Easing of lockdown restrictions causes buzz in wedding community

Monday's announcement that weddings and civil partnerships can play host to more than 30 guests after the 21st June was a huge relief to an industry that has struggled immensely over the last 15 months. From Monday, there will be no maximum on how many guests you can have – although you need to continue to socially distance.

Brides and grooms are apparently flocking to book tickets for wedding shows, and here at HallsHire we've seen hundreds of enquiries get sent this week by engaged couples looking to hire wedding reception venues.

Of course, there are lots of restrictions still in place, and you won't see people wandering around, mask free, on the dance floor with a pint in their hand. This has led many with upcoming weddings to slam Monday's news as just a PR spin that hasn't really given much, but I hope we can see it as at least a step towards us having larger weddings again.

One issue of course is that the need to socially distance inside still remains, whilst table service needs to be provided - and so it's all very well having a limit of more than 30 people, but if you're inviting people for a sit down meal you're going to be limited by indoor capacity. Currently on HallsHire we’ve got over 700 venues for hire in the UK with outside space and a capacity for over 200 people – you can filter that result by your post code or place name to find halls near you.

Venues for hire with a capacity of over 200
Venues for hire with a capacity of over 200 and with outside space

All weddings will obviously miss an indoor dance floor, but let’s hope for good weather this summer and a strong sound system so can dance the night away under the stars in the fresh air! If you’re thinking you’ll avoid the rain by using a marquee outside, you need to ensure at least 50% of the walls are open so as for it to still class as an outside space.