DENVER -- As COVID-19 restrictions are projected to ease across our state over the next several months, a billion-dollar industry in Colorado is hopeful for a busy season.
Because of the pandemic, many weddings were postponed and pushed backed. Now thanks to new guidelines from the Governor’s Office, there is optimism from businesses and couples looking to tie the knot.
After getting engaged in Aspen last August, Brice Kavanaugh and Amy Sharma knew they had no time to waste in order to lock down a wedding date.
"I think we knew there was a lot of 2020 scheduled that were pushed to 2021, so we thought if we want to do it in 2021, we got to get moving quick," said Kavanaugh.
After going through several venues they finally locked one down for this September.
"I haven’t even let myself get my hopes up, because you just don’t want to be let down, so now I am finally picturing the perfect day again," said Sharma.
Their optimism comes after the Governor’s Office released new guidelines for special events and weddings. Their projections are based on Colorado being in Level Blue or Green.
Aside from owning First Look Events, her own wedding and special events firm, Brynn Swanson is also part of Colorado’s Event Alliance, working closely with the Governor’s Office to come up with guidelines for their industry.
"We have a six to nine month lead time to plan events, concerts, conferences and even longer. So, to be able to instill consumer confidence this far out will allow us to save current contracts that we have and hopefully bring business back to Colorado," said Swanson.
Some of the big projected changes is capacity, which starting in May increases to 60%. Ten people could also be seated at a table without being from the same household and probably most importantly, dancing is back.
"With the dance floor, my family is huge dancers so it was devastating that we wouldn’t be able to dance all night, but now we officially locked down the dance rental," said Sharma.
With the continued rollout of vaccines, the wedding industry and couples across the state have high hopes for a strong season and a wedding day they’ll never forget.
