{"id":4642,"date":"2022-02-18T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/espacestudio.ca\/the-not-so-big-fat-indian-wedding\/"},"modified":"2022-02-18T03:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T08:00:00","slug":"the-not-so-big-fat-indian-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/espacestudio.ca\/en\/the-not-so-big-fat-indian-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"The not so big fat Indian wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In January, news of India\u2019s first \u201cmetaverse\u201d wedding reception went viral. As per reports, the couple from Tamil Nadu sent invites to their 2,000 guests in the form of non-fungible tokens to attend the virtual ceremony to be held at Hogwarts, or, more accurately, a digital recreation of the school of magic. This Harry Potter-themed wedding is only one example of how the wedding industry in India has changed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In January, news of India\u2019s first \u201cmetaverse\u201d wedding reception went viral. As per reports, the couple from Tamil Nadu sent invites to their 2,000 guests in the form of non-fungible tokens to attend the virtual ceremony to be held at Hogwarts, or, more accurately, a digital recreation of the school of magic. This Harry Potter-themed wedding is only one example of how the wedding industry in India has changed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

This might be an extreme case, but young couples and wedding planners across the country have had to adjust and adapt to the changing situations in a Covid-stricken world. No longer do hybrid weddings, where the majority of the guests join in via Zoom or watch a livestream of the wedding ceremony, sound strange.<\/p>\n

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Take the case of Sandipan Sarkar and Aditi Das. The Burdwan couple had to postpone their wedding, initially scheduled for August 2021, to January 2022, but while preparations for the big day were in full swing, Sarkar tested positive for Covid. Not willing to wait longer, the two decided on a hybrid wedding as soon as Sarkar recovered. Around 50 family members were invited to attend in-person and the event was livestreamed via Facebook Live and YouTube for their other guests. \u201cHaving to reduce the number of guests was difficult. My aunt and her family based in Kashmir had already booked their tickets and my friends in Bengaluru, Noida and Mumbai were looking forward to attending. I could neither dishearten them nor take the risk of crowding the venue with 350-odd guests. I felt the hybrid mode would make everyone feel included,\u201d says Sarkar. He even ensured that all the guests attending the event, physically or virtually, got a feast. He tied up with Zomato to deliver wedding meals at the doorstep of each guest.<\/p>\n

Delhi-based singer and composer Rashmi Agarwal\u2019s daughter, too, got married in Mumbai in July 2021 in a small ceremony. All the rituals were done at home with just 25 to 30 close friends and family physically present and 150-200 guests, including Rashmi\u2019s son in Singapore, joining in from different parts of the world via Zoom.<\/p>\n

The Indian wedding industry, estimated to be worth $50 billion (around Rs 3.7 lakh crore) in a 2017 KPMG report, has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The over-the-top, multi-event, four-to-five-day celebrations have given way to one-day weddings with guest lists pared down to just 50-100, depending on the limit set by each state, as opposed to 500-1,000 that was the norm. This has taken a heavy toll on the formal and informal sectors associated with the wedding industry.<\/p>\n

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