Wedding venues waiting for green light to reopen
CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Wedding venues and vendors are struggling to keep their businesses running during the pandemic. What has them most worried is the unknown time frame on when they will be able to return back to work.
It’s the day many couples dream about. But for many couples, their wedding plans are now on hold because of the health emergency. Wedding venues are feeling the impact.
“This year we were actually looking to have our best year ever and then March 19th everything was stopped,” said Rob Loller, who is the General Manager at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo.
Rob and Jen Loller own and run Maravilla Gardens. The couple normally hosts 60 weddings a year. Since the virus hit, four weddings have canceled, 40 have decided to push the date to next year and the rest are hoping they can still say “I do” come next month.
“Our couples are broken hearted,” said Jen Loller. “Some people are saying, we are just going to do it in our backyard. We are going to bring in some food and set up.”
Rob Loller says he has a better plan to reopen.
“If a table at a restaurant has to be 6-feet apart, I can do that,” said Loller. “And if you look at the guidelines for houses of worship they encourage to have meetings outdoors, well we are outdoors.”
“When guests arrive we can take their temperature, and people from the same household will be at each table,” said Jen Loller. “ We have sanitizer and we are going to clean our bathrooms every 30 minutes. Do you think they going to do that at home in a backyard? Are they going to check temperatures? Probably not.”
The Lollers say having a wedding reception at an actual venue rather than a backyard is safer and allows for easy contact tracing. They reached out to the County and shared their plans. Now they are waiting to get the green light from the State.
“If restaurants are open and can seat people outdoors, why can’t we,” said Rob Loller. “If we cant meet the guidelines and if we fail, we fail. But I think we need to be given an opportunity to succeed.”
For more information you can visit Maravilla Gardens, click here.
