Wedding Band Association issue Covid 19 Health & Safety guidelines
Table of Contents:
- Building relations and communication with Wedding Venues
- Weddings are distinct to most other social gathering events
- Instilling and restoring confidence in Wedding couples
- Our measures to help reduce cross infection
- Social distancing while dancing
Note: This is a living document which means as Government restrictions and Public Health guidelines evolve, this document will also evolve to reflect new Government advice and changes to protocols when they emerge. Wedding Band Association will inform all its members in the event that this document has to be amended to meet government requests.
- Introduction
The Wedding Band Association are being proactive throughout the ongoing covid-19 pandemic crisis. We have implemented systems in response to the impact of covid19 which have been very effective in helping our members and more importantly our clients (wedding couples). Our booking transfer system scheme is just one of our many responses that has helped wedding couples and our members. You can read HERE for more information on this scheme.
In this document we outline measures that focus on instilling and restoring confidence in Wedding Couples. Going forward into the “New Normal” we want to ensure that we can play our part by implementing measures to protect the health and safety of our members, wedding guests and venue staff.
Building relations and communication with Wedding Venues
As per government guidelines, weddings of up to 100 people will be allowed from the 10th August. Currently there are no guidelines delivered by government or HSE that Wedding Bands should adhere to. In this document the wedding band association provide a list of measures that we believe will be welcomed by Wedding venues and also wedding couples.
Wedding entertainment is an integral and essential part of every great wedding and we want to advise our colleagues (wedding venues, vendors) and clients (wedding couples) that we are being pro-active on an ongoing basis.
Weddings are distinct to most other types of social gatherings and less challenging for contact tracing:
We understand that the basic steps of handwashing, mask wearing (were applicable) and social distancing are three key elements in preventing the spread of covid-19. Weddings are distinct to most other types of larger social gatherings. Most weddings will consist of family and friends, which in turn reduces the risk of cross infection. A family member who may feel unwell would be more inclined to take responsible measures than a stranger in a nightclub or bar setting. The contact tracing process from a wedding is less challenging in the unlikely event that a cross infection may occur. Our members have been advised to familiarise themselves with the latest guidelines from the following sources. We will constantly review updates from all of the below departments.
■ Health Services Executive (HSE)
■ Health and Safety Authority (HSA)
■ Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC)
■ Irish Government Departments
■ World Health Organisation (WHO)
Like Wedding venues and everyone else in the Wedding industry, we all want to get back to providing our services to Wedding couples. Ongoing communication between venues and vendors (i.e. wedding bands) will be instrumental in helping achieve that goal. We know that weddings can be great even with the presence of CV19 in our society, we should be collectively making every effort to instil and restore confidence in wedding couples. We will adjust to the “new normal” and we will continue to deliver quality entertainment, service and apply the measures outlined in this document to help prevent the spread Covid-19.
Covid-19 Officer training course
The Wedding band association has advised for all members to complete a Covid-19 Officer training course. This is been commissioned by the association. This course will be part of our strategy to build confidence as we get back to performing at weddings and we believe it will also be welcomed by all wedding venues, wedding couples and their guests.
Additional measures:
Below are additional measures, these guidelines/measures have also been sent to NPHET for their review (waiting response). We advise that these measures should be adhered to by all our members in the wedding band association. We cannot be responsible for bands who are not part of the association.
Health Care Checklist:
- Fever checks on arrival at venue
- Hand hygiene practice and hand sanitising will be consistently practiced by all members of the band.
- Masks can be worn while entering venue via delivery areas, while setting up equipment and when taking down equipment. (on request of the venue)
- Band members will not congregate with wedding guests or wedding venue staff and consistently maintain social distancing practices. Point of contact should be with banqueting manager only.
- Band members names will be provided for contact tracing purposes. (on the request of the venue)
- All equipment will be disinfected between events to help prevent any cross infection.
- Bands will not allow guest singers – This will be announced pre-performance and noted to the couples well in advance of the wedding date
- A safety barrier where possible will be placed to indicate a minimum of 2 metre distance between wedding guests and the band
- On stage, band members will distance were applicable
- In the event of any breaches of social distancing between band members and guests it may be considered that the music should stop. i.e. Any guest that breaks social distancing measures with the band or in the event of reckless behaviour
- At the interval the band will try to find an area that isolates them from the wedding party. This can be discussed with the venue in advance
Social distancing while dancing (our thoughts)
There has been a lot of confusion and questions about dancing. Luke O Neill (professor of biochemistry in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin) confirmed on the Pat Kenny show “Newstalk” (13.07.2020) that dancing can be permitted once social distancing measures are implemented. Our members are confident that this can be controlled, and also announcing this before the performance will be effective. By default and in most cases people generally do keep a relative distance while dancing. Therefore we do not see dancing as a core safety breach and dancing should be encouraged.
Requirements:
The only consideration we request from venues is a suitable area to load equipment that causes no obstruction that might endanger or break safety measures outlined above. Loading access which does not risk accidental contact with the wedding guests would be preferred. While most venues have a fixed stage, others might have the option of a mobile stage. In this case we are encouraging all members to use the mobile stage at all times.
Conclusion: Our message
All of the above proposed measures are guidelines. Additional requests from the venue, wedding couples or NPHET will be welcomed. Our core objective is to instil and restore confidence in wedding couples and their guests, and build an ongoing solid line of communication with the venues going forward. As noted above, music is an integral and essential part of every great wedding and we will be consistent on delivering these measures that will help in maintaining a safe environment for our wedding couples, their guests, venue staff and band colleagues.
Wedding Band Association
info@weddingbandassociation.ie
Tel: 01 2459159
Mob: 087 4143971