This article has been updated on 12/5/20. COVID-19 is an ever-changing situation so for up-to-date health alerts and advice related to the virus, visit health.gov.au.
When will coronavirus restrictions be lifted for weddings? That’s the question on everyone’s lips. It’s super tricky to know what to do with so much uncertainty and tonnes of different news articles every day on our feeds surrounding the topic.
We won’t deny that things are looking very promising for Australia right now. Our numbers are dropping across the country, and we seem to be containing the virus relatively well as we all continue to do the right thing. However, there’s no guarantee about what this means for weddings specifically in 2020.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve received countless DMs and read tonnes of messages in our couples-only Facebook group, ‘Wedchat by Wedshed’ asking us when we think restrictions might lift. September? October? November? December? 2021?
Just a few days ago, the PM released a three-step plan in order to lift restrictions around the country, with the final call left in the hands of the state and territory leaders when it comes to the timing and how the plan is rolled out in each jurisdiction.
Here’s what’s involved in each stage:
STAGE 3
- Five visitors allowed at your home, 10 in business and public spaces
- Work from home if it works for you and your employer
- Restaurants, cafes, and shopping open
- Libraries, community centres, playgrounds and boot camps open
- Local and regional travel allowed
STAGE 2
- Gatherings of 20 allowed in your home, business and public spaces
- Work from home if it works for you and your partner
- Gyms, beauty, cinemas, galleries and amusement parks allowed to open
- Caravan and camping grounds can reopen
- Some interstate travel
STAGE 1
- Gatherings allowed to increase to 100 people
- Return to workplace
- Nightclubs, food courts, and saunas open
- All interstate travel
- Consider Cross-Tasman, Pacific Island and international students travel
Just by looking at this, the most crucial stage for weddings of scale to proceed is stage 3, where we see gatherings allowed to increase to a total of 100 people. Across the country, it’s expected some areas are to be at stage 3 by the end of July (with each state and territory being different). It’s worth noting that this is only if things go smoothly for Australia throughout this easing of restrictions. This virus is totally unpredictable and could cause a second wave as we’ve seen in other countries.
We’re of course hopeful that your big day can happen but what would we would strongly recommend is having a plan B ready to roll. By this, we mean that we recommend you have a chat with both your venue and vendors to find out what the process would be should you need to, unfortunately postpone your wedding to 2021 if restrictions don’t ease. It’s better to do this sooner rather than later as well to have a higher chance of locking in the date you’d prefer.
If you are in that bracket of weddings in the tail end of 2020 (for example, November), we’d hold off making any changes to your date for a couple more months, but at least you’ll know what needs to happen and you’ll be prepared, should it come to it.
Featured photography by Alex Marks Photography.
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Other reads:
Nine Fun Ways to Celebrate Your Would-Have-Been Wedding Date
Seven Ways To Support Small Businesses During COVID-19
Tips + Templates To Help You Postpone Your Wedding
Coronavirus: What It Means For Weddings In 2020
Join our couples0-only Facebook group, ‘Wedchat by Wedshed’.
