COVID- 19 Outbreak: How Couples Are Dealing With It!
First it was the floods and now it is the coronavirus which has forced young couples to postpone their wedding for the second time.
Many sweetheart couples are crying out from their home, have had to postpone their wedding, scheduled to be held once again, thanks to the restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The devastating floods of August last year played spoilsport, and many families decided to conduct the marriage in mid-March this year.
The deadly coronavirus, however, has come as a villain this time. With the State government imposing a ban on large gatherings, the marriage has been deferred for the second time by many families now.
Yet young couples are taking the development in good spirit and is looking forward to tying the knot in June or September this year.
One of the many side effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic is couples are being forced to reschedule their wedding dates.
Many Brides are upset as they had to change their minds about getting married in the month of March, April, May or June. As the saying goes, one can never really be sure about birth, marriage, or death.
The coronavirus pandemic and the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases led Brides to change their minds. Brides shifted their lavish destination wedding to a more private one in hometown.
Since its onset in late December in Wuhan, China, coronavirus has infected thousands across the world. It has left countries and industries teetering on the brink of an economic slowdown.
With cases rising across the world and governments going in for lockdowns, how are couples, families, and the wedding industry coping with the fallout?
Wedding Market
With celebrities indulging in grand celebrations while tying the knot, destination weddings have become the in-thing in India.
Celebrities Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma got married in Italy as did Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, and soon, everyone wanted to fly to the Mediterranean country for their big day.
The wedding season that spans September to March. But the coronavirus outbreak hit many wedding plans at this time of the year.
Market slowdown
Many founders of the wedding videography startup, feel that what they thought was a recession-free industry has “taken a huge hit”.
Around 10 wedding assignments that they were really excited about and worked hard on have now been pushed to a later date.
But nothing is more important than your health and that of those around you. Everyone from the hospitality, travel, fashion, and manufacturing industries is suffering.
Silver linings
Till now people took the digital route only when the bride and groom booked services. If the situation persists for some more time, people will get more comfortable going digital for collaborations and bookings.
On the other hand, eCommerce business for costumes, jewelry, and gifts, has noticed an increase in its business. People are now home and are shopping online more; hence, there has been a spike. In eCommerce, between February and March.
Facing the loss
With the state governments appealing and ordering people to not gather in groups of more than five people, wedding venues have been shut down until at least March 31 now.
Many Founders feel that the wedding industry is going to be drastically hit by the coronavirus impact. Banquets have been ordered to not host any public events and with travel restrictions, destination weddings have been called off.
While it does not affect the venue business directly as the marriage will eventually happen, the families have to bear the cost.
We know at many family cards were printed and distributed, and honeymoon bookings were done. This is just not a monetary inconvenience, but also upsetting for the bride and the groom.
Most venues are offering free rescheduling. However, the situation is going to get tough for small-scale planners and vendors.
Vendors usually have cash reserves for two to three months; no income for the next three months will put a lot of them out of business.
With clients delaying the wedding, there is no assurance that they will get back to them, or if the payment will remain the same.
It is clear that July to October not being the wedding season, and the industry may get time to recover, but the question is how long it will take?
