Wedding restrictions in England - explained

14 June 2021, 18:51 | Updated: 14 June 2021, 19:01

Matt Thompson outlines new Covid rules for weddings

Boris Johnson today pushed back the lifting of lockdown in England by a month to July 19. But he made concessions to those with upcoming weddings.

What are the latest wedding restrictions in England?

Boris Johnson has confirmed the 30 person limit on weddings in England will be scrapped from June 21.

But he said that social distancing must be observed. This will affect capacity of certain venues. The government has published a long list on how they can go ahead safely.

Venues and hosts will have to do a risk assessment to ensure social distancing can be carried out. A similar rule applies to funerals.

• The full rules can be found on the Government's website here.
• The full rules for places of worship can be found here.

What is and what isn't allowed?

Allowed: Weddings of more than 30 people, couple’s first dance, speeches must take place outside if possible, cake cutting, face masks must be worn except when eating and drinking

Banned: Indoor dancing, no more than six people per table

Not recommended: Dancing outside, singing, cash donations

What did the Prime Minister say?

Mr Johnson was confronted at today's press conference by a woman who has had to postpone her wedding twice.

She said it feels like weddings are "bottom of the priority list despite being significant life events without which some people cannot progress with their lives".

The Prime Minister replied: "All I can say is I'm sorry for the disappointment that this will certainly bring to weddings, to many, many businesses, but it's a few weeks that I think is worth it to get those jabs in."

"I'm very, very sorry to hear about your wedding plans being postponed twice. Indeed obviously I'm sorry for all the disappointment that's going to be caused by going a bit slower as we are today."

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