What a week. In fact, what a fortnight, what a month and what a year. It feels as if we’ve been in this situation for so long that it’s sometimes easy to forget just what a toll this situation is taking on us all, in so many different ways.
Before we start today, let us extend the biggest virtual hug to you all because whatever you’re going through, none of this is easy and that needs to be acknowledged. This really has been the toughest of week for so many of my friends working in the wedding industry.
The wedding sector, couples and businesses alike, have served as quite the punch bag over recent months. From last-minute government announcements and what feels to be arbitrary reductions in numbers to confused guidance and thoughtless comments. This week, we’re reeling from yet another slap down…
In response to Ed Miliband’s questioning about support for the wedding sector, Alok Sharma seemed to suggest that those talented, passionate and exceptional suppliers who make hundreds of thousands of weddings so incredible should get a ‘better job’.
Let’s clear things up once and for all – however you interpret Sharma’s statement, for the estimated 400,000 people in the UK who are involved in weddings, there is no better job.
There is no better job than one that allows you to be part of a day that will live in the memories of everyone who experiences is.
There is no better job than the one that you have created for yourself.
There is no better job than the one that allows you to be creative and business-minded, to work flexibly around you family or other commitments.
There is no better job than the one that allows you to feel fulfilled and there can be no better job than the one that you love.
Suppliers and venue owners – they love what they do. They are utterly committed to doing the very best they can, every single time they go to work. There are no second chances for those in the wedding sector when they go to work, everything has to be brilliant and perfect and these wonderful professionals bring that brilliance every single time.
Wedding Business Owners – share why there is no better job
Today, we stand by in solidarity with all the wedding suppliers and venue owners who are believe there is no better job than the one they have right now, in this beautiful world of weddings. Pop over to our Instagram feed to find out more, and if you are a supplier or venue owner, get involved! Click below for full details…
Brides, grooms and all couples planning a wedding – please know that the individuals and businesses who represent our wedding industry have not and will not ever give up and accept Mr Sharma’s words of this week. The anger with which they reacted to a suggestion that what they do doesn’t matter and that there is something better out there, is proof positive that they care beyond measure and quite probably, beyond the comprehension of those in charge of our country.
Here are a few words from Emma Freeman, a bride-to-be who knows what it feels like to have to postpone your wedding, and who understands the disappointment and frustration that this year has brought to couples everywhere:
“The weddings and events sector isn’t new. It’s been around for decades and will be for years to come. It’s part of everyone’s story in some way, shape or form and it forms part of all our memories. What could be better than that? Support for the industry is vital. Without suppliers, there are no weddings and without weddings, there are no suppliers. We’re all one team.”
Ways to get your supplier seen and supported to ensure the business keeps coming in.
Simple, easy ways to help that you could do in minutes.
Come on, we are one team.
We have to support each other if you want an industry to come back to. #whataboutweddings pic.twitter.com/BYotJKgmM8
— Emma Freeman (@emma_freeman37) October 1, 2020
We all need support right now – couples and suppliers alike. We are all in this together and we will come through it. We all just need to keep on keeping on, keep asking for what we know to be right and keep standing up for what we know to be important.
Readers, whether you’re planning your wedding or feeling desperate to get back to doing what you love by working at a wedding, we see you all. We’re here and just like weddings themselves, we’re not going anywhere. There is nothing better than a wedding. And for us, there is no better job than the ones we have in this beautiful, creative, inspiring world of weddings.
Love Annabel and Tamryn x
Annabel
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Annabel is the founder of Love My Dress. She lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, two daughters Eska and Leanora and three dogs. She is passionate about photography, supporting women in business and in life, and is in her element being surrounded by nature and the countryside.