The Rules Are Relaxing… but there is still some mystery to them.
Yes, South Australia has worked its way through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with a lot of diligence and patience. Because of this, we are seeing a lot of the rules being relaxed to allow for larger and larger gatherings.
What this means for weddings can be highly dependent on the venue. How many people can your venue hold, and still adhere to social distancing rules in place? The government is asking that we limit weddings to no more than fifty people. Doable for many venues, but still… (sigh)… such a bother without the ability to hug and shake hands ‘safely’.
However, the results down the road will be equal example of how South Australians have managed to stay way ahead of the curve on infections and deaths. This virus is real. The only way we can continue to stay ahead of the curve until we have an anti-virus vaccine that targets the Covid-19 and its variants is to stay diligent and patient.
One of the early solutions were ‘drive-up’ and ‘5 Person’ weddings. The Celebrant, the couple, and the two witnesses. And that was it unless you have a number of folks in the carpark or street cheering from their cars.
Another solution was the SKYPE wedding. I’m still not sure how that would work as it made for a great deal of difficulty in sighting and signing documents. But, it was another solution to a difficult situation.
Today, however, you can now gather in groups as large as fifty as long as the venue can handle it and all necessary social distancing and sanitation rules are followed. As with any group of this size, the government has asked that a ‘tracing document’ be maintained in the event someone in the group tests positive for the virus. In that event, the list will be utilized to contact all attendees and alert them to the need for additional testing and possible isolation protocols. The document with your contact information is to be treated the same as any of the other documents prepared by the Celebrant in that they are maintained in a locked location. I would suggest going the additional step of sealing the document in an envelope never to be opened unless needed for virus tracking. NO ONE is privy to that information unless a documented infection comes from that group.
To quote the SA government website:
- Weddings or religious ceremonies are permitted as long as they adhere to maximum occupancy and density requirements.
- Funerals may have a maximum of 50 attendees.
- The person conducting, or who organised, the ceremony must make and retain contact tracing records for persons attending the ceremony.
Additional occupancy rules quoted from the same source are:
- The density requirement of 1 person per 4 square metres still applies for Defined public activities but any given room or enclosed area cannot have more than 20 people present.
- Where a place has multiple rooms or enclosed areas, the maximum number of people at that place cannot exceed 80 people.
- These requirements apply only to patrons, not staff.
- So, a single-room restaurant can only have 20 customers, plus staff. A facility with multiple rooms and outdoor areas can have up to 80 patrons, provided none of those rooms exceeds the 1 person per 4 square metres rule, to a maximum of 20 people per room.
Sounds like outdoor weddings are going to abound this year.
So… long story short, we are back in business. Let’s see what we can do together.
Photo Credit - Maluhia Photography, Hawaii