Love In Time of COVID-19

September 2, 2020

Love In Time of COVID-19

A Chicago wedding planner‘s guidelines for weddings during Phase 4?

As per State guidelines, gatherings of more than 50 people are not permitted. Weddings are only permitted to have 50 attendees.

The guidelines are for the entire state and every County; local jurisdictions can be more stringent but should not be less.

Limit gatherings to 50 people indoors (Illinois and Chicago) and 100 people outdoors (Chicago), while practicing social distancing with 25% (Chicago), 50% (Illinois) capacity, whichever is fewer; staff are not included in the limit.
Limit outdoor gatherings with guests standing/mobile, following social distancing (cocktail reception) to 50 people.
Seated events outdoors can be up to 100 people if seated and stationary.
Limit to 10 guests at a table, with each table 6 ft apart (guests in the same household seated at the same table do not have to be 6 ft apart)
Close areas where individuals congregate in close proximity (dance floors)
In any outdoor and indoor common spaces, face coverings must be worn over the nose and mouth
Face coverings can be removed when guests are seated and eating/drinking only
Venues should have hand sanitizer or hand-washing facilities readily available
The host should ask their guests to take their temperature prior to attending the wedding and to inform them if anyone in the household has been in contact with or had COVID-19 symptoms in the prior two weeks.
The host should request guests’ contact information prior to entry for contact tracing

You can find the complete state’s guidelines for gatherings and social events online:https://dceocovid19resources.com/restore-illinois/restore-illinois-phase-4/meetings-and-social-events/

Emergency Travel Order for Chicago and Suburbs

Cook County and Chicago have issue an Emergency Travel Order: it requires individuals coming from the below state/countries to self quarantine for 14 days:

China, Iran, Europe, UK, Ireland, Brazil.

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.

This includes both Chicago residents returning from travel to a designated state, and travelers arriving in Chicago from a designated state.

You can find complete information here:

https://www.jacksonlewis.com/sites/default/files/docs/ChicagoPublicHealthOrder2020-10-Quarantine_on_all_travel7-2-2020FINAL.pdf

https://cookcountypublichealth.org/communicable-diseases/covid-19/covid-19-travel-guidance/

Wedding Planning Advice

Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions, even more if you are planning your wedding. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety.

However, these actions are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Coping with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

The Health Department is inspecting events and already shut down many that did not follow the guidelines, they gave fines leaving couples, guests and vendors with nothing else than going home in the middle of the couple’s celebrations.

At Bweddings we understand that everyone will have slightly different interpretations of the guidelines, but overall the goal is to create safe environments for events, in Illinois and Chicago, so that you, your guests and your vendor team can feel comfortable attending and working at weddings and that proper precautions and communication have been provided.