In Public Comments at the July 10 Planning meeting, Bed & Breakfast owner Bob Jasinski stated the definition in a Merriam-Webster Dictionary for a wedding states it is a ceremony followed by festivities, meaning a reception. He added language in City Code also seems to allow receptions as part of a wedding.
When the commission got its turn, Doug Breitling suggested their definition of a wedding should include a reception with certain limits of what a reception would be. He started with a relatively simple cake-and punch reception, nothing lasting longer than an hour or so, and with only those who attended the wedding ceremony. Certainly not a sit-down dinner. He figured a definition with those terms would cover 98 percent of the receptions that happen in town and make life simpler for those who perform weddings.
Commissioner Susan Harman said the problems might start when events move outside. Breitling said the way Code is written now, a reception cannot follow a wedding. Plus, weddings are sometimes held at Bed & Breakfasts, and B&B are supposed to serve breakfasts only. “We must update language in the Code,” he said.
Commissioner Woodie Acord responded he did not see why the same parking requirements would not apply to weddings and receptions. There cannot be more people at a wedding or reception than there is parking for unless they are shuttled in.
Harman then suggested they arrive at parking requirements and other particulars for private events as distinguished from a reception. She suggested a permit process with a list all the requirements on an application. Acord saw a private event as being very similar to a reception. Breitling even proposed the definition of a private event could be an event not defined anywhere else in Code. If the particular definitions were strengthened, then a private event would be the catchall term for the rest.
Chair Melissa Greene said for the next meeting, Breitling would work on a definition for a wedding establishment and City Economic Development director Glenna Booth would provide a current list of the wedding establishments in town.