DURBAN - Under level 3 of the lockdown, wedding service providers are still unable to work.
Although places of worship can hold services for gatherings with a maximum of 50 people, weddings are not permitted. Lungi Mtshali, the spokesperson for Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said the gatherings were limited to worship.
* Nishi Singh, the owner of A.S.K Decor and Caterers in Reservoir Hills, said the lockdown had impacted her 18-year-old business.
She said she specialised in decor and catering and helped source service providers, such as florists and sound technicians, for her clients.
Singh said 15 weddings had been booked between April and June but some of them had been postponed to the end of the year or next year.
“A few of my clients, who lost their jobs during the lockdown, cancelled.”
She has not generated an income since April but still had to pay her monthly expenses, which included the rental on a business warehouse and insurance.
“I still have to oversee the expenses at home.”
Singh has five full-time staff and casual workers.
“The lockdown has also impacted them. However, we arranged grocery parcels for each family.”
Singh remains positive business will stabilise.
“Numerous functions have been booked for next year, so closing is not an option.”
* Denver Naicker, the owner of Master of Ceremonies and the host and producer of the Get Real, a talk show on Glow TV, opened his business in 2015.
“Ninety-five percent of the events I MC are weddings,” said Naicker.
He said at first he offered his services free, while he built his brand.
“Someone told me that I would never make it in the industry as I was unknown. That just motivated me,” said Naicker.
He went on to secure a job as a freelance TV presenter and then as the host of Get Real.
“People were getting to know me and I soon secured bookings to MC at functions. I even got bookings a year in advance.”
Before the lockdown, he said he performed the role of MC at three to four weddings a weekend.
“Between April and June, I had about 20 events, which included weddings and corporate events.”
Other than the financial impact of the lockdown, Naicker said he was unable to do what he loved – bringing joy to couples and their families at
their weddings.
He is optimistic his business will survive the lockdown.
“My clients have postponed their weddings to the end of the year. It may be tough right now, but I am positive we will come out of this and business will resume.”
* Adira Sayed opened Bridal Princess, which offers customised bridal gowns, in Overport in 2016.
Sayed said her mother was a dressmaker and she used to watch her work while growing up, and knew she wanted to enter the fashion industry.
After she completed her national diploma in fashion design at the Durban University of Technology, Sayed worked as a visual merchandiser for a clothing retail store. She had to create eye-catching product displays.
“In 2016, I opened my own business, which offered affordable bridal gowns.”
Sayed said she recalled buying satin fabric for R250 and, using her mother’s sewing machine, made her first bridal gown.
Before the lockdown, she made six to eight gowns a month that took anywhere from a few days to a month to complete, depending on the design.
The gowns ranged in price from R1 500 to R3 000.
Sayed, a single mother of one, said her income sustained her business and home.
“I had to use my savings to meet my household expenses, which includes the rent, utility bill and groceries. If I am unable to work soon, I will not be able to make ends meet and may have to give up my dream and find a job.”
* For more than five decades, Sydney Reddy, 75, who started off going door-to-door taking pictures of families, has built his brand in photography.
The great-grandfather worked at high-profile events, including King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu’s wedding to Queen Thandekile Ndlovu in 1988.
“I remember finding out the king was going to get married and I made about 100 calls to my contacts to try to get hold of him. When I finally did, I introduced myself and he remembered me as the photographer at a conference I worked at a week earlier. He agreed to let me photograph his wedding. It was one of the many highlights of my career,” said Reddy.
Reddy, who owns the home-based business Studio Sydney in Musgrave, with the assistance of his wife, Val, said he was concerned about their livelihood.
“Before the lockdown, I always had some event, either government conferences, social gatherings, university graduations, birthdays or weddings. All of that stopped at the end of March. I have been unable to generate an income and have resorted to Plan B to earn a living.
"I offer editing services online. If you have a picture of a special occasion that you took with your cellphone camera, you can send it to me to edit, for a fee.”
At a briefing last week, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said essential services, which included marriage services, would be offered by Home Affairs under level 3. Other services include birth registration, reissuing of birth certificates, death certificates and temporary IDs.
Motsoaledi said couples would be able to get married at one of the Home Affairs offices or by a marriage officer.
However, wedding ceremonies were not allowed and only the couple and two witnesses could be present.