Even marriage has its costs

piralling inflation has forced across-the-board compromises on the scale of marriage ceremonies. Parents, brides and bridegrooms, and other family members have to now plan meticulously to ensure that weddings do not wipe out bank balances.

Shantha Sridhar, whose son got married seven months ago, is now planning her daughter’s wedding. “From the rent paid to the mandapam and the cook’s charges to the photo-video costs to even the flower garlands, everything has become very expensive,” she says.

With just about a fortnight left for the wedding, the family is trying to cut down on last-minute expenditure. “As parents, we want to give our best and make the wedding as grand as possible since this is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for our child,” she says.

The price rise has hit everyone hard. “The beautician charges a lot more today,” says Sharon Sangeetha, who is getting ready for her wedding. “In fact, my sister, who got married recently, decided to do away with bridal mehndi because it cost so much,” she says.

“Thankfully, we purchased my wedding saris and jewellery in advance, during discount sales. Otherwise, it would have been too much pressure to handle.”

Imtiaz Basha agrees that is it indeed a lot of financial pressure on families. When he started planning for his brother’s wedding two months ago, he had decided to invite the guests personally. Now, he has sent the invitations through post and is following up over telephone. “Petrol costs so much more than it did two months ago. Moreover, many bunks don’t sell ordinary petrol. They only have the premium variety that is even more expensive,” he says. Due to the various additional costs, he also had to cut down on the gold jewellery gifted to the bride.

Inflation hasn’t spared the much awaited wedding feasts, too. Mr. Basha says the price of mutton has drastically gone up in the last couple of months, from about Rs. 180 a kilo to Rs. 240.

“Mutton biriyani is the main dish in our weddings. Now, we have no choice but to reduce the quantity of mutton in the biriyani and compensate it with a chicken dish as the rise in the price of chicken is relatively less,” he adds.

And for businesses that depend on weddings, it’s a tough time. K. Manohar, who has a flower garland store in Pondy Bazaar also says that passing on the costs to the customer at this point would ruin his business. “This is off-season for us, anyway. About 300 gms of jasmine that cost Rs. 20 a few months ago now costs Rs. 80. If we decide to price our garlands higher, we might lose existing business. But yes, many are thinking twice before buying fancier flower garlands. Only very rich families go for garlands made of just petals, because they are expensive. The others are switching to the cheaper varieties,” he says.