2020 Bride/Groom

Pen Rua · 18-09-2020 9:23am

Alkers wrote: »

What happened? Have you a link?

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/four-star-offaly-hotel-closes-temporarily-after-up-to-20-guests-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-39540989.html

woodchuck · 18-09-2020 9:26am

Alkers wrote: »

What happened? Have you a link?

Just found it there:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/cluster-among-golfing-group-in-midlands-a-significant-covid-19-incident-1.4357892
It's a group of golfers though, not a wedding.

Although headlines such as this don't help:
https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0918/1165931-coronavirus-us/
They're really vilifying weddings.

We were due to get married tomorrow, but postponed a couple of months ago. If we were still due to go ahead, I have no idea if we'd even be able to. On the one hand they're saying weddings can still go ahead, but on the other they're saying no indoor dining. We were due to get married in a restaurant (including the ceremony), so we'd be completely in limbo right now.

There is absolutely no evidence to say that the recent surge has anything to do with restaurants. The numbers point to private households, but they know they can't control that, so it seems like they're panicking and just trying to close down anything else they can. It's such a joke!!

lisasimpson · 18-09-2020 9:59am

Doesnt matter whether it was a wedding or a golf outing. Its another blow to the hotel industry and gives an excuse to close restaurants/hotels again. For the love of god people if your feeling any way unwell stay at home

woodchuck · 18-09-2020 10:14am

lisasimpson wrote: »

Doesnt matter whether it was a wedding or a golf outing. Its another blow to the hotel industry and gives an excuse to close restaurants/hotels again. For the love of god people if your feeling any way unwell stay at home

The difference is that weddings are allowed under the restrictions. As far as I'm aware, while golf is allowed, this group of 20 people should not have been gathering off the golf course under the restrictions. [Although I stand to be corrected as the restrictions seem to be ever changing these days!]

I'd hope people have enough cop on not to go to a gathering if they're feeling unwell. The problem though is that this virus spreads even when people are asymptomatic.

eviltwin · 18-09-2020 10:42am

There are legal reasons why couples should be allowed marry despite Covid. The difference is do they need a wedding. A marriage only needs the couple, celebrant and two witnesses. It doesn't need all the rest. I can't see why this can't be accommodated with appropriate measures in place.

I know for a lot of people it will be something they prefer to postpone but there are those who just want to be married. Given that we are in a global pandemic that should absolutely be allowed to continue. Comparing weddings with golf trips, house parties and random gatherings is unfair.

chinguetti · 18-09-2020 10:43am

So postponed in mid March as we could see that the first date at the end of March was never going to happened and went for early October and now we're caught again. Went from 60 the first time for the wedding, then cut back to 45 and now have to go with 20.

We had to cancel the afters and the DJ before the latest wave so now its just very close families and no friends. Our venue have been great and we had sent out advice to all that we'd be following the guidelines for everyone's safety but we've to cancel them all now. Very upsetting that its come to this, especially when you read about Tullamore and people going from pub to pub for drinks and none of these people are kids either!

All these businesses making the short term gain might think they're smart now flouting the rules but long term, they're killing their sectors as a lot of places won't survive this as this is going to be a long winter.

As for the Government knowing that Dublin cases were rising at such a rate last week and not acting on Glynn's letter and leaving it go 5 days before launching their 5 point plan, which they changed the next morning and now have changed to 7 points, spare me! They've made matters worse by not acting sooner and giving some proper directions. Their inaction is going to cause a bigger second wave because they were afraid to act.

Whatever they would have done wouldn't have saved my wedding from been what we would have liked to have but they're elected to govern so I wish they'd do some governing.

douglashyde · 18-09-2020 11:25am

woodchuck wrote: »

Just found it there:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/cluster-among-golfing-group-in-midlands-a-significant-covid-19-incident-1.4357892
It's a group of golfers though, not a wedding.

Although headlines such as this don't help:
https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0918/1165931-coronavirus-us/
They're really vilifying weddings.

We were due to get married tomorrow, but postponed a couple of months ago. If we were still due to go ahead, I have no idea if we'd even be able to. On the one hand they're saying weddings can still go ahead, but on the other they're saying no indoor dining. We were due to get married in a restaurant (including the ceremony), so we'd be completely in limbo right now.

There is absolutely no evidence to say that the recent surge has anything to do with restaurants. The numbers point to private households, but they know they can't control that, so it seems like they're panicking and just trying to close down anything else they can. It's such a joke!!

Did you reschedule or are you going ahead with registry office as is?

Really sorry for you!

Im beyond sorry, I'm angry for you;
Lack of leadership and will to focus on the actual data on how this virus spreading and it's true mortality. I won't spout on about that on a wedding forum however.

Neyite · 18-09-2020 11:35am

Getting married, I'd consider essential. Witnesses and celebrants are by law required for the ceremony as well.

Guests though, can't be classified as essential.

I really feel for anyone who continued on with their wedding plans this year. The amount of stress they must be under is immense. I know I'd have cracked up if I tried and felt such relief deciding to postpone to 2021. Even then if it's still like it is now by then, we'll just elope ourselves.

woodchuck · 18-09-2020 11:53am

douglashyde wrote: »

Did you reschedule or are you going ahead with registry office as is?

Really sorry for you!

Im beyond sorry, I'm angry for you;
Lack of leadership and will to focus on the actual data on how this virus spreading and it's true mortality. I won't spout on about that on a wedding forum however.

We rescheduled a couple of months ago for next May. But I'm still in the frame of mind of "what if we were still planning to go ahead tomorrow", which a lot of people still are and are completely in the dark atm.

The whole thing is an absolute joke. We thought that this plan would give us some sort of framework to start planning again for next year. But they've thrown their own plan out the window again. At least it's giving me a lot of "what ifs" to discuss with our venue :rolleyes: What if we go to level 3, will you still let us have a wedding with only 25 people or cancel. What if they close restaurants, will you still open just for our wedding or cancel.

I know some people are going ahead with the legal bit and planning a big party later. But we never wanted a big wedding anyway, so whatever we do on the day we legally get married, that's our celebration full stop. I just wish it was clear if we'll actually be able to have some sort of small celebration with our immediate family and close friends

douglashyde · 18-09-2020 12:15pm

woodchuck wrote: »

We rescheduled a couple of months ago for next May. But I'm still in the frame of mind of "what if we were still planning to go ahead tomorrow", which a lot of people still are and are completely in the dark atm.

The whole thing is an absolute joke. We thought that this plan would give us some sort of framework to start planning again for next year. But they've thrown their own plan out the window again. At least it's giving me a lot of "what ifs" to discuss with our venue :rolleyes: What if we go to level 3, will you still let us have a wedding with only 25 people or cancel. What if they close restaurants, will you still open just for our wedding or cancel.

I know some people are going ahead with the legal bit and planning a big party later. But we never wanted a big wedding anyway, so whatever we do on the day we legally get married, that's our celebration full stop. I just wish it was clear if we'll actually be able to have some sort of small celebration with our immediate family and close friends

We are going through a lot of 'what if' clauses with our private house venue at the moment. We feel she wishes to cancel for a number of reasons; potential reputational damage / insurance for one wedding (we're the only wedding she's having this year) and unfurloughing staff (she's already said this).

The biggest risk is now our ability to leave Dublin in late Oct.

We had contemplated next year, however getting suppliers lined up is the issue - seemingly they're all booked up.

For you and your wedding in May '21, I honestly believe that virus or not arond, sentiment will have changed and we truly will be 'living with it'.

woodchuck · 18-09-2020 12:20pm

douglashyde wrote: »

For you and your wedding in May '21, I honestly believe that virus or not arond, sentiment will have changed and we truly will be 'living with it'.

I hope ta fcuk... just makes it SO hard to plan anything. All we have is the 6-9 month plan atm, so have to assume for now that that will still be in place for our wedding next year.

I hope you manage to get sorted with your wedding

If you do decide to reschedule though, consider mid-week. We went for a Sunday as it meant we got to keep all of our suppliers. The venue were decent too, letting the cheaper Sunday prices and minimum numbers apply. And people only need to take one day off work (if at all - might not bother if 11.30pm end remains).

I've seen on Facebook that some 2021 brides are already starting to reschedule for 2022. So securing suppliers might not be as hard as you expect.

yourdeadwright · 18-09-2020 1:08pm

I spoke to a Garda today who said they have not been told it will be a law against leaving Dublin, Just a recommendation, now that may change later

douglashyde · 18-09-2020 1:16pm

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I spoke to a Garda today who said they have not been told it will be a law against leaving Dublin, Just a recommendation, now that may change later

Yes, this will be key (under 3 & 4).

Announcement today that travel from greenlist into Dublin could leave Dublin.

Lodwick · 18-09-2020 1:57pm

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I spoke to a Garda today who said they have not been told it will be a law against leaving Dublin, Just a recommendation, now that may change later

I really dont know how they'll police this, thousands of people a day travel to Dublin for work school and now tourists on top of it.

It'll most likely be an honor system (which im hoping for as id like to still be able to have my wedding in Meath next week)

Alkers · 18-09-2020 2:30pm

woodchuck wrote: »

The whole thing is an absolute joke. We thought that this plan would give us some sort of framework to start planning again for next year. But they've thrown their own plan out the window again. At least it's giving me a lot of "what ifs" to discuss with our venue :rolleyes: What if we go to level 3, will you still let us have a wedding with only 25 people or cancel. What if they close restaurants, will you still open just for our wedding or cancel.
(

It's terrible timing that they released the plan while they were just about to change the level for Dublin but otherwise there's nothing else they can really do. Having the certainty of the plan is all well and good but there will always be the uncertainty of whether a specific location will be in Level 1,2,3,4,5. Whenever a level is changed for the worse, people are going to loose out and for those immediately either side of a level change it's particularly unfortunate but I don't really see how else they can do it?

woodchuck · 18-09-2020 2:34pm

Alkers wrote: »

It's terrible timing that they released the plan while they were just about to change the level for Dublin but otherwise there's nothing else they can really do. Having the certainty of the plan is all well and good but there will always be the uncertainty of whether a specific location will be in Level 1,2,3,4,5. Whenever a level is changed for the worse, people are going to loose out and for those immediately either side of a level change it's particularly unfortunate but I don't really see how else they can do it?

The issue I have is that they're not sticking to the levels as outlined. If we knew we'd clearly fit into levels 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 at any given time, we could come up with 5 different plans for our wedding. However earlier in the week they had Dublin on level "2 and a bit" and now it's look like it'll be level "3 and a bit". There's a big difference between level 3 as outlined in the plan and level 3 as is being now proposed for Dublin - closure of restaurants being the main factor that would influence our wedding, which wasn't supposed to be part of level 3.

For example if the week before our wedding we were on level 2, I would've thought worst case scenario we'd go up one level to level 3 within a week and have that plan B ready to go. However if they decide to go to level 3 and add a load of extra bits at the last minute, there's no way we can plan for that ahead of time.

Why have a plan outlining 5 levels at all if they're just going to pick and choose from each level and effectively create new levels on the fly?

yourdeadwright · 18-09-2020 6:32pm

So they said weddings this weekend can go ahead as planned
Does that mean if a Dublin wedding with its Reception venue in Meath it can go ahead?

appledrop · 18-09-2020 8:42pm

yourdeadwright wrote: »

So they said weddings this weekend can go ahead as planned
Does that mean if a Dublin wedding with its Reception venue in Meath it can go ahead?

Yes 100% this is ok.

You might have even got away with this next weekend if actual venue is in Meath as the venue is still allowed have wedding with 50 people, just up to them if they are going to turn people away if from Dublin.

Ffs this is all a shambles.

douglashyde · 18-09-2020 9:34pm

appledrop wrote: »

Yes 100% this is ok.

You might have even got away with this next weekend if actual venue is in Meath as the venue is still allowed have wedding with 50 people, just up to them if they are going to turn people away if from Dublin.

Ffs this is all a shambles.

It's an absolute mess: A Comms disaster. Literally a playbook of not what to do.

woodchuck · 21-09-2020 11:37am

Failte Ireland have updated their guidelines for reopening hotels (includes guidance for weddings):

https://failtecdn.azureedge.net/failteireland/Guidelines-for-Re-opening-Hotels-and-Guesthouses.pdf

No major changes, but it obviously takes into account the new 5* level plan. And it states the number of guests without making any reference to staff or suppliers. So hopefully suppliers and staff don't have to be included in those numbers any more.

*5 levels my hole...

Pen Rua · 06-10-2020 1:11pm

We just had our wedding this past weekend, so we’ve been exceptionally blessed with the timing.

It was a super day in the end, and overall everyone commented that the smaller wedding working better than a big wedding.

In the end, we had just under 40 guests. We had three drop out on the Thursday since one of them tested positive (they are in another part of the country; didn’t travel; haven’t seen them in a long time).

The hotel was super and it ran so smoothly. The DJ and dancing worked out well.

At the end of the day, it felt like a normal wedding. Just with a lot less people, masks, and a little less interactions.

All in all, a super day. We are delighted we pushed on.

But equally feeling for all the couples suddenly thrown into disarray this week. I can’t imagine how hard it is for them.

woodchuck · 07-10-2020 2:28pm

Does anyone else think that the level 3 restrictions for wedding don't make sense? On the one hand they're saying weddings can go ahead with 25 people. But on the other hand, they're saying that guests can't attend if they're travelling from another county. It seems incredibly unlikely that your 25 guests will all be in the same county as the venue. So a lot of weddings will effectively be cancelled, unless guests intentionally break the restrictions.

It just doesn't make sense. Either let weddings go ahead, or don't.

Neyite · 07-10-2020 3:01pm

Yes, but I can see their point in some ways, they have to keep the rules simple otherwise people won't follow them.

They can't say that travelling across county borders to be a guest at wedding is essential travel. Then you'll have everyone in cars claiming to be off to a wedding and it can't be policed.

chinguetti · 07-10-2020 3:01pm

Got married on Saturday in Dublin, 25 guests at it. It was a great day and a few people have come back to say it was the best wedding they had been at. Alot of stress with it due to all the changes but we had a ball and are still wrecked.

Friends and family came to meet us outside the venue and we got photos with them all which was lovely and thus they were part of the day too. Started at 2 and finished at 12.30 as residents in the venue could stay while the rest had to leave at 11.30. We went from photos to the meal to the first dance so there was no downtime for us which meant that your day isn't lessened, its just more intense and full on.

The venue were also brilliant and helped set up a screen for messages for everyone who couldn't attend on the day which was lovely. We had to cancel the DJ a few weeks ago as was looking like we'd up up with 6 people at one stage so late in the day, we hired a guy with a guitar who sang for 3 hours and he was brilliant.

One thing, your celebrant will tell you if you must wear masks and not the venue from what we were told. We didn't wear masks but our guests did during the ceremony and didn't make an ounce of difference.

woodchuck · 07-10-2020 3:33pm

Neyite wrote: »

They can't say that travelling across county borders to be a guest at wedding is essential travel.

I get that it's not technically essential travel*. But it's absolute kick in the teeth to say you can have a wedding with 25 people, when realistically it's not feasible if people can't leave their county.

*Although what if you're one of the parents? Technically the photographer can cross the county border to photograph the wedding as it's for work purposes, but the parents of the couple can't! How does that make sense!?

Neyite · 07-10-2020 3:41pm

I know, it's a bit silly.

alicantra123 · 16-10-2020 5:17pm

Anyone else getting married in the next week or two finding the past three weeks the worst so far? The amount of change almost every few days has been torture. I'm getting married next week and have had to make about 7 different plans at this stage and still have no certainty if any of them can go ahead. I feel really sad about the whole thing today. At this stage I don't even know if my fiancé's parents can come to the wedding and my plans for my friends to call to the garden since I can only have 6 people are now uncertain. I don't want to postpone because I already postponed from April and the last 8 months of uncertainty have been so awful I can't go through it again.

Anyone else out there feeling the same??

douglashyde · 17-10-2020 5:23pm

alicantra123 wrote: »

Anyone else getting married in the next week or two finding the past three weeks the worst so far? The amount of change almost every few days has been torture. I'm getting married next week and have had to make about 7 different plans at this stage and still have no certainty if any of them can go ahead. I feel really sad about the whole thing today. At this stage I don't even know if my fiancé's parents can come to the wedding and my plans for my friends to call to the garden since I can only have 6 people are now uncertain. I don't want to postpone because I already postponed from April and the last 8 months of uncertainty have been so awful I can't go through it again.

Anyone else out there feeling the same??

We are on our 3rd venue change now due to due to the chopping and changing of govt rules and IMO over the top restrictions on retail/society & weddings.

Our original date was May, now it's next Saturday.

I personally think the govt are trying to get to the mid term before imposing further lockdowns but the next couple of hours will be crucial.

anonomousangel · 17-10-2020 8:33pm

Mine is next Sunday. We're really just hoping that they make the announcement late enough that they leave our weekend alone but the uncertainty is very difficult at this stage. Trying to carry on with the last minute bits while avoiding thinking about how we could be down to 6 is tough.

browne_rob5 · 17-10-2020 8:35pm

anonomousangel wrote: »

Mine is next Sunday. We're really just hoping that they make the announcement late enough that they leave our weekend alone but the uncertainty is very difficult at this stage. Trying to carry on with the last minute bits while avoiding thinking about how we could be down to 6 is tough.

We're next Saturday and hoping for the same.

2020 Bride/Groom

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