The Story Of An Emergency Marriage Couple In India, Will It Be A New Trend?

Ilustrasi foto (Wu Jianxiong/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Many wedding receptions in India have been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. But some couples, get around this by juggling a big wedding plan, become simpler and more intimate. Will this trend become the new normal in India?

The story of the cancellation of the magnificent wedding reception came from the couple Nitin Arora and Chaitali Puri. The two lovebirds who have been in a relationship since last year are planning to get married in May. However pagebluk shifted their destiny.

Quoting the BBC, the series of events they had put together were initially smooth. In March, they started with a proposal party. A total of 170 invited guests attended the party which was held at a luxury club, in the city of Chandigarh. White and green flowers decorate the room. Do not forget the flickering lights that also keep pace with the dance music, adding to the excitement.

"It was a Punjabi event," said Chaitali. "Drinking alcohol, abundant food, loud and crazy music. We danced all night, the only breaks were when the DJ was gone," he said.

The party is still a small part of the main event: the wedding reception. The plan is for a reception to be held on May 2 at a spacious resort that has been booked for three days. All musical events, dances and several other rituals can be imagined.

The ritual of crossing the holy fire for the bride and groom is scheduled to take place on a hill near the resort. The place was deliberately chosen to take the moment of the sunset. Really imagine how beautiful it is right?

Meanwhile, 450 laws are ready to be distributed. For the food itself, there will be 10 menus with four different cooking styles. Meanwhile, to enliven music events, a DJ has been ordered for the after party.

Not only that, wedding attire in the form of a red silk skirt, bride's blouse and scarf, and men's clothing made especially for men, complete with jewelry, have also been ordered.

Approaching the wedding

Anxiety began to haunt the young couple when the Indian government announced the key policy on March 24. They hope that pagebluk will be over soon.

However, the signs of the removal of the key do not appear until April 15. And they decided to postpone the wedding until November.

Until D-1 corona it doesn't stop. They begin to doubt whether the marriage will continue to be carried out accordingly or delay it.

Nitin chose to go forward. "On May 1, my father got a call from a friend who said he could help arrange a curfew for us to travel from Chandigarh to Delhi if I still wanted to marry Chaitali on May 2," Nitin said.

Attempts to break through the City had encountered obstacles. But suddenly on the afternoon of May 1, Nitin managed to get a permit.

"We then had to find a priest to perform the ceremony. Our local pastor first said yes, then he said no because his children were worried about the virus. We finally found another pastor at 7.30pm," Chaitali said.

The next day, Nitin arrived in Delhi with his parents and brother. The pastor arrived at 10.30am and the wedding started half an hour later.

The wedding finally took place quite simply but seemed more intimate because it was only attended by the closest people. "My living room became a wedding venue, I wore my mother's sari and my grandmother's jewelery, the photos were taken by Nitin's brother and we had a potluck lunch," said Chaitali.

In total only 16 people attended the wedding. Teleconferencing videos are conducted via the Zoom app so that close friends and family can watch from a distance. Although the couple admitted to feeling sad, they were still grateful.

Not the only one

Chaitali and Nitin weren't the only couple who got married during the morning. His joy, Venkataraman and Shanthu Jacob Paul experienced the same thing.

They married at the Registrar's Office, which was witnessed only by the mother of the bride and the uncles and aunts of the groom. Whereas previously they wanted to hold receptions on the beaches of Chennai and Bangalore. They had at least estimated that they would invite 200 guests.

"I've always wanted to dress like a bride, I wanted to wear a deep red silk sari, straighten my hair and put the henna ornaments on my hands," she said. But eventually she made her own henna and wore the white and gold sari that Shantu had given her two years ago.

The committee of the event was recruited alakadarly. The groom's uncle became a photographer, while his aunt broadcast a teleconference video via the Zoom app so that relatives and distant relatives could watch their wedding.

"I'm quite satisfied. I like the idea of a wedding that is much more personal, intimate, but my husband has a lot of regrets, he has a guest list," she said.

India's renowned wedding designer Vandana Mohan told the BBC he advised all weddings to be postponed next year. "I have advised all my clients to move their wedding schedule from April to May next year and they have all agreed to wait," said Mohan.

Mohan says he gets a lot of questions whether by the end of the year people can get married or not. But he still encouraged couples not to plan anything before mid-October as most people want to invite as many as 250 to 300 guests. In fact, the restrictions only allow them to invite 50 people to attend the wedding.

As is well known, the wedding industry is one of the largest in this country. Approximately more than 10 million marriages occur each year. The research accounting firm KPMG estimates the wedding sector cake to be more than 50 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile Kuncitara has hit the sector. however, it is predicted to recover quickly as marriage is an integral part of Indian culture.