New Caledonia crisis: Couples face many restrictions on marriage

On Friday, August 9, Sandrine and Laurent said “yes” to each other for life in front of a very small audience. Because if the date of their union, decided a year ago, had not changed, everything else had been turned upside down by the crisis: the location and time of the reception and – unfortunately – the number of guests. “There were supposed to be seven people from Metropolis, but our reception was supposed to have over 70 people, and we found ourselves with 30 people.” The bride was filled with emotion.

The icing on the cake (for the bride and groom) was that the wedding organizers left the territory. Sandrine had to urgently find several service providers, including Cyril, and was happy to get this cosmetics during this difficult period. “I’m lucky that not many weddings have been cancelled but postponed.” She explained. Normally, his diary would fill up quickly, until the end of the year or even next year, but this was not the case at the moment.

For Leslie, her schedule was also very empty, she was a wedding photographer who was forced to become a saleswoman. In three months, it lost about 60 Japanese customers and about 10 local customers, and the remaining customers were reducing their budgets.

We will be down to a quarter of the daily rate. Looking ahead more than two weeks is complicated.

Leslie, Professional Photographer

Wedding planners are also facing cascading cancellations. Typically, Audrey hosts four weddings a month from June to December and has a staff of two, but that was before May 13. “The most complicated thing today was reassuring our bride and groom” The young woman explained.

Results for the city of Noumea alone: ​​260 marriages will take place in 2023, compared to 193 this year.

Reporting by Carolyn Antique-Martin and Gail DeCheverry.