Big, long drawn weddings are a thing of the past, at least for the moment. This wedding season, couples are increasingly embracing the concept of small and intimate weddings, but in a grand way. With restrictions on guest lists, there’s a rising trend among the to-be-weds for exotic locations - couples are either heading for the hills or opting for grand palace weddings across Rajasthan.
“The reduction in the guest list has significantly brought down the wedding costs, allowing the couple to either save or spend on much better venues and destinations, in comparison to pre-covid days,” says Sandeep Lodha, CEO, OYO’s Weddingz.in.
“We’re seeing an upswing in destination weddings since Unlock 4.0, wherein couples are aspiring to tie the knot at exotic locations like palaces, beachside venues, outdoor farms or even in-city affordable resorts. Places like Goa, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Indore are some of the preferred locations this season,” he adds. Couples who don’t want to travel out of city are opting for open air venues like farmhouses and resorts.
Trousseau & Jewellery
There is cost cutting on t rous s eau and jewellery too. In place of heavy leheng as and shervan is , brides and grooms are going in for simpler options. “With small gatherings, not much is being invested in clothes and people prefer basic designs.
Men are going for Western suits and foregoing heavily embroidered traditional Indian garments,” says Bharat Ahuja, Desire Design Studio. Minimal, lightweight gold and diamonds are the mantra this season, say jewellery designers, though a number of girls are also going in for goldplated silver jewellery which look equally regal. “Earlier, brides would wear bulky heavy jewellery.
But now they are going in for single sets in cleaner designs,” say jewellery designer Archana Aggarwal. “Sterling silver crafted in American diamonds is in big demand these days - silver being cheaper than gold,” puts in Namrata Yadav, Maniram Jewellers.
Live streaming
Live streaming marriages on Zoom and FB is a new trend that has caught up with many couples. “Couples are embracing technology and the concept of streaming events and multi video conferencing tools to ensure extended family can participate virtually,” says Lodha. Agrees Faridabad’s Kavita Sharma, “I have a huge circle of friends, and my relatives are spread all over India. If it wasn’t for COVID, they all would have come. They wanted to attend, even I wanted them to be a part of my happiness. So, going live on Facebook seemed best to me.”
Court Marriages
There is an equal number of couples who are settling for court marriages and will have big fat weddings when the corona scare is over. “Our wedding date was fixed a year in advance by the family guruji. Both of us and our families are great believers in muhurats so we didn’t want to forego that. We had a court marriage on the exact date and time,” says Hitesh Kuhar. “But once all this is over, we would surely have all the functions in the traditional setting too,” puts in his bride Jaspram Ghuman. The big fat Indian wedding is going nowhere out of fashion. Stalled temporarily: yes. But, out completely: a big NO!
Reveals of a study
As per the Global Covid 19 Wedding Report released by the wedding tech company The Knot Worldwide, 23 per cent couples have cancelled wedding receptions, and in 90 per cent cases weddings are happening only amid immediate family. About 25 per cent would want guests to be tested ahead, while 75 per cent will be conducting temperature checks. Everyone then is playing it safe.
KEEP IT LIGHT
From traditional to more contemporary wear, brides want to keep their jewellery understated in
the Post-COVID era as seen below