Washington, D.C. Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser defended her ban on dancing at weddings this week even as restrictions around the city slowly lift.
While Bowser said April 26 that weddings in the city could take place once again, she said that dancing was still a high-risk activity and that guests would have to remain seated as they currently do in restaurants.
"I think there's a lot of good to a wedding like people starting off their lives together and doing it in a safe way and not doing it in a way that puts themselves or their guests in danger," Bowser said during an interview on CNN Wednesday. "An alternate headline may be, 'Now you can host a wedding in Washington, D.C.'"
According to The Hill, weddings can now take place as long as the rooms are not above 25% capacity and are less than 250 people.
The April 26 order specifically states, "standing and dancing receptions are not allowed."
An article in the city publication "dcist," shows brides and grooms scrambling to deal with the restrictions or trying to find more permissive venues in Virgina and Mayland, outside of D.C.
"When I dreamed about my wedding, I've dreamed about dancing with my husband, having the first dance with my dad," bride-to-be Kate Monks said in the report. "We would just love to have the opportunity to have a real celebration after this incredibly difficult year. The fact that indoor exercise classes can operate right now, but I can't dance with my husband at my wedding while I'm fully vaccinated, frankly, just doesn't make any sense to me."
Monks and her soon-to-be- groom are among those couples considering moving their planned August wedding reception outside the city limits, but they worry about the actual logistics of relocating an event they have been preparing for a considerable amount of time at almost the last minute.
"Do we go with the venue that we've wanted for the last two years or do we move everything and move entire hotel blocks, move rehearsal dinners, and the event itself?" she told the publication. "D.C. would lose out on thousands of dollars from our guests and the venue would lose money. We're trying to wrestle with how we move forward from here."
Another groom interviewed for the story with a much shorter timeline to his wedding said he is panicking.
"What are we supposed to do from 9 to 11 at night," he said. "We would have never in a million years put down money and booked a venue if the dancing and celebration part were not on the table."
During the CNN interview, Bowser praised the residents of the city for helping lower the transmission rate.
On Tuesday, she offered "free beer" for those getting vaccinated.
She said that individuals can get Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine and a beer from Solace Brewing Co., a Washington-area craft brewery, on Thursday, The Hill reported.
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