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Beginner September 2020 Alberta

Socially distanced reception help!

Kallei, on July 1, 2020 at 22:29 Posted in Wedding reception 0 6

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Hello everyone! Fiancé and I are getting married September 26th, here in Alberta. Currently the rules allow indoor social gatherings of 50 people and outdoor gatherings of 200. Our outdoor ceremony is not an issue, as we only have 80 guests and there is lots of room to spread people’s chairs out.
However we are kind of stuck with the indoor reception aspect!!!I’m wondering who else is going ahead with their wedding @ their venue while following COVID rules, and how you plan to do it!
- How do we seat people for the dinner while keeping distance in mind??? (Singletons, or couples - where do they sit if they can’t share a table with other cohorts?)- What about guests dancing? - Are you still going to sit with your bridesmaids and groomsmen at head table even though they aren’t in your family / cohort? - Are you still going to take pictures with everyone?Our venue hasn’t said anything about these things yet so I’m not sure if they’re just taking a more relaxed approach, or if they’re just seeing how we plan to figure these kinks out.

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Latest activity by Naima, on July 12, 2020 at 19:23

Newfoundland and Labrador
Naima · On July 12, 2020 at 19:23
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Hi we are planning for our son's post wedding reception in August, God Willingly. We also have around 80 people so we are organizing in way that ladies and gents will be sitting separately until dinner is served then everyone would be together for drinks, coffees and party
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Curious August 2020 Alberta
Emilie · On July 2, 2020 at 16:32
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Hi Kallei. I'm also just above the Alberta indoor limit as well. I moved my reception outdoors and I'm renting a couple of open tents. Depending on where in Alberta I understand that it is a little cold in September. I was lucky in that my venue has a large enough outdoor space to accommodate tents and social distancing.
What wedding style where you looking to have? Would you be willing to change into a more casual style?
From what I saw online your best option for seating is to keep cohorts together or to limit to 4 people per round table that usually fits 8 but definitely check with your venue. The other thing I did was ask my guest if they would be alright if I assigned them cohorts when they did not already have one.
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Super October 2021 Alberta
Veronica · On July 1, 2020 at 23:51
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Yup we are in Alberta! I agree, we were honestly shocked. However our venue is small in space, so its very difficult for them to socially distance really at all.
The live music and dancing is straight from the AHS guidelines on the COVID Website. I should clarify live music - I meant live singing, (my dad was going to sing) which is currently not allowed. Dancing is allowed BUT not recommended, and there has to be 6ft markers on the dance floor. Again, our venue is small and it just does not feel realistic to make it happen.
So I think in our case, our venue just realized that they can't make it work under the COVID rules. So while we can have a version of our ceremony and we can have our sit down dinner, the rest of it cannot be SAFELY done at the venue via the guidelines. Ultimately I respect their decision and understand its safety first.
It is possible that other venues can make it work in their own way
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Beginner September 2020 Alberta
Kallei · On July 1, 2020 at 23:42
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Thank you! Are you in Alberta? No live music or dancing sounds very strict! Especially saying chairs aren’t allowed for ceremonies!! Alberta says that seated indoor events are allowed 100 people (but social gatherings like weddings and funerals limited to 50 since you’ll be more likely to mingle).
I’ll definitely be reaching out to our venue this month to clarify things!
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Super October 2021 Alberta
Veronica · On July 1, 2020 at 23:36
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Hello Kallei,
So we are opting to postpone ultimately because a COVID reception just was not looking like what we wanted at all. But I thought I would respond with what our venue told us a few weeks ago that prompted our decision. Obviously you are not postponing and need to find ways to work around that. I would definitely start with what the venue is intending to do so there are no surprises or assumptions for you! In case you are interested I have referenced what our venue told us below :
Our venue sent us an outline of what the reception would look like (assuming the 50 person limit was still in place for our 100 person wedding) a few weeks ago. The restrictions were 6 people max to a table, tables 6ft apart, no bar service, no dancing, no shared food (so like no passed appetizers, no buffet, late night snack) and no live music of any kind. Based on this list, we opted to postpone. I am just mentioning it in case you want to clarify all of that with your venue! We honestly had no idea it would involve all these restrictions until the venue pointed them out for us. Oh! And also our venue said that chairs at the ceremony would be a no, standing only so that people can maintain their distance and stay in their bubbles.
I agree with all of Amelia's suggestions, and definitely take the family/friends co-horts into consideration. I SINCERELY hope that things change a bit and some of those restrictions are better, (like being able to have a dance!) and such by September Best of luck!
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Master October 2020 New Brunswick
Amelia · On July 1, 2020 at 23:02
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Does Alberta allow for family or friends bubbles? In NB we haven't had to social distance with certain people since May, so we could put those people together if they're part of a bubble that would already be interacting outside of the reception.

If not for bubbles I would put space between pairs of chairs. For example a table for 12 becomes 6 or 8 with gaps. I would definitely use a seating chart and place cards to ensure people who shouldn't be mingling aren't at the same tables.
Otherwise it's a group of adults, so hopefully you can trust them to keep a little distance and not kiss/hug everyone they encounter. A few reminders wouldn't hurt, like signs, baskets of masks, and hand sanitizer available.
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Socially distanced reception help!

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