Wedding dresses impossible to ship amid COVID-19 fallout

Yeppoon business owner talks about how the bridal industry has been one of the hardest hit

Kara Parsons of Mason Bridal Boutique in her Yeppoon showroom

AS MANY weddings have had to be postponed due coronavirus to event restrictions, it is feared there is going to be a bottleneck of events later this year and next year.

Some brides might even have issues getting a dress as it is currently a “nightmare” to get shipments of gowns to Australia.

Yeppoon bridal business owner Kara Parsons has had her shopfront, Mason Bridal Boutique, closed for the past few weeks.

She had a number of fitting appointments cancelled because weddings couldn’t go ahead.

She also had to restrict to only doing a one-on-one ­service due to social ­distancing rules, meaning brides couldn’t come in with their mothers and bridal parties.

Some couples have also had to cancel due to losing their jobs.

“There has been lots of tears, lots of disappointment and devastation,” Kara said.

“Brides picking up their dresses and looking in the mirror because they can’t have their wedding.”

Kara, who opened her business in October 2019 in Rockhampton’s East St before moving to the beach, has had to give out many thousands of dollars in refunds.

“I have had a huge hit to income but I am a bit lucky it’s generally a bit quieter time for me at the moment,” she said.

On the flip side, Kara has seen a number of brides go down the elopement path - some whom are glad they are being forced to do so.

Most of the dresses Kara orders come from Italy and China, and it has been impossible to get them shipped.

“Nothing was moving, some dresses weren’t even able to be on here on time so the saving grace was the wedding was postponed,” she said.

“To import anything is a nightmare.”

Kara said the bridal industry had been massively affected by the economic fall-out of coronavirus.

She is concerned about whether all of the Central Queensland ­wedding vendors are going to make it out alive.

Kara expects from October onwards to be crazy with rebookings and couples should prepare.

“Trying to get vendors is going to get hard with all the re-bookings,” she said.

She encouraged all brides to get in early and order a dress as soon as they could.

“As soon as shipping opens up again there is going to be mass orders,” Kara said.

“Don’t leave your ordering too late if you are getting married at the end of 2021 or next year, there will be a huge back log.”

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