The Indian wedding is bigger and fatter than ever. It doesn’t have to be. But who’s gonna tell their folks?
Looks like the Indian wedding has gained back all the calories it shed in the pandemic. It’s big and fat once again. Delayed engagement parties have made up for lost time with extra frills. Matches were fixed after it finally became safe to go out again. In November and December 2022 alone, Indians spent INR3.75 lakh crore on weddings. Hosts and guests attended so many rokas, roces, haldis, hennas, sangeets, bachelor parties, nuptials, nikaahs, destination receptions, and chauthis, it was anyone could see on Instagram.
Save the rituals for close friends and family. Only the reception party should have the big crowd. (Shutterstock)
What we need more of: Hands that don’t merely applaud, but reach out and help to make a big day special. (Shutterstock)
Multi-cultural couples are finding weddings tricky, often incorporating two of every ceremony to please the families on both sides. Amrusha Shah, a Gujarati, grew up in Toronto, Canada, and is settled in Ohio, USA. She married Ramakrishnan, a Tamilian in May. Prep began eight months before the big day. “Being from different backgrounds, there was so much discussion even before we started the planning,” she recalls. They even made adjustments to the main wedding ceremony by piecing up elements from each style of wedding: The traditional Tamil Kashi Yatra ceremony was fused with the tying of the knot in the Gujarati style.