BUFFALO, N.Y. — When you think of a wedding, the first thing you probably think of is the couple who is celebrating a huge milestone in their relationship. There's also several others who rely on that big day for their livelihoods and who are greatly impacted by not being able to get back to business as usual.
"This was going to be our biggest year in the last five years and this was actually our twentieth year in business and now where we would normally be doing 20-30 events a week, now we're doing nothing," said Jeff Toy, a local DJ.
He says every day, his DJ business, Toy Brothers Entertainment, gets phone calls from couples either pushing their wedding dates or canceling it altogether.
With no business, Toy says he has about 30 employees who have been out of work for months.
"The big rumor right now is that you can have weddings up to 50 people but you can't dance. You can't celebrate," he said.
When 2 On Your Side reached out to Gov. Cuomo's office about when wedding venues and reception halls will be able to reopen, a spokesperson there only said "a gathering is limited to 50 people."
Toy says it's not very much clarity from the state.
All he and others in the industry want it a timeline and some guidance. Without one, they say it's creating a trickle effect.
"That's a very difficult thing to plan. As photographers, we're affected by the venues. If a place cannot hold a wedding, people can't get married. We can't photograph it obviously," said David Wozniak, a wedding photographer.
Wozniak has owned Wozniak Photography in Lancaster for more than 40 years and says he should be alright because of the reputation his business has built.
The same can't be said for new photographers though.
"I feel bad for the studios that have just opened or people who are just starting in this. It's a difficult river to navigate when you have no direction as far as where it's going in the future," Wozniak said.
While the wedding industry remains in limbo, so do gym owners' futures.
Toy also owns Core Capacity and Transformation, which has five locations across the Western New York region.
"We're being forced to shut down and I understand there's a pandemic, but we're not being given any guidance so it's not giving our consumers any word of wisdom to say alright, there's an end in sight," Toy said.
A spokesperson for the governor's office says the state is working on additional guidance for weddings, adding that people should wear masks when they aren't able to practice social distancing.
As for gyms, 2 On Your Side is told they are undergoing further study right now.