Federal Interior Minister Pieter De Crem said a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday will bring clarity on whether weddings planned for the summer can still go forward.
On a radio interview, De Crem said that officials at the NSC meeting will discuss in further detail which types of events could go forward after 3 May.
"Confirmation and first communion ceremonies have already been pushed to the autumn, but weddings are among the events on which the NSC must reach a decision by week's end," De Crem said.
De Crem's statements follow calls for clarity from the wedding planning sector, which has seen earnings for the spring period go up in smoke amid the current coronavirus lockdown.
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“Today 89% of wedding professionals say their June, July and August commissions have (...) been cancelled or postponed,” said Cynthia De Clercq of HL Belgique, an organisation of providers of matrimonial services.
Under current regulations, wedding ceremonies can still go forward provided they take place only in the presence of the marriage officiant and the wedding witnesses.
"Until 3 May, we are in the federal phase, during which no weddings can be celebrated," De Crem said, referring to the stage of the country's response to the pandemic. "Clarity will be given, but now we are in a situation where we have a dramatic virus that is running wild, and we must continue to fight."
Announcing the extension of the lockdown to 3 May, authorities also said that no mass events would be able to take place until the end of August.
But a lack of clarity regarding what types of events were counted as a mass gathering left event organisers and some local authorities in the dark.
In Brussels 1000, the local councillor for events and tourism councillor said that the municipality was also waiting for more information from federal authorities to decide whether some smaller events could take place.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
