Wedding ceremonies and receptions

Effective 15 January 2021

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 advice regarding singing and chanting

Group singing and chanting remains a high-risk activity for transmission of COVID-19 should someone involved be infected. To help mitigate this risk, NSW Health has provided advice regarding singing and chanting in indoor and outdoor settings.

See NSW Health advice regarding singing and chanting.

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.

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. In indoor areas, alcohol should only be consumed by seated patrons.

Capacity in regions outside of Greater Sydney must not exceed one attendee per 2 square metres of publicly accessible space. In Greater Sydney, capacity must not exceed 100 patrons, OR one attendee per 4 square metres of publicly accessible space, whichever is less.

Children count towards the capacity limit.

Note: ‘Greater Sydney’ means Greater Sydney as defined by the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order (No 7) 2020.

In Greater Sydney face masks must be worn by public facing staff in hospitality venues, and by anyone older than 12 years in indoor areas at a place of worship, unless exempt.

Note: The wedding party, including the people being married and the people necessary for the conduct of the wedding, are exempt from wearing masks in indoor areas at places of worship.

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.

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.

No more than 5 performers should sing indoors. There is no recommended cap on performers singing outdoors. All performing singers should face forwards and not towards each other, have physical distancing of 1.5m between each other and any other performers, and be 5m from all other people including the audience and conductor, where practical. In indoor areas, audience members should not participate in singing or chanting. In outdoor areas, audience members older than 12 years should wear masks if singing or chanting.

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.

In indoor areas, increase natural ventilation by opening windows and doors where possible, and increase mechanical ventilation where possible by optimising air conditioning or other system settings (such as by maximising the intake of outside air and reducing or avoiding recirculation of air).

Keep a record of the name, contact number and entry time for all staff, guests and contractors for a period of at least 28 days. Contact details must be collected for each person using a contactless electronic method, such as a QR Code or similar. Processes must be in place to ensure that customers provide the required contact information. Records must be provided as soon as possible, but within 4 hours, upon request from an authorised officer.

Note: If a person is unable to provide contact details, for example due to age or language barriers, another person may provide contact details on their behalf. If there are unexpected circumstances which prevent the use of electronic methods to collect contact details (such as an internet outage), any paper records must be entered into an electronic format such as a spreadsheet within 12 hours.

Ensure records are used only for the purposes of COVID-19 contact tracing and are collected and stored confidentially and securely. When selecting and using an electronic method of record collection, take reasonably practical steps to protect privacy and ensure the records are secure. Consider the 'Customer record keeping' page of nsw.gov.au

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