Couples Left Heartbroken as Weddings Banned in Tier 4 Areas

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 19 Dec 2020 • 22:07

Couples in the UK have been left heartbroken as weddings are banned in Tier 4 areas unless in exceptional circumstances.

Under the tough new Tier 4 restrictions announced by Boris Johnson on Saturday, Dec. 19, all weddings are banned in London and the South East unless one or both parties are terminally-ill.

Boris Johnson announced the changes on live TV as part of the Government’s drive to tackle a rise in coronavirus infections. The tough restrictions, which come into play at midnight, Dec. 19, means thousands of couples who have either pinned their hopes on a Christmas wedding or had already been forced to postpone their nuptials must now reschedule again for the new year.

The tougher rules affect everyone in London, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring). Under the tighter rules “exceptional circumstances” would apply to a couple where one or both of them are terminally-ill.

Annabel Abercrombie and her partner are having to reschedule their wedding for the third time since March. After moving their April wedding to October, the lack of certainty caused them to postpone again to August 2021. They were hoping it would be third time lucky, but their plans were thrown into turmoil again when their chosen venue – a 500-year-old, Grade I-listed country house – went into liquidation.

“We are totally heartbroken and exhausted,” Abercrombie said. But while losing three wedding days and a venue had left them reluctant to organise anything new, she stressed that this was bigger than just the couple being left in limbo and she was determined to book again for the sake of her suppliers.

Had her venue been supported a bit more, it might have made it through, she said. “I know they’ve got business for the future because we struggled to get another date. But weddings take so long to plan and people are postponing constantly, so they’ve got loads of money coming in, just not right now. So it’s really upsetting that the industry seems to have just been forgotten about when there are so many jobs and livelihoods involved.”

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