As we are progressing as a nation, the custom of weddings happening in a traditional fashion is gradually fading away as youngsters these days don’t want to stick to the cliché system of marriages. As a result, we are leaving some traditions behind and adopting some new ones. However, there is one aspect of Indian weddings which, instead of taking a back seat is rather increasing day by day and that is – Huge expenses on the wedding. As per majority of Indian families, weddings call for extravagance and show off and that digs a whole in one’s pocket. From the groom’s entry till vidaayi, every small thing, if done in a fancy manner would inevitably require huge sums of money. It is time that people should understand that instead of spending their hard earned money to please hundreds of relatives who will hardly show up once the wedding is over, they should save it as well as invest wisely to secure their future.
There are different ways to do it –
Excessive give and take, just get over with it
Starting from the boy’s distant aunty to the girl’s distant cousin, everyone suddenly becomes eligible for a gift on the wedding day as if it is a token of appreciation for taking the effort to come to the wedding. Giving gifts to near and dear one’s isn’t wrong but the practice of giving ostentatious items to relatives just out of obligation isn’t a good idea as it forms a considerable portion of wedding expenses. Instead, put that money to some better use. Simply treating your guests with respect is good enough, so why such extravagance, is that even required?
Don’t just pick anything that is on the shelf
This is important from a girl’s perspective as shopping is the primary task for a girl when it comes to her wedding. Therefore, it is important for her to know from where and exactly what to buy as well as in what quantity. Don’t just pick anything that you find attractive, just buy what you feel is going to be useful, do buy in sufficient quantity but don’t go overboard, E.g. Don’t buy too many fancy clothes, you might not find enough occasions to wear them; you are going to a different house after marriage, not to a beauty pageant, so stay easy! Also, don’t fall prey to the tactics of shopkeepers who just try to sell stuff by saying – Marriage is once in a lifetime affair, rather make a list of what exactly you need to buy and then the list of places from where you can get it at the best possible price, you can actually save some more pennies to put in your honeymoon budget (Now that sounds interesting, isn’t it!)
Extremely swanky decoration
Grandeur of a place plays an important role in deciding the look and feel of it. As a host, I am sure you want your guests to feel comfortable as well as admire the wedding venue but if you end up spending huge amount only in enhancing the decor of your venue, while ignoring the rudimentary aspects such as food and hospitality then your effort and money will go waste. A very basic and tidy decoration is good enough to give a rich look to your wedding venue so you need not pour oodles of cash into those orchids and roses
Too many ceremonies
It is your wedding and not a 5 day event so you need not spend too much just to organize a separate function for every ritual. If you go back some 15-20 years, you would recall that some of the small ceremonies use to take place at home itself which was absolutely alright. So, organizing separate functions at a large scale for small ceremonies like mehendi, haldi, and roka isn’t really important. If not all then try to limit yourself to less number of people for some small ceremonies so that you can peacefully attend to them, while spending less
Cut down on the guest list, a bit
Well, that is a task as you want all your near and dear people to be available on your big day. However, calling some nagging relatives, just to satisfy their ego is surely not going to make you happy then what is the point in doing that. Instead of inviting that grumpy Bua or Chacha , just stick to limited number of people who are close ones and who would be genuinely happy to be a part of your precious day
So if you feel that cutting down on wedding expenses is something unachievable then just take into consideration the above mentioned hacks.
