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Pandemic takes heavy toll on Island caterers, DJs, limo firms and wedding venues

Rick Scheffers used to tell his wife their business was recession-proof.
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Fewer and smaller weddings are taking a heavy toll on limousine, DJ and catering services.

Rick Scheffers used to tell his wife their business was recession-proof. In his 30 years running a Nanaimo-based DJ company, RSM Productions, Scheffers saw that even during economic slowdowns, people still hire DJs for weddings, school dances, anniversary parties and conferences.

“So I always said: ‘We’re recession proof, there’s nothing that’s going to take us down.’ And then of course, [the COVID-19 pandemic] happens and we’re shocked. It’s like, what just happened here?” said Scheffers.

As health restrictions limit gatherings to 50 people or fewer and dance floors are verboten, many brides and grooms are opting for small backyard weddings, which has been devastating for the wedding industry.

Caterers, DJs, limo companies and wedding venues are desperately hoping for a banner year next year. If there’s no vaccine and limits on gatherings are still in place, some wedding vendors fear they could go under.

Scheffers said his last large event was March 11 and shortly after that, B.C. declared a state of emergency that “wiped out” the rest of his bookings. The company had about 150 weddings booked for 2020 and 90 per cent of them have rebooked for next year.

About nine people had kept their DJ bookings for smaller wedding receptions, but on July 22, when provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a crackdown on dance floors amid rising COVID-19 numbers, “I turned to my wife and said: There goes the rest of them.”

Scheffers is renting out inflatable backyard movie screens to bring in a bit of revenue, but it’s a fraction of his usual income.

He also owns the Vancouver Island Dream Wedding Show, an annual trade show in Pearkes Recreation Centre that rents booths to hairstylists, bartending services, caterers, photographers and decorating services.

“We’re in the wedding industry deep.”

He has been gauging interest for the wedding show next winter, but many vendors said they can’t commit to a booth because they have no idea where their business will be in a few months.

“The consensus is everything is put on hold and we’re just cancelling 2020 and 2021 is going to be a great year. We hope.”

Nicolas Waters, chef and owner of Toque Catering, is skeptical that sales next year will make up for the loss of the majority of his catering gigs for 2020. No weddings, anniversaries, conferences or business lunches means Waters has lost millions in sales.

Waters is frustrated that the government has done little for the wedding industry other than dish out loans that have to be paid back. In March and April, Toque was offering frozen family meals people could heat up at home, but when restaurants reopened, much of that business dried up. The catering company is doing some small weddings of fewer than 40 people.

Waters said many catering companies pre-buy certain products in the winter, so he’s left with an oversupply of food. He also feels for the independent farmers who rely on catering companies and farm-to-table restaurants to buy their produce and meat.

“We can only take a fraction of what we normally buy, but we’re still trying to take more than we should. I have to help support these guys,” he said.

Waters said he’s taking everything day by day because the future is so uncertain.

“That’s all you can do is try and break even,” he said.

Nikki Sequeira, a spokeswoman for Bilston Creek Farm, a popular wedding venue in Metchosin, said the company had just hired new staff and launched a catering business in the spring when COVID-19 hit.

“It was looking to be a dire summer,” she said. Some couples went ahead with small 10-person weddings on the farm, but most rebooked for next year. The farm started offering wood-fired pizza and outdoor picnics and promoted its line of hand sanitizer, honey and soap made with lavendar grown on the farm.

“It’s great to see how many people are supporting local this year,” Sequeira said. “That’s been a lifeline.”

Kyara Kahakauwila, owner of L.A. Limousines and Transportation, said she and her husband, Edison, have never seen anything hit their industry like the global pandemic. Graduation ceremonies, where dolled-up grads pack into limos or party buses, were cancelled and weddings were postponed.

The company has also taken a huge hit to its corporate travel service, with just a trickle of flights coming into Victoria International Airport and no cruise-ship passengers.

“Our biggest season runs from April to September. So we were coming off of the slow season, ramping up for the wedding season and we had the rug pulled out from underneath us,” Kahakauwila said.

The company is still doing some commercial travel business, with COVID policies limiting the number of people in a vehicle. Drivers wear masks and gloves and passengers are provided with hand sanitizer and a mask.

As for all the weddings postponed to 2021, Kahakauwila is anticipating a lot of weekday weddings, since double the number of weddings is likely on the horizon if restrictions on large gatherings are lifted next year.

Even with hopes high for next year, Kahakauwila estimates it will take five years to get back to the level of business the company was doing before the pandemic.

“Within the wedding industry, within the events industry, within the tourism industry, we’re looking at a really long road to recovery.”

kderosa@timescolonist.com