Wedding industry pleads for JobKeeper return as more couples postpone because of Covid restrictions

Weddings across SA are being postponed by couples hoping to wait until restrictions lessen. The industry says one thing may save them.

As more couples postpone their nuptials because of Covid restrictions, the state’s wedding industry is calling for the reintroduction of JobKeeper.

The sector says its needed urgently to support the hundreds of thousands of South Australians who work in it.

A spokeswoman for more than 100 SA wedding venues and suppliers, Kelly Markos, who owns Utopia @ Waterfall Gully and Glanville Hall, said restrictions had returned to mid-2020 levels.

This time around there was no JobKeeper assistance, she said.

“Our staff need something because we can’t make the payroll,” she said. “The government can’t leave these people out to dry.”

Ms Markos said the latest density restrictions were having a “massive impact” on the wedding industry, which provided income to “three to four times” as many people as the hospitality sector’s 60,000 people.

Those working in her industry included wedding planners, celebrants, DJs and musicians, she said.

Kelly Markos and husband Justin, who own wedding venue Utopia @ Waterfall Gully and other venues, say Covid restrictions mean they can’t pay their staff. Picture: Tom Huntley

Ms Markos said couples were being forced to downsize their big day or postpone it.

Since the restrictions were announced on Sunday, half of the couples planning to marry at her venues next week had decided to hold off.

She said not knowing when the restrictions were expected to end had also led to others postponing weddings in late January and February.

“People are not willing to take the risk of losing everything last-minute again,” she said.

A leading Adelaide florist said people planning weddings had been “heartbroken” by the restrictions.

Two of the four weddings they were working on for this week and next had been postponed, while the two going ahead were downsizing their orders.

The real impact of the wedding industry would be felt in February and March, they said, which had been shaping up to be especially busy.

“They are big wedding months so it will be interesting to see how it evolves,’ they said.

The wedding industry’s call is echoing that of the hospitality industry which told The Advertiser it had been unfairly targeted by the change in density restrictions.

Hospitality operators have called for immediate financial grants and the reintroduction of JobKeeper.

On Tuesday Treasurer Rob Lucas said the government understood the concerns of the industry, with details of a financial support package for businesses to be announced before the end of the week.