UAE: Wedding planners hope for an industry revival this season

Dubai - As this year's wedding season will begin in November, planners and vendors say enquiries and bookings started coming in for the season

As global lockdowns last year forced couples to put their weddings on hold, downsize to intimate ceremonies or get hitched on Zoom, wedding planners and vendors in the UAE are hopeful of an industry revival this year.

While the summer months are least preferred for weddings in the UAE either way, planners say enquiries and bookings are coming in for the latter half of 2021 or early 2022. Planners, who enjoyed an average of 15 weddings during peak season, are now doing two to three at most.

Currently, attendance for weddings in Dubai is capped at 100 guests and staff who are fully vaccinated. In the capital city, no more than ten guests are allowed to attend wedding ceremonies. In Sharjah, 20 guests are permitted at weddings and celebrations in Ajman are limited to 150 people. Authorities asked wedding venues in Ras Al Khaimah to reduce capacity from 50 to 30 per cent. Live entertainment and dancing are generally discouraged or not allowed.

“Mass vaccination campaigns would’ve ideally meant revival; however, people continue to be hesitant,” said Stefanie Heller, the founder of Jam Wedding Planners. Heller, a veteran in the wedding planning industry, founded her company 12 years ago as an artist and event management firm.

However, over the last six years, Heller and her team have been focusing only on weddings. “We also work on entertainment and corporate events. However, the last year and a half have been extremely challenging,” she said.

“People are hesitant to organise weddings. There’s no dancing allowed, the mandatory use of masks, and the limitation of numbers of guests are still discouraging couples from holding wedding ceremonies,” Heller added. “There were no weddings in June, and we’re looking at two in July and four in August. Pre-pandemic, we had at least triple or four times these numbers.”

The peak wedding season in the UAE is from November to March. The demand for outdoor and indoor venues during these months is usually booked to capacity. “Couples of all nationalities look at these as favourable months. A lot of Europeans look at getting married starting mid-October to mid–April. Last year, from October until the New Year, we did some weddings, even though the restrictions were in place,” Heller revealed.

However, couples are still hesitant to hold big-fat weddings. Punit Lalwani, a wedding emcee, said: “Pre-pandemic, the dance floor was open to all and guests were permitted to dance. However, due to Covid, dancing at weddings is strictly prohibited. No one comes to an Indian wedding only to enjoy a buffet and to offer their wishes,” he added.

— With inputs from Ayaz