Call for amendment to wedding laws as Wedding Expo launched

There is a resounding call for the Government of Guyana to amend existing laws as it relates to persons getting married in Guyana to make the process easier and hassle free.

Captain Gerry Gouveia, the founder of Wedding Expo Guyana stated that instead of having to be in the country 14 days prior to getting married.

He was at the time speaking at the launch of the 8^th Annual Wedding Expo at Duke Lodge in Georgetown.

“Change the legislation…You cannot have a legislation that says people must come here two weeks before they get married…We need to change the legislation,” said Gouveia.

He said that amending the legislation will provide a better landscape for local stakeholders to operate in.

“Wedding expo is about small business but its also about big businesses…We have seen peoples businesses grow from small businesses to busy businesses,” he said switching gears.

Tourism Minister Kathy Hughes for her part stated that the already the process has started to amend the legislation and stakeholders can look forward to such in the near future.

“I am on to that already,” she stated adding “there are some fundamental legislation that have to come to the parliament in this first quarter,” hence it will not be among that batch.

The Minister indicated that steps are being taken to offer a foreign couple a free vacation in Guyana via one of the more popular television shows. Such a vacation might take the form of a wedding.

Meanwhile, she indicated that “wedding expo has grown like a good marriage. It had matured with time, expanded into new areas and it has stood strong.”

She urged that entrepreneurs take advantage of the opportunities offered to them via wedding expo and similar events.

“One of the things that really surprise me was that the fact there are a series of financial opportunities that Guyanese do not take advantage of…We need to recognize that quite often we don't do the necessary, getting up, getting that business plan in place and get going,” she stated.