Mumbai, 06 June, 2020.

As India enters it’s Unlock 1.0 phase and slowly moves towards normalcy, redefined hygiene standards, minimum touch services, and enhanced credibility top customer checklists. To ensure the safety of hosts, guests and partners, OYO’s Weddingz.in,  India’s largest wedding company introduces the ‘Wz Safe’ program.

Through a holistic approach, the company is set to implement its new safety standards at its 1250+ venues in 50 cities across India. Several property-level actions will be taken to ensure customer and event staff safety. OYO’s Weddingz.in also understands that there will be drastic changes in customer needs as social distancing becomes the norm. To operate in the given circumstances, OYO’s Weddingz.in has devised a COVID-19 checklist to be implemented by Weddingz.in Venue partners:

●     Pre-event venue sanitization: All Weddingz.in venues will be sanitized before the event, including all common areas, party areas, washrooms, furniture placed across the venue among others

●     People management and sanitization of restrooms and common areas: Dedicated staff will be designated to ensure physical distancing norms in the washroom and other common areas, thereby preventing overcrowding and sanitization of all touchpoints after every use

●     Touchless entry and exit points: Implement porter service (doorman) or sensor-operated doors to enable touchless entry and exit of guests to reduce contamination and health risks

●     Sanitizer stations: All Weddingz.in venues will be equipped with sanitizer stations at multiple points including entry & exit points to ensure the regular hand-washing or hand-sanitizing for hosts, staff and guests

●     Availability of safety gear: ‘WZ safe’ venues will provide safety gear, including PPE, masks, and gloves to all on-ground employees including kitchen staff and vendors, who are required to wear it at all times during the event to ensure zero risks to guests. Staff to also go through temperature checks, follow safety protocols implemented by the company

●     Installation of the Aarogya Setu app: All staff members and vendors will mandatorily have to install the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones

●     Thermal screening of guests: To reduce health risks, all guests will be scanned for their temperature at the entry points

●     Seating as per social distancing norms: Seating arrangements at the venue will be arranged as per social distancing norms. For example, round table seating will cater to four individuals at a table. All tables will be arranged in a way that they are sic feet apart from each other

●     Food safety: To ensure the highest standard of food safety at weddings, the prep area or the kitchen will be sanitized before use. Cooks will have to follow strict instructions to wash and disinfect the procured raw materials. They are also required to wear the necessary safety gear while preparing food for an event or wedding.

●     Value-added services: Weddingz.in will also offer guests additional value-added services such as masks for all guests, sit-down butler service from a buffet, and digital payments at an additional cost. This gives consumers a choice to opt for services over and above the ones that are already a part of the package during COVID-19.

Speaking about the ‘Wz Safe’ initiative, Sandeep Lodha, CEO, OYO’s Weddingz.in said, “COVID-19 is the biggest humanitarian crisis impacting industries across the world, including the wedding sector. As we slowly take steps towards recovery, we’re also learning to co-exist with the virus by taking all the necessary precautions. Safety of our consumers, partners, and employees is our topmost priority at Weddingz.in and we’ve been working on ways to innovate and set a benchmark for the wedding industry by implementing practices that will enable us to reduce risks in a pandemic hit world. Today, I am happy to share that we are introducing ‘Wz Safe’, a program to ensure that the highest standards of hygiene, cleanliness, minimum touch SOPs, and safety precautions are followed across venues. Our dedicated venue managers will verify that the necessary protocols are followed through and delivered. Venues that clear this checklist will display a ‘Wz Safe’ tag for our consumers’ visibility on the Weddingz.in app as well as the website. We are confident that even in times like this, with such preventive and safety measures, our to-be-weds will be able to celebrate their special day with their close family and friends without any fear or apprehensions.”

Vikas Parchhanda, Head - Partner acquisition & Partner Relations added, “COVID-19 has had a huge impact on consumer behavior, with health and safety becoming the number one priority, while opting for a brand or a service. We are in the process of implementing the ‘Wz Safe’ program, which includes minimum touch SOPs, higher standards for safety and cleanliness across venues in the next couple of days. With such proactive preventive measures, we hope to not only provide safe and secure venues for every consumer but also offer a hassle-free and pleasant atmosphere for their celebrations. We would like to specially thank our venue partners who have joined forces with us to implement these policies and stand ready to host weddings.”

Additionally, to keep up with the changing times, OYO’s Weddingz.in is offering packages inclusive of key requirements such as food, DJ, photography, makeup, digital invite, LIVE streaming services for small weddings accommodating 50 or 30 people, in line with the government guidelines across some cities.