Wedding venue businesses in Jordan on brink of collapse stakeholder

AMMAN — There is a significant lack of demand for wedding venues, as 90 percent of citizens who plan to get married choose private farms, according to Mamun Al Manaseer, head of the Wedding Venues and Planning Businesses Association.

Despite the sector’s opening on July 1, the turnout for wedding venues is still poor, Manaseer said.

Manaseer told The Jordan Times on Saturday that “wedding venues are facing a crisis” due to the government’s health protocols, such as requiring attendants to get a vaccine, preventing children from attending and limiting attendant numbers to 100.

Manaseer indicated that most wedding venues only have one to three events a month, which is not enough to cover any costs.

“The current situation is worse than when the sector was closed, as we did not have to pay rent, electricity…etc. With the reopening, it has been really difficult to cover the basic costs of the venues as there is no business at all,” he continued.

Couples who paid a deposit in 2020 are demanding their money back, which has caused an additional problem for wedding venues owners, Manaseer noted.

Manaseer pointed out that many private farms do not impose any strict measures, which leads people to choose them over the venues.

Manseer added that the only solution for the revival of the wedding venue sector is to apply the Ministry of Interior’s decision to not allow private farms to host weddings unless they also enforce the public safety measures.

Manaseer noted that if the current situation remains, it will lead the sector to “collapse beyond repair”, specifically with the winter season approaching.

“I hope the government applies the decision regarding private farms as our sector is in desperate need of help and recovery,” he said.