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A30 FEATURE
Saturday 8 auguSt 2020
No masks, no distance: Pandemic wedding horrors for vendors

By LEANNE ITALIE among brides and grooms
By The Associated Press to just get it done, with
NEW YORK (AP) — Wedding many choosing small, mi-
planners, photographers cro-weddings instead of
and other bridal vendors the larger affairs they had
who make the magic hap- dreamed of.
pen have a heap of new Whether the weddings are
worries in the middle of the large or small, indoor or
pandemic: no-mask wed- outdoor, masks have be-
dings, rising guest counts come a sticking point for
and venues not following photos and video. Some
the rules. couples argue that masks
Now that weddings have spoil their visuals and are
slowly cranked up under a banning them altogether.
patchwork of ever-shifting Others are making them
state and local restrictions, optional. Still more are go-
horror stories from vendors ing the opposite route,
are rolling in. Many are des- wearing bedazzled satin
perate to work after the and lace masks to match
coronavirus put an abrupt their gowns.
end to their incomes and “I get that this is not how
feel compelled to put on they want their weddings to
their masks, grab their cam- look,” Alvarez said. “The big
eras and hope for the best. People wearing face masks pass by newlyweds kissing as they posing for wedding photos at the question everyone needs
No-mask weddings, no so- Olympic Forest Park in Beijing on July 2, 2020. to be answering right now
cial distancing and dance Associated Press is what’s the moral respon-
floors prohibited in many sibility, and also what’s their
states have been the talk Schrader said. sional retribution, for short out. liability in hosting an event
of online groups for vendors The rule for indoor gather- stints to shoot special mo- Full Coverage: Virus Out- that potentially could lead
around the country. ings in her state was half a ments, such as the cake break to an outbreak?”
“People have worked in venue’s capacity or up to cutting. An associate pho- She has a long-scheduled She said that breaking her
venues outright looking the 50 people, whichever was tographer voluntarily re- wedding with a guest list of contract for the indoor
other way on masks and lower, she said. Schrader, mained inside to work. about 100 planned for Oc- wedding, where masks
size,” said photographer wearing two masks, said “I truly love my brides and tober in Wisconsin, where would be optional, would
Susan Stripling in New York. she forced the bridal party grooms, and then to be state health officials re- cost her $4,000. It’s her first
Reports of COVID-19 out- outside for formal pictures pressured to risk my life is ex- cently advised residents to job this year. In a normal
breaks traced to weddings in the heat and humidity. tremely disappointing,” she avoid gatherings of more year, she would be juggling
remain rare. One wedding “They complained be- said. “I have an 80-year-old than 10 through late Au- 28 weddings from March to
was shut down by local of- cause they were all sweat- mom.” gust. The couple had post- September.
ficials at a San Francisco ing, but I was spending the Alexis Alvarez, a wedding poned once and might do While the couple trimmed
church; the nearly 100 least amount of time as planner in Chicago, said it again, as some couples their guest list from 175 to
guests had been instruct- possible inside,” she said. she and other vendors of- have done three times or help with social distancing,
ed by the bridal couple to Schrader entered the ven- ten have no practical re- more. “masks are not a conces-
avoid the public entrance ue, which she would not course to recoup deposits That, vendors said, has sion that they’re willing to
and go in through an un- name out of fear of profes- or full payments if they pull helped drive a desire make,” Alvarez said. “The
derground parking garage reality is guests that don’t
instead. feel safe attending events
Photographer Cherie aren’t going to.”
Schrader in Chicago said Alvarez plans other safety
she felt deceived when she measures, such as spread-
showed up for a July wed- ing out tables and offer-
ding with 165 unmasked ing wider-spaced seating
people indoors after being grouped by households,
assured all safety precau- when possible. She also
tions would be taken. suggested a tactic used
There was no social dis- by other couples, offering
tancing. The crowd min- color-coded wristbands
gled at a happy hour and for guests to declare their
the dance floor was lively. comfort levels with con-
“I was told by the bride tact.
that it was an indoor-out- To avoid crowd issues,
door venue, but it was 95 some couples are hold-
degrees and they never ing their ceremonies and
opened the doors,” she receptions with different
said. “The tables were, at groups of guests invited at
the most, 3 feet apart,” she staggered times.
said, noting masks should “There’s just so much emo-
have been required at all tional baggage that has
times under those condi- Wearing latex gloves to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a bride and groom exchange rings come with weddings this
tions. during their wedding ceremony at the local Religious Affairs Office in Pamulang, on the outskirts year that the idea of masks
“It looked like a normal of Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 19, 2020. at their weddings is the last
wedding pre-COVID,” Associated Press straw,” Alvarez said.q