‘I should be excited for my dream wedding – but I’m just terribly anxious’

Yasmin Morris and her partner Jordan, were supposed to get married in May last year, but when the coronavirus pandemic struck, they postponed to January 2021.

In the meantime, their venue went into administration.

“It was so upsetting,” Yasmin says. “I’d paid a deposit for the original wedding and my guests had paid for their rooms.”

She’s part of a growing movement, which now includes a petition, calling on the Welsh Government to address the future of weddings. Current guidelines only allow a limited number of guests and no reception. 

“That’s all we want is to know is, if cases continue to fall, how many people can we have and when. At least I could then prepare,” Yasmin explains.

“I should be excited for my dream day, but without a clear plan, I’m just terribly anxious.”

Yasmin and Jordan’s big day was one of the 95% of weddings postponed in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Suppliers say that the uncertainty has a knock-on effect on every business in the wedding sector.

Lewis Fackrell, a photographer from Barry, says a plan will give confidence for couples to go ahead with their weddings.

Lewis Fackrell owns his own photography business and is calling for a roadmap from the Welsh Government

“A roadmap would make sure that I don’t lose any more bookings from this year,” Lewis says. 

“I’ve got the same couples booking me for the third time, so my diary is filling up with old bookings.”

“That means that there’s no new money coming in.” 

Nerys Clark is a cellist who lost 80 wedding gigs last year. She says it’s difficult for self-employed businesses to survive in these times.

“Financially, I’m struggling. There’s just not enough support out there for people like me,” she says.

Cellist Nerys Clark at her last wedding before Wales went into Alert Level 4

The Welsh Government says it has an Economic Resilience fund in place to support the wedding sector, and will open business “as soon as it is safe to do so”.

But Nerys says: “It’s just so hard to keep motivated without support or a clear plan.

“I just want to be back performing to live crowds and doing what I love.”