The Hindu Business Line : No slowdown for the big day

The big Indian wedding is not getting self-conscious in the face of economic slowdown. Wedding celebrations have continued in full glory, if you can overlook an orchid less here, or a solitaire lighter by a carat or two there.

Take the Rs 1-crore tent or shamiana, which led one impressed guest to comment, “I don’t know if I should even be calling it a tent.” With yarns and yarns of brocade and velvet winding their way around crystal chandeliers, the “tent” hosted 1,000-odd guests. Wedding planners in Delhi shrug it off; an average wedding tent for a gareeb raiiz (translated literally it’s poor-rich, or nouveau rich) costs Rs 25 lakh.

For the truly rich, there’s no cutting corners. “When you are spending upwards of Rs 5 crore you won’t be counting your pennies,” explains Rathika Seth, Communications Head at the wedding consultancy Vivaha. If the slowdown has had an effect, it’s a positive one. For a change, wedding spends aren’t overshooting budgets.

“Budgets are certainly tighter,” agrees Vidya Singh, who along with Rekha Rangaraj runs the Chennai-based wedding consultancy Samyog. In her experience, less is being spent on decorations, invitations and return gifts. Or, maybe not. A Delhi baraat was gifted 21 Honda City cars for milan, the traditional Punjabi welcome.

Indian weddings being the elaborate affairs that they are, last-minute adjustments are hard to make, says Tejwant Singh Lamba, Director, Talent Abuzz Entertainment. The fixed component of a wedding, such as the catering or entertainment, is generally booked 6-8 months in advance. Performers such as Sonu Niigaam (Rs 25-30 lakh for an evening) or Daler Mehndi (Rs 15 lakh) are much in demand; any revision of budgets is more likely to affect Bollwood stars, who can charge ten times as much. Constrained by shooting schedules they can commit only a fortnight before.

While Latin crooner Ricky Martin was flown in to Rajasthan last year, according to Lamba the “in” thing this year is to have globetrotting DJs such as Paul Oakenfold and Tiesto spinning at pre-wedding parties. There are a few takers for trance music. “What people see in the news or on TV shows is what they want. Which is why actresses like Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu — the favourite at awards shows — are much in demand,” says Lamba. The biggest of the actors reportedly charges Rs 2.5 crore, and there’s the additional cost of hosting the entourage too.

Personal expenses are not being compromised on either, says design consultant Ratna Jain, whose ‘Tantra’ bridal wear ranges from Rs 68,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh. This year she’s working on pleated raw silk cut in the style of the ‘meklha’ or Assam-style skirt and shawl sarees. It’s a slimmer silhouette. Sometimes she sprinkles semi-precious stones on the zardosi borders.

Brides these days are demanding; they want chic Parisian fits with gorgeous Indian embroideries, complains couturier Tarun Tahiliani. “What slowdown? I am told even men are spending Rs 25 lakh on sherwanis,” he says. “It’s taken me years to realise that my clientele consist of the super-rich. It makes no difference to them. The Mumbai tragedy has been a bit of a mood dampener though,” he adds.

This has proved particularly true for Goa’s wedding planners. Nearly half of the international bookings at Ranjan Pattanayak’s firm, Wedding Planners Goa, have been cancelled. Pattanayak charges Rs 3-4 lakh on average for a beach wedding. It doesn’t cover the travel and accommodation costs of the wedding party (about 20-25 people; 100-150 if the bride and groom are NRIs).

Goa’s reputation as a popular honeymoon destination for Indians has also taken a hit. “It’s really not the same when you have bunkers on the beach with commandoes in full gear,” Pattanayak points out. In Chennai, Samyog’s Vidya also sees a heightened need for elaborate security arrangements. It now takes an inordinate amount of time for the wedding party to enter hotels. And gifts are to be left outside.

For the planners, costs have mounted on all fronts including labour. Some like Pattanayak who have a full-fledged production are protected to an extent. “But even jasmine, irreplaceable in any southern wedding, is at Rs 1,000 a kg in the wholesale market, lilies cost Rs 20-35 a piece," points out Vidya.