WEDDING venue bosses have spoken of their delight after serving couples again for the first time in over a year amid the pandemic.

Hospitality businesses were forced to shut last year after coronavirus cases struck the UK, with owners and workers left struggling.

But in June, the government announced there will not be an restrictions on the number of people who can attend weddings.

Venues must make sure social distancing measures remain in place though.

Although there is no limits on guests numbers, indoor dance floors must remain out of action under the current restrictions.

Mark Hopkins runs The Stables Wedding Farm in Delph, which also offers rooms, with his wife Deborah after opening it in August 2019.

Due to the restrictions, they have only just hosted their first wedding.

Mark said: "We held our first wedding on July 17 and it was fantastic, it was very well attended.

"It went very well and we made sure we had Covid rules in place.

"The bride and groom were over the moon.

"The couple who got married are from Delph so it was nice to have a wedding with local people."

The Stables is also getting ready to welcome more weddings with a yoga wellbeing festival set to take place in the coming months.

Manager of Werneth Suite on Manchester Road in Oldham, Imran Zafar, is glad to be back open as well.

But he has noticed that there are not many bookings too far ahead with some couples unsure of making plans given the unpredictable nature of the health crisis.

Imran said: "We are quite busy at the moment.

"We have got weddings booked in until October.

"There are still concerns over the number of Covid cases though and some people are still worried about it because the situation is so uncertain."