass, owner and creative director of the Greenwich- based company, Ashley Douglass Events & Wedding Planners.
“They feel comfortable,” she said. “They feel like they can move forward — and knock on wood, they’re not going to be shut down.”
But the plight of events industry leaders won’t be entirely erased if the governor eases restrictions on commercial events. Under the new guidelines, business leaders would be tasked with re- imagining their planning strategies entirely.
First, they must help clients “put a lot of thought” into their guest lists, Douglass said, using weddings, as an example.
For larger weddings, especially, she encourages her bridal parties to create three different invitation lists — one with 75 attendees, another listing 150 people, and one comprising 200 loved ones. This way, if COVID- 19 infections rates spike or plummet unexpectedly, the couple would be prepared to quickly pivot to a new plan, shortly before their wedding day.
Couples must also decide whether they wish to have an outdoor component, which brings the risk of inclement weather but can also alleviate the worries of attendees who feel uncomfortable being indoors during the coronavirus pandemic.
And then, at the actual event, some couples are faced with a seating dilemma. Do you go with pods, where families are grouped together, or the more typical side- by- side rows?
Some couples make CO-VID PCR testing mandatory ahead of their wedding, while others have rapid testing on site. For the latter group, that requires potentially staggering the arrival times of guests so they can wait in a holding area, which must also be created.
That creates a need for Douglass to bring in more of her staff, which increases her business expenses.
“It’s extra work. It is,” she said. “I mean, we’re happy that we’re able to have weddings happen. Don’t get me wrong. We just have to account for it in the prior planning.”
But for some in the event industry, the governor’s decision will have little impact.
“I haven’t had the COVID vaccine, ( but) I’m on the list,” said Jacqueline Johnson, a romantic marketing expert and CEO of Stamford- based Global Bridal Group.
Johnson — who focuses on the “marketing of weddings to international markets” — leads a team of designers, on- air talent, developers, writers, and legal consultants. Before the pandemic, she regularly attended and presented at events around Connecticut, such as trade shows. But since her last speaking engagement in the Caribbean a year ago, she has not conducted any business, she said.
And the easing of COVID restrictions on business- related events isn’t going to change her mind — not until she’s personally vaccinated.
“Until such time, I’m staying put,” she said.
Although Johnson plans to lay low, she and Douglass agree that expanding the capacity at commercial events would have a positive impact on the economy.
“It is a huge industry in really every state, but weddings bring billions of dollars into the U. S. economy, maybe even up to a trillion,” Douglass said.
“Then, you add other events on top of that. Larger conventions, corporate events and conferences, are a large part of the economy as well.”
And she’s right. According to Allied Market Research, a market research and advisory company, the events industry size was valued at $ 1.135 trillion in 2019 and is expected to reach $ 1.553 trillion by 2028. Because of the COVID pandemic, the virtual events industry is also expected to grow from $ 78 billion to $ 774 billion by 2030, according to Cision PR Newswire, a press release distribution network.
“I think this is exactly what the industry needs,” Ridgeway said of Lamont’s announcement about considering capacity expansion at commercial events. “I think it’s going to very much help the economic space of the events industry.”
And with people itching to get out and host celebrations and parties, Ridgeway predicts, just like after the Spanish flu, a resurgence of events: the modern- day Roaring ’ 20s.