Illawarra wedding venues, churches and funeral directors have welcomed NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's announcement that there will be no caps on numbers at weddings and funerals from Monday.
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Ms Berejiklian said there will also be no restrictions on singing including in places of worship; no restriction on dancing including at weddings and in pubs and nightclubs and no cap on visitors in the home.
But if there are more than 100 people there must be a COVID-19 safety plan and electronic recording of visitor details.
The Premier said 200 people will be allowed for personal outdoor public gatherings and all venues will move to the one person per 2sqm rule. But venues will be allowed at least 25 people before the 2sqm rule applies.
The new rules means 100 per cent seated capacity will be allowed at entertainment venues including stadiums and theatres.
Meantime mask use on public transport will move from 'mandatory' to 'strongly recommended'.
Ms Berejiklian said businesses and other organisations must continue to ensure they keep accurate records of all attendances, including through QR Codes, to enable fast contact tracing in the event of any community transmission.
She said the easing of restrictions was a significant step forward as NSW continued its COVID-19 recovery.
The Pavilion Kiama event coordinator Jackie Hall said it was very exciting news for all wedding venues.
"This is just absolutely amazing for weddings in general," Ms Hall said.
"This is what brides and grooms have been waiting for for a very long time.
"I think it will really open up the flood gates for couples to get out there and confirm their weddings.
"So many people have really been looking forward to being able to have a full wedding where everyone can stand up, have a drink, have a dance and feel at ease."
Ms Hall said venues will keep in place all the COVID-19 safety precautions which are very important.
"It is just a relief to be able to do full weddings again," Mrs Hall said.
"We are very thankful because the wedding industry has suffered a lot.
"The announcement today is very encouraging and there will be a lot of relieved brides, grooms and families."
Mrs Hall said The Pavilion started doing weddings again in September and bookings started significantly increasing in February.
But the venue will now be able to cater for sit down weddings for up to 300 people following Wednesday's announcement.
She said people will need to get in quick to book and confirm their weddings now especially if they are looking at a weekend this or next year.
"Today is a milestone for weddings," she said.
"It is great to be able to get back to normal in a COVID safe way."
Mrs Hall said with Kiama I Do wedding expo scheduled for May 23 it will be a great opportunity for people to come out and talk to all the suppliers again.
"The lead times on people booking weddings is a lot shorter now," she said.
Hansen and Cole funeral director Warwick Hansen said it was welcome news that was going to be an enormous help for families, who would have more choice in how they hold the funeral again.
"Funerals generally during COVID because of restrictions have been lower (in attendance) but many people have taken advantage of the streaming that has been available and I think things have changed forever to be quite honest," he said.
Mr Hansen said with people from so many cultural backgrounds Wollongong had a history of holding many large funerals so COVID-19 restrictions had caused many issues for local families.
"So this is very good news," he said.
For Hansen and Cole said no cap on numbers from Monday means more than 300 people will be able to attend funerals at its venue.
But he expects many people will still choose to watch a live stream of the service.
Especially in weather conditions like those experienced during the last week.
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