The past three months have tested many business owners, including celebrant Michael Bourke, who has found the lockdown this year harder than last year.

"It's pretty much wiped the whole wedding industry out for the last three months," Mr Bourke said.

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The lockdown had seen about 27 weddings he had booked postponed, he said, but there was no guarantee he would get this work back, given the difficulties in lining up all necessary vendors - such as venues, caterers, and hairdressers - for a new date.

"If I can move at least half of them, I'll consider myself lucky," Mr Bourke said.

Mr Bourke also provides funeral services but has seen them drop off too as a result of lockdown.

Even with restrictions easing next week, he said many people were not choosing to celebrate their weddings straight away, due to the caps on guests and the ban on unvaccinated attendees until December.

"Money-wise, it's crucified me," Mr Bourke said.

"It's not a business where you can go and make that money back.

"That's the same of a lot of industries."

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He felt especially bad for the couples who had lost out, he said, and looked forward to regaining "some sort of normality".

Mark Horsley, co-owner of Leisure Coast Limousines, described the lockdown as "hell all over again".

Mr Horsley said the family-owned business had lost 97 per cent of its revenue.

But the impact goes further than financial strain.

"To put your heart and soul into something... your family's done for 30 years, to have one or two phone calls a day - that's heartbreaking," Mr Horsley said.

He said they had only managed to stay afloat through government assistance, dipping into superannuation, and selling assets.

While they do some weddings, the business mostly relies on airport transfers.

Mr Horsley said they would usually be busy with people returning from holidays at this time of year, while international university students also provided business.

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The changes next week would not make much of a difference, he said, with restrictions on travel largely remaining in place.

He said people also needed time to regain their confidence in travel, and he did not expect things to begin picking up until December.

But Mr Horsley - an ambassador for the #vaxtheillawarra campaign - said every person who got vaccinated was a "tick in the box" towards reviving that confidence.

Just over 64 per cent of people aged 15 and over in the Illawarra have had two doses of the vaccine, Commonwealth health data shows, while 88.1 per cent have had at least one.

In NSW, 88.4 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of the vaccine, and 67.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

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