Wedding ceremonies and receptions

Effective 22 October 2020

How to complete the COVID-19 Safety Plan

Record the action/s you will put in place under all the Safety Plan sections:

wellbeing of staff and customers
physical distancing
hygiene and cleaning
record keeping.

Each requirement must be addressed in each section. If a requirement does not apply to your premises, briefly describe why.

Once you complete the COVID-19 Safety Plan, a confirmation email will be sent to you with a copy of your plan attached as a PDF.

To complete the COVID-19 Safety Plan offline, print a blank copy of the form using the print button.

Remember to keep a copy of your COVID-19 Safety Plan on your premises at all times.

NSW Health updated advice regarding music at wedding ceremonies and receptions

In accordance with advice from the Chief Health Officer, NSW Health recommends:

A small group of up to 5 people may sing together in a large well ventilated (preferably outdoor) area if all singers face forwards and not towards each other, have a physical distancing of 1.5 metres between each other and any other performers and 5 metres from all other people including the audience an conductor.
Players of non-reeded woodwind instruments (such as flutes and recorders) should maintain a physical distance of 3 metres from others in the direction of air flow, and 1.5 metres in all other directions.
Players of all other instruments (including reeded woodwind instruments) should maintain a physical distance of 1.5 metres between each other and the audience/conductor.
Ensembles and other musical groups should rehearse and perform outdoors or in large, well-ventilated indoor spaces.

Business details

Business name

Business location (town, suburb or postcode)

If your business has multiple premises, complete a Safety Plan for each location. Provide contact details for the person responsible for the COVID-19 Safety Plan at each location.

Completed by

Full name

Email address

We will send a copy of the plan to your email.

Guidance

Ensure guests are aware they should only attend if they are feeling well and do not have any respiratory or COVID-19 symptoms.

Consider sending out messages as the event draws closer to remind guests it’s important they don’t attend if they are feeling unwell, and encourage them to get tested.

If an attendee has symptoms and asks if they should attend, encourage them to see their GP or attend a local COVID clinic. If they are tested for COVID-19 they must isolate until they get a negative result.

Advise participants to check the NSW website for the current public health advice in relation to locations where people who visited are required to self-isolate.

Think about ways your guests can be involved through a video broadcast or live stream, if they can’t attend due to illness or travel restrictions, or are a vulnerable person and wish to avoid gatherings. Consider options to stream the event.

If you have guests who are at high-risk of developing COVID-19 complications such as elderly people or people with conditions affecting their immunity, consider discussing the option of attending the ceremony only, which is lower risk than the reception.

If you intend to serve alcohol at your wedding, consider ways to encourage responsible use, such as limiting bar tabs or drink packages. Alcohol can only be consumed by seated patrons.

Capacity must not exceed 150 guests, or one guest per 4 square metres for a wedding service, whichever is the lesser. Children count towards the capacity limit.

Bookings for weddings can be taken for future dates for a higher number of guests than permitted by the current Public Health Order, but patrons should be advised that their event will need to comply with restrictions in place at the time.

Encourage congregants to wear a mask during attendance. Wearing a mask is not mandatory but is highly recommended. Mask wearing is not a substitute for physical distancing, but may further reduce risks.

Only the wedding party, to a maximum of 20 persons, is permitted on a dancefloor.
Note: There cannot be rotation of people on the dancefloor beyond this wedding party.

Consider seating guests from the same household next to each other, to make it easier to fit everyone safely together. Ensure people have assigned tables at the reception event and that there is minimal mingling between people at different tables. Ensure there are no more than 30 people per table.

Consider having photos taken before the ceremony (rather than in between the ceremony and reception) to decrease the amount of time between each.

Remind participants of the importance of physical distancing before, during and after the wedding. Whilst it is a very natural instinct to hug each other when happy, this is where COVID-19 can spread easily. Consider alternative ways people could offer congratulations that don’t involve close contact, such as through a guest book or recorded messages.

Consider alternatives to physical gifts or wishing wells, such as online gift registries, direct delivery or electronic funds transfer.

Think about how other hygiene risks could be minimised, such as not sharing food or cigarettes/e-cigarettes and making sure people can remember which glassware is theirs.

If you would like a guest book, consider asking guests to bring their own pen, or have a plan to clean any shared pens and the area around the book in-between guests signing. Consider alternatives like a digital guestbook that can be filled in from home.

Consider alternatives to books, booklets, or other shared objects used during the service.

Keep a digitised record of guests who attend, including a contact number. Make sure you also keep a record of additional attendees such as photographers and caterers. Keep this list for 28 days after the event. If there is a guest at your wedding who gets diagnosed with COVID-19, public health will ask that you provide this record to assist with contact tracing.

I agree to keep a copy of this COVID-19 Safety Plan at the business premises

Now that you have finished, send the plan as a PDF to the email address you provided.

COVID-19 Safety Plan