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Intimate celebration, no buffet: How COVID-19 could transform PH wedding industry

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/04/14/20200205-events-weddings-coronavirus.jpg"/><figcaption>Mexican bride Gabriela Delgado shows her engagement ring during a photoshoot after her wedding was postponed due the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico April 10, 2020. <em>Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Sit-down meals may be the norm in future wedding receptions in the country as Filipinos take extra precautions to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus.</p><p>This is what host Darlene Tan-Salazar said as she represented wedding suppliers in a video conference organized by the Facebook community Bounce Back PH, which tackled the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local events scene. </p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/olern.ph/videos/635429960634850/" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Citing a previous discussion with her peers from the wedding industry, Tan-Salazar said buffets will likely be discouraged or skipped altogether to comply with physical distancing measures.</p><p>She also mentioned the possible changes in seating arrangements and program flow as people have generally become more wary of physical contact because of COVID-19.</p><p>&quot;One of the things that was discussed was how people would be seated,&quot; Tan-Salazar recalled on Tuesday&#x27;s video conference, which was streamed live on Bounce Back PH&#x27;s Facebook page. &quot;Like maybe even if it&#x27;s a table for 10, you&#x27;d only have five people assigned to the table. So that&#x27;s physical distancing.&quot;</p><p>&quot;They also might resort to foregoing the buffet process. Instead, it would be just sit-down service, just to ensure that there would be fewer problems that would occur because of people talking while getting food,&quot; she added. </p><p>Tan-Salazar said they are also expecting more intimate weddings in the Philippines in the coming years, as opposed to grander celebrations with hundreds of guests.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ll make adjustments but overall, I think it will still be a happy occasion,&quot; she said of smaller wedding receptions, which usually also have the same program flow.</p><div><strong>VIRTUAL WEDDINGS? </strong></div><p>Tan-Salazar was also asked if they are seeing a trend of &quot;virtual weddings&quot; or livestreamed receptions in the near future amid travel restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>She noted that such has been practiced in some events that she has hosted, primarily to accommodate guests that are based abroad.</p><p>&quot;If that&#x27;s the case, we&#x27;ll be asking for more stable internet connection from the venues to help us out with making sure everyone gets to see what&#x27;s going on,&quot; she told moderator and fellow wedding host RJ Ledesma. </p><p>When asked what the government can do to help their industry recover from losses caused by the enhanced community quarantine, Tan-Salazar stressed the need to provide financial assistance to freelance wedding suppliers and staff.</p><p>&quot;There are all these freelancers who don&#x27;t have much and who need help. Of course, their bosses are getting stretched also because there&#x27;s no income coming in, and they also have their own employees to deal with,&quot; she said.</p><p>She went on: &quot;I think there should be some government assistance with that. And I guess also with the rent, the utilities, sana there will be some form of assistance because in the wedding industry, maraming walang income for several months.&quot;</p><p>Despite this, she assured those who are part of the local wedding industry that jobs will come back once the lockdown is over, noting that most couples only postpone their celebrations as opposed to cancelling them.</p><p>&quot;Clients are gearing toward rescheduling more than canceling because it&#x27;s a milestone, you don&#x27;t want to just say, &#x27;Okay, I&#x27;m not going to get married anymore. Nag-COVID eh. &#x27;Di na ako papakasal.&#x27; It&#x27;s not something that you can just say na, &#x27;Ah, wala na &#x27;yan, out na lang &#x27;yan.&#x27; It&#x27;s not a thing that you can just remove from your calendar, it&#x27;s all about celebrating your love for that person so you savor the milestone,&quot; she said. </p><p>&quot;What&#x27;s nice about us is the bookings are not stopping mainly because next year, there will still be weddings. As I said, you can&#x27;t just stop love, right? Love is there,&quot; she ended. </p>

<p>Sit-down meals may be the norm in future wedding receptions in the country as Filipinos take extra precautions to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus. </p>

Sit-down meals may be the norm in future wedding receptions in the country as Filipinos take extra precautions to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus.