Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Another incremental sign that the COVID pandemic is easing and some aspects of life are moving closer to normal is also a sign of relief for couples planning weddings across New York State.
Under Governor Cuomo's executive orders, the capacity for a wedding goes up today, to 150 people or 50 percent capacity, whichever is fewer.
For venue managers, it's a good start but more needs to be done to save the industry.
For Bill Casale at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery and Buffalo Riverworks, it's a step in the right direction. "We have to work directly with our clients to make these decisions based upon these regulations. Do the clients want to work with these restrictions or do they want to postpone. We think some of the stipulations are unrealistic," says Casale.
Among the stipulation is COVID testing for guests. "For everybody to be tested, it will be difficult. We are working with a local test group we can direct our clients to to get tested," says Casale. But he notes the cost will be just as much as for renting the venue. "It seems arbitrary to say one industry is going to be tested. You can get on an airplane or go to Wegmans, but when you go to a wedding venue you have to be tested and our staff has to be tested." Another is dancing. "For families to try and dance together in groups near their table might not be a pleasant experience," says Casale. He says he'll do what the clients want at this point.
Casale says the lifting of restrictions is needed to save the industry. "We average between 350 and 400 weddings a year between all our properties. They've been pushed off three to four times and rebooked. We're refunding deposits, we're doing everything we can do. But we need some mandates to get this back in line or we're going to see venues in the area drop left and right in the next six months," says Casale. He says he's seen a 70 percent reduction in large event business in the past year.
Assemblyman Bill Conrad says the situation is fluid at the moment. "As we're getting more vaccine and the weather gets better, I think we're moving in that direction and open up more," says Conrad, who adds this is a step in the right direction. "Folks are eager to have weddings and proms and we want to open up as much as we can while making people feel safe."
Conrad says he'd like to see the food requirement to buy alcohol go away as well as a couple of other executive orders. "The bar curfew, the DMV in-person by appointment only, those are things I'm recommending eliminating," notes Conrad. But he says there are some executive orders he'd like to see continue. "Having flexibility with restaurants being able to sell alcohol on sidewalks or to go, and modifications for music programs with specific regulations as such."
Conrad says he'd like to see this done sooner than later.
