Weddings have pretty much been put on hold for the best part of a year in Scotland amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Tight restrictions on gatherings both indoors and outdoors has had a knock on impact on those seeking to tie the knot in recent months.
But there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel as the Scottish Government seeks to go down to ‘at least’ the lowest form of restrictions from the end of June.
The latest information on the coronavirus protection levels in Scotland indicates that up to 200 people could be allowed to attend a wedding or civil partnership ceremony under level zero rules.
But weddings are not completely off the cards under the current restrictions in place.
Scotland is currently considered to be in the highest level four restrictions, which limits weddings and civil partnership ceremonies to a maximum attendance of just 20.
Post-wedding receptions are currently off the cards under the current rules.
The country is then expected to move into level three restrictions from April 26, which would allow for up to 50 people to attend a wedding. Receptions would be back on the cards again, with the same limits of the attendance and alcohol permitted.
It is hoped that Scotland will move to level one restrictions in early June, which would allow for 100 guests at weddings and receptions.
The number is then doubled when the alert level is moved to zero, which is expected to take place from late June.
Dates for level one and zero are yet to be given the full green light and the above dates are just estimates set out by the Scottish Government.
Nicola Sturgeon has previously told Scots that decisions will be made based on the data provided on the state of the pandemic.
Speaking at a rather unexpected coronavirus press briefing yesterday, the First Minister said that the data in the last two weeks has been ‘encouraging’.
A number of restrictions will be eased from Friday - with rules on outdoor gatherings and travel restrictions being loosened.
But Sturgeon continued to urge Scots to be cautious of the rules amid fears of more-transmissible virus strains circulating across Europe.
The FM said: “We do still need to be cautious. We can see why we still need to be cautious by looking quickly around many other countries across Europe and the world.
“We have to be careful not to do too much all at once. We don’t want the virus quickly gaining ground again, particularly as we know this new variant is more infectious and then setting us all back."
