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Florists, venues see weddings, corporate events cancel

By Amy Phelps 5 min read

PARKERSBURG --While the COVID-19 virus brings the world to a halt, many businesses are feeling the effects. One especially impacted has been the weddings and corporate events industry, including venues and florists.

Keith McClung, owner of Crown Florals, said so far he has had one wedding that may possibly postpone. "It is in state but not local. The CDC told the venue it wanted it free of people for eight weeks. The venue has made the option to the bridal party to keep the date or move the date," he said. "They are still deciding."

McClung said while that has been the only cancellation on the wedding front, his corporate events have taken the brunt of the virus impact.

"We are seeing events that were planned, like St. Patrick's Day, totally canceled. We had a couple of corporations doing employee motivational events postponing," McClung said. "In the last week, we had eight events cancel, and all but one will reschedule."

"They wanted to be safer than sorry, in some cases, the employees were traveling in from out of town to attend," he said.

Cienna Van Dyke of Grand Pointe Event Center said they have had six complete cancellations so far for events and eight postponements. None have been weddings.

"Grand Pointe typically hosts four or more events a week and we are accustomed to always having people in our facility," she said. "With all of the cancellations, we have the opportunity to spend time planning future events. We're also installing a brand new sound system."

As a key player in the event industry, McClung said his company will be flexible and make it work with their clients. "They are not losing deposits, we are working together."

He said his own business had to cancel an event. "We do a quarterly wine and design floral class, and we canceled it because there would have been about 50 people."

While he is glad to have them reschedule, the impact on the store is still felt. "We had already ordered flowers for these events and they are on their way. We can repurpose the flowers in our day-to-day work, though."

Van Dyke said the venue usually orders product for their events a week in advance, so they haven't lost too much. "We are blessed to work with some fantastic vendors who understand the situation. We were proactive in reaching out to the customers of upcoming events and allowing them to cancel with no cancellation fee, so that allowed us to avoid ordering unnecessarily. "

McClung said the funeral industry is the backbone of his business, and has remained unchanged at this time. "The event side is still a very strong part. And we have a large gift shop as well, and we have really felt this 'hysteria and hibernation' as I call it."

"I've told my employees' lets not be consumed, but let's be concerned."

He said their flower suppliers have many acres of flowers harvested that are being destroyed because the event industry has been canceled and there is nothing to be done with the unneeded flowers. The wholesalers he works with have been cautious with orders, but haven't had issues shipping needed items.

During this time of social isolation, McClung has done his best to reach out to other small businesses. "Today we got online and promoted the business on social media, and then created cookie gift bags to give to small businesses just to say, 'Hang in there, we are all in this together, you're not alone.'

"Hopefully this will all blow over soon."

Van Dyke said the venue worries for their employees and serving all of their clients. "We are concerned for employees who work only when we have events. We hate the thought of them not having work. Our main concern going forward is for our clients that need to postpone, but have not selected a date to do so. We only have so many dates available and we do not want to turn anyone away. The timing of this event is so uncertain that we are all in a holding pattern with regard to future bookings. We are booking up quickly for the summer and fall, but have room for more. We will all get through this difficult time together as a community."

McClung expressed frustration with the unclearness of the situation. "I think with so many vehicles to receive the message, it has caused hysteria and mass confusion. As an owner of a small business, I have questions and my employees have questions. If we are ordered to close, will they still get paid? How will I pay them? How will I continue to pay my bills? Can I still operate behind-the-scenes? My employees are worried about their future employment. There are a lot of unanswered questions and it's hard to find a direct connection to accurate information. Where are the true answers for small businesses?"

"How do we continue to make a living?"

Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com.

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