Ease in COVID-19 restrictions doesn't change much, some N.B. event planners say

As New Brunswick moves into the yellow phase of its COVID-19 recovery, some business owners say the ease in restrictions won't really help them.

The change in restrictions took effect Sunday night at midnight. In the yellow phase, households can expand their network of close contacts from 10 to a consistent 15 people. This group may visit places together, including dining at restaurants.

And formal and informal outdoor gatherings of 50 people or fewer will be allowed with physical distancing.

Stacey Murray, a wedding planner in Fredericton, said her clients are still wrestling with how to have a wedding with current guidelines.

"The pandemic has been making wedding planning nearly impossible, unfortunately," said Murray, who is planning 17 weddings this year.

The yellow phase guidelines will allow more people to attend weddings with venues operating at 50 per cent capacity, as long as physical distancing is maintained and people sit withtheir steady 15 contacts.

Murray said increasing the capacity helps her clients, but she's waiting for further clarification on other restrictions.

"As of right now, we're unclear if dances are allowed, but we're operating under the assumption that they are not," she said.

Wedding rules

According to Murray, the newly married couple can have a first dance together and with their parents, but not with the rest of the guests.

Murray also said that guests have to remain seated during the wedding. Getting a drink won't involve heading to the bar. Rather, bar service will involve delivery to the tables.

"When [guests] arrive, they find their seat and that's where they stay during the duration of the wedding," she said.

Murray said some of her clients are debating postponing their weddings until more restrictions are lifted, including some people who already postponed earlier in the pandemic.

"I actually had one client refer to it as she felt like she was planning a funeral rather than her wedding," she said.

People who work in the music industry are also echoing similar sentiments to Murray.

Eddie Young, a music promoter, stopped attempting to plan shows a couple of months ago to avoid having to constantly reschedule events because of changing guidelines.

"It's really hard to plan things," said Young, who normally plans shows four or five months in advance.

Young said it's a "good start" heading into yellow, but it's not quite enough to reboot the music industry.

"I don't feel it makes a whole pile of difference as far as being able to put shows on any differently," he said.

Young said that larger venues might benefit more than smaller places.

"If a venue has lots of space and they can put the allotted amount of people in and still be socially distant,that's great," he said.

Music industry hit hard

The pandemic has hit the music industry hard, according to Young.

"We have lost some venues, we've lost some promoters, we've lost some artists during all of this," he said.

Young plans to resume organizing shows again in April that he had to postpone in January because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

He wantsto wait a couple of weeks before jumping right back into it to avoid having to postpone more events, and to make sure the province doesn't see an increase in cases following March break.

"I couldn't imagine holding an event and then a bunch of people get sick out of that event that I held," he said.