Highlights
- Indian-Australian families modify wedding plans according to COVID restrictions
- Government coronavirus restrictions take financial toll on wedding planning businesses
- ‘Indian weddings bigger, costlier than average Australian wedding, hence tough to rearrange’: Indian food caterer
Adhira Razdan and Pralabh Gupta got engaged last year after a few years of dating and decided to tie the knot in a big and traditional Indian way. Both born in Melbourne to Indian parents, have been assisting their families to plan and prepare for their big day scheduled next month.
“We are all set to take this big step but it all depends upon COVID restrictions in force on that day. Anything can change last minute and we are up for it,” the couple told SBS Hindi as they prepare for their wedding on 30 July.
Many couples like them are either holding off their wedding plans for a future date or are trimming their big plans to smaller gatherings, with fewer pre-wedding functions in line with COVID rules.
Dr Anjali Razdan, the mother of the bride, said the family has invited 500 guests for the wedding which will be followed by a lavish reception with other pre-and-post wedding rituals to boot. The celebrations are scheduled to begin on 18 July with several pre-wedding functions to be hosted by both sides of the family.
“We have booked all venues accordingly in line with COVID rules, prepared a guest list of almost 500 for the wedding day, but there is so much uncertainty around it when we think of a sudden lockdown at short notice,” Dr Razdan said.
After two weeks of strict lockdown in Victoria, weddings in metropolitan Melbourne from Friday will be allowed with no more than 10 people in attendance. In regional Victoria, this number has increased to 20 people.
These numbers include the couple, wedding celebrant and two witnesses.
Haffsah Bilal with a celebrity client Raveena Tandon Source: Supplied/ Haffsah Bilal
Even though the Razdan family has made backup plans of holding smaller events just in case the need arises, they feel the emotional stress would be big if the original plan upends.
“For us, it is emotionally important to celebrate this event of a lifetime with our families and friends,” Dr Razdan said, cautioning that “if restrictions come back, it would derail our idea of this dream wedding”.
Sharing similar thoughts, Melbourne-based make-up artist Haffsah Bilal told SBS Hindi that she is aware of numerous Indian-Australian brides-to-be who are feeling emotionally drained as they modify their wedding plans due to coronavirus restrictions.
"It is the hardest time for these brides-to-be and their families. One of them postponed her wedding six times last year and it was extremely stressful for her,” said Ms Bilal, who has several Indian bridal bookings lined up for the year.
Saurabh Abbott, director of Jai Ho restaurant in Melbourne, had to cancel six bookings to cater for Indian weddings last year. He said many families were holding on to their original plans of having the big fat Indian wedding.
“Indian weddings are multi-layered events with many ceremonies, ethnic bridal dresses, overseas guests, mandap (ornate booth for the wedding ceremony) ethnic food, decorations, entertainment, invitations, venues and more. To rearrange this is a big task and it would overshoot the budget.
“On an average, Indian weddings have around 150 guests and can touch even 500. Their budget is higher than the average wedding in Australia. They are not only about just tying the knot,” he elaborated.
He expects the big fat Indian wedding to rebound once the threat of COVID dies down.
“Till then, small-scale weddings will be organised out of necessity over the next few months or even years,” Mr Abbott said.
As of now, Adhira and Pralabh are keeping their fingers crossed and focussing on solutions to make most of their special day next month.
