It looked like a typical wedding celebration as about 90 guests raised their glasses when the 36-year-old groom's work supervisor made a toast.

However, the glasses were filled with alcohol-free champagne at the wedding, held in the early afternoon of April 29 at Happo-en in Tokyo's Minato Ward. 

The venue was initially preparing to serve the traditional beer, sake, wine and other beverages that wedding-goers usually drink.

But after the 17-day state of emergency covering Tokyo and three other prefectures was issued on April 25, wedding venues in the capital were asked to stop serving alcohol and close their doors by 8 p.m.

The newlywed couple decided to switch all drinks to non-alcoholic versions at the suggestion of the venue's operator.

The bride and the groom set the date of their wedding last summer, expecting that the pandemic would be brought under control by spring 2021.

"We selected the beverages by ourselves, paying attention to how well they would go with the food. So we thought about serving non-alcoholic drinks that would also match the menu," said the 31-year-old bride.

Alcohol-free wedding celebrations are becoming the new norm as many venues are struggling to survive the new coronavirus pandemic, forcing their operators to adapt.

The move is aimed at complying with requests to stop serving alcohol in areas where the state of emergency or pre-emergency measures are imposed.

While non-alcoholic beverages are well-received by guests, wedding industry members say they are scrambling to find ways to sustain their businesses.

At the April 29 ceremony at Happo-en, the operator provided the best services it could under the unexpected circumstances. In addition to preparing special alcohol-free cocktails added with syrups in their theme colors, it also ordered non-alcoholic sake and other drinks.

The operator received positive responses from the guests, who said they had a chance to taste a wide variety of drinks even though some of them didn't like alcohol. 

"If it weren't for the coronavirus pandemic, this wedding ceremony wouldn't have been possible. It became a unique ceremony that is unforgettable," the groom said.

According to Happo-en, about 100 newlyweds had booked their wedding feasts between April 29, when the Golden Week string of holidays started, and May 11, when the state of emergency was initially scheduled to end.

Of these, about 10 percent postponed their dates. But the rest decided to take thorough infection prevention measures and serve non-alcoholic beverages to hold their wedding banquets as planned.

Happo-en has introduced a party plan to offer an enriched variety of alcohol-free drinks. Staffers are busy working to secure beverages, placing bulk orders with liquor stores and buying additional drinks at supermarkets to make up for shortages.

ESTIMATED LOSS OF 1 TRILLION YEN

Wedding industry members are trying their best to organize wedding banquets as they are faced with a financial predicament in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Bridal Institutional Association, the market is worth 1.4 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) annually, including expenses for banquets.

It estimates that the industry's sales were about 450 billion yen in the year ending in March 2021, losing nearly 1 trillion yen.

With an average cost of a wedding ceremony and banquet at about 3.6 million yen, the association said at least 200,000 couples were forced to delay their wedding or suffered other setbacks.

The industry was particularly affected in May last year when the first state of emergency was declared nationwide. Sales fell by about 98 percent year-on-year with an estimated decrease of about 129 billion yen.

The association added that the industry lost about 42 billion yen between January and March this year when the second state of emergency was in effect in Tokyo, Osaka and other prefectures.

Officials of Tokyo and other prefectures also asked wedding venues to stop operating karaoke equipment and close their businesses at 8 p.m. to avoid the 3Cs (confined and crowded spaces and close contact with others). They also made other requests, including asking them to finish wedding events within 90 minutes and limit the number of guests to 50 or the total number of participants to up to 50 percent of a venue's capacity.

Industry members share a strong sense of crisis.

Before the latest emergency was declared, industry officials visited the prime minister's office on April 23 to ask the government not to prohibit wedding ceremonies.

"We all now want to find a partner with whom we can have a strong bond," said famed bridal fashion designer Yumi Katsura, who also attended the meeting. "We'll rack our brains to find ways to prevent coronavirus infections even for modest ceremonies."