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New COVID-19 Guidelines Change Wedding Capacity New COVID-19 Guidelines Change Wedding Capacity

By Daniella Petrocelli

Daniella Petrocelli:STAFF AT SKY ARMORY IS VERY HAPPY ABOUT THE NEW COVID-19 GUIDELINES THAT HAVE COME OUT ABOUT WEDDINGS AND EVENTS BEING ABLE HAPPEN AT 50 PERCENT CAPACITY. SKY ARMORY SAID THEY HAVE BEEN PUSHING GOVERNOR CUOMO’S OFFICE AND THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ABOUT HAVING THESE EVENTS; HOWEVER THEY ARE NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE COVID TESTING SITUATION AND HOW THAT MIGHT AFFECT THEIR FUTURE EVENTS BEING HELD HERE.

Kevin Somalis: A PCR. PCR is a gold standard test and it’s a little bit more expensive to perform. So, for example, in Onondaga county, you have to be symptomatic, you have to have a fever or whatever to qualify to take the test. So those people are automatically not coming to the wedding anyway.”

Petrocelli: KEVIN SOMALIS OF SKY ARMORY IS FRUSTRATED WITH THE TESTING GUIDELINES FOR EVENTS. SOMALIS IS ALSO DISCOURAGED WITH THE REVENUE FLOW AND HOW IT MAY NOT BE LIKE IT ONCE WAS.

Somalis: “POSTPONED THEIR WEDDING OR ALREADY PAID FOR THEIR WEDDING. SO IT REALLY CHANGES YOUR CASH FLOW REVENUE STREAM. I THINK IT IS GOING TO TAKE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE IT RETURNS TO THIS SORT OF NORMAL.”

Petrocelli: WHILE VENUES ARE NOT HAPPY WITH SOME OF THESE COVID-19 GUIDELINES, KRISTEN DEBADTS OF WEDDINGS IN NEW YORK IS THRILLED WITH THEIR WEBSITE TRAFFIC

DeBadts: “OUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC HAS SKYROCKETED BECAUSE THEY ARE PLANNING. IT IS MORE REALISTIC FOR A COUPLE TO CUT DOWN THEIR LIST TO 100 PEOPLE.”

Petrocelli: DEBADTS IS HOPEFUL THAT WEDDINGS AND EVENTS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE AFTER ALL COUPLES WANT TO GET MARRIED. Daniella Petrocelli, NCC NEWS.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) –Weddings and events are allowed to happen at 50% capacity with a maximum of 150 people.

People will still need to follow CDC guidelines such as wearing a mask and dancing with only members of your designated table. Kevin Somalis of SKY Armory discussed how it is hard to be compliant with these regulations after much discussion with the health department.

“From day one working with the governor’s office, they always had something against weddings,” Somalis said. “They wrote the regulations so tight that it’s ridiculous at this point. PCR is a gold standard test, and it’s a little bit more expensive to perform. So, for example, in Onondaga county, you have to be symptomatic, you have to have a fever or whatever to qualify to take the test. So those people are automatically not coming to the wedding anyway.”

While the new COVID-19 testing method for weddings and events might be challenging, SKY Armory hired some people and reopened, helping both their business and the economy as a whole.

“We went from about 55 employees to 5,” Somalis said. “As we are picking back up we hired probably 10 more people back. For most of 2020 we were closed down. We closed in the winter and just opened up in January.”

Kristen DeBadts of Weddings in New York revealed how their business differed from others throughout the pandemic.

“We had amazing web traffic throughout the whole pandemic because people were not able to go places and meet with wedding professionals or do all this planning,” DeBadts said. “Bookings for our clients were down because people were nervous to book. They aren’t going to book something that they know they can’t have yet.

Debadts also discussed how the new COVID-19 regulations in Upstate, New York allowed their website to continue to boom.

“Now our website has skyrockets because they are planning,” Debadts said.  “It is more realistic for a couple to cut down their list to 100 people.”

When asked about how the pandemic will affect the wedding industry in the future, Debadts confidently stated she’s not worried.

“I have complete, 100% faith that our industry will be booming again – not only just booming but couples get married,” Debadts said. “No matter what, people are not going not get married.”

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