LETHBRIDGE After navigating ever-changing restrictions for more than a year, the race is on for couples eager to tie the knot in Alberta. July 1 marks the first time since March 2020 that the province will no longer have any restrictions on both indoor and outdoor gatherings. With Stage 3 of the province s Open for Summer plan set to come into effect Thursday, the wedding industry is booming in southern Alberta. Before, it was a lot of long-term planning of six months to a year in advance, said Flowers on 9th owner Sharon Ulrich. We would usually have time to figure things out like, where we re going to source the flowers from, but now it s just immediate.