Wedding hall businesses struggle as many go minimalist   

AMMAN — The losses incurred by wedding hall proprietors in Jordan continue amid a significant decline in bookings compared with pre-pandemic years, said head of the Wedding Venues and Planning Businesses Association Mamun Al Manaseer.

“The main reason for the losses incurred by wedding hall businesses is the lack of interest of many citizens to hold weddings in the halls”, Manaseer told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Wedding halls are operating at a rate of 20 per cent, compared with the years before the pandemic, which were operating at a rate of 80 per cent, he added.

The owners of wedding halls are now holding wedding parties without making any profit, in order to sustain their employees, continue operations, and to cover a small part of the obligations, such as rents, taxes, fees, electricity bills and wages, Manaseer  noted.

“The number of wedding halls is currently in the thousands; more than 24 halls were closed after the COVID pandemic, because they were unable to pay their obligations,” he said.

Manaseer pointed out that private farms “have a major role in the collapse of the wedding hall businesses”, he said.

Amjad Adel, soon-to-be married, told The Jordan Times that he decided to hold a small wedding at his family house to the save for traveling for a honeymoon.

“I think it’s a waste of money to pay JD2,000-JD3,000 and sometimes much more for a wedding hall that lasts for couple of hours,” he said.

“I prefer holding the wedding at a farm as it’s summer,” he added

Bassam Yousef, a wedding hall employee in Amman’s Tabarbour neighbourhood, said the situation is “tough”.

“I believe people changed their habits after the pandemic. Not many are interested in hosting weddings in halls. People have other priorities now as the cost of living is high and they want to use money for something else,” Yousef added.