The Dean of Guernsey, the Very Rev. Tim Barker, did not licence any emergency marriages during lockdown.
He said that although there were no weddings he was aware of this weekend, as the island enters phase five of the lockdown exit plan, he knew of one planned for early July.
‘A lot of the weddings planned for around this time have been postponed, the risk was just a bit too high for lots of people to keep the date and hope that we’d be in the clear by now.
‘We didn’t know when phase five was coming and with weddings unable to take place as usual before that, lots of people made the decision to push back the date by a year or a few months at least.’
This was certainly the case with larger weddings, particularly those which had people travelling to the island from elsewhere for the occasion.
At the Greffe, no marriages at short notice, which happen because of terminal illness, for example, were issued.
Head of registration at the Greffe Jane Henaghen said that just prior to lockdown, three weddings were brought forward. From the beginning of lockdown on 24 March to the start of phase three on 16 May, 24 weddings had to be cancelled as the Greffe was unable to solemnise them.
‘In phase three [16 May to 30 May] we held three wedding ceremonies but due to restrictions only four guests were permitted in addition to the couple, due to the limited size of marriage room and social distancing requirements.
‘In phase four [30 May to present] we have held four weddings, subject to social distancing and bubbles maximum of 20 guests and details of those attending recorded.’
Phase five marks the return to a normal service.
The size of marriage room means that number of guests will still be 20 but there will be no social distancing or requirement to keep details for contact tracing.
Some couples made the decision to postpone their wedding until later in the year or next year as they wanted to invite people from UK or elsewhere and venues for the reception could not guarantee to be open.
Ms Henaghen added: ‘We are taking bookings and where requested have made alternative bookings for those people who were unable to marry in lockdown.’
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