By Bill Zaruka, CEO
Date Posted: March 26 2020
This is a difficult time across the globe. None of us has ever encountered anything like this in our lifetimes. While we are all experiencing considerable uncertainty and volatility, it is heartening to see so much support and solidarity across the hospitality and event industries.
Today, we are sharing how the coronavirus crisis has affected our company. We are fortunate: before the crisis hit, we were already benefiting from a successful 2020, and our company culture has always been collaborative and supportive. However, that does not make navigating through this situation easy. All near-term social gatherings have been postponed under guidance from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nationwide, groups are restricted to fewer than ten people, and we are all learning new social distancing protocols.
We have faced stark choices.
- Virtually all of our cherished and dedicated sales, service and culinary teams are on furlough.
To provide support, we have committed to continuing their benefits and we are creating an emergency fund for those who need extra help beyond the welcome federal assistance. We are a family business, formed in 1986 by my father, John Zaruka. He and I have pledged to halt all compensation until this crisis is behind us. - Our valued clients who planned to celebrate their weddings and events this spring have needed to postpone, which has created unforeseen disruption.
To support our clients, we are doing all we can to make rescheduling simple and pain-free. Our team members who are still working have done so tirelessly: contacting and comforting every client and working with each to identify a great solution in an unprecedented situation. - Our esteemed vendor-partners, who are like family, no longer know when they will next be able to work.
To support our industry, we are doing everything we can to ensure that Wedgewood Weddings is around for the long haul. We have so many suppliers and partners who depend on us for their livelihood. While prioritizing everyone’s health and safety, we feel an obligation to lead through adversity and we will not be diminished.
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We encourage you to do all you can to help your neighbors and protect yourselves. Postponing events for a season is tough for everybody. We thank everyone who is supporting Wedgewood Weddings, especially our clients who have accepted the situation with extraordinary grace.
We will come through this stronger, having learned valuable lessons that we will apply as we move forward. We are committed to our communities and will do all that we can to help them remain safe and well.
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