BETHESDA, Md. — Wedding season may be upon us, but many couples and party organizers say D.C. is being a party foul. As a result, venues outside of the District including Montgomery County might soon be benefiting from the strict restrictions.
New health guidelines from the city prohibit dancing at wedding receptions, which include standing at cocktail hour. Despite ongoing criticism and calls of hypocrisy, Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to stand by her decision by citing a safe approach to reopening.
"We think it's very important that we open up our industries but we do it safely," Bowser said in a recent press conference. "That is the public health experts suggest is safest for us right now while we continue to focus on containing the spread and getting people vaccinated."
Couples are now scrambling to change wedding plans last minute, which include finding another venue outside of the city. Many of the people in attendance have already been fully vaccinated.
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Julie Carter, founder of the Montgomery County Venue Managers Association, said the venues have been busy fielding calls. The association is an informal group made up of 25 mansions, farms, barns, art galleries and museums that can host weddings.
Carter said while this presents opportunity for more business following a dismal year due to the pandemic, she knows the D.C. restrictions will be tough on other wedding venues relying on the income.
"My heart breaks for the brides and as a venue manager, I am so sad for the venues who are potentially going to lose a lot of business," Carter said.
The recent calls are only adding on top of the preparations to ramp up weddings after they were postponed last year. More people are getting vaccinated and feel more comfortable attending weddings.
Maryland is allowing 50% capacity for weddings, but Montgomery County has restricted attendance to a maximum of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
Carter is also the event director for the Rock Creek Mansion in Bethesda and has been sending her calls to bigger venues in the county that can fulfill the requests.
"It's wonderful but in general the industry is starting to reopen," she said.