The shaadi season is on...
In normal circumstances you would have had at least three weddings to attend, with guest lists running into hundreds. But with the coronavirus pandemic still on, while people are getting married, the number of people at these gatherings have dropped considerably. States like Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra are still seeing cases increase with each passing day. Some states have a strict cap on the number of people who can gather at a time. In Delhi, the guest list is restricted to 50.
Planning a wedding and attending one is risky business but with precautions in mind, you can ensure you and the guests are safe.
How to Plan a Wedding During this Time
If you are planning a wedding, there are certain things you must discuss to begin with, which will ease out the process. Work out a budget and the scale of the wedding. Discuss with your partner and family on the budget for the wedding and the number of guests from each side. With restrictions on the number of guests who can attend weddings, it would be wise to set realistic expectations. Consider holding smaller ceremonies with immediate family and friends living in the same city, while others can stream the event online. This will not only help reduce your guest list, but also provide for a safer environment for everyone.
At a time when everyone has embraced technology, create a wedding website. Let your invited guests tell you about their status of arrival, safety protocols and more on the website. Blog websites like Wedding Wire also have ideas to add a personal touch to wedding decorations, which can help make the events inexpensive.
Wedding designer Ambika Gupta says, "I think one needs to keep the timelines on track because a lot of things are hard to find and access. One needs to keep enough and more buffer time to make sure that resources such as flowers, clothes and other essentials reach on time because deliveries can be irregular. There is a scarcity of manpower and resources and price points have changed for wedding essentials like flowers. This is because farmers have been hit badly by the pandemic. Also, one must ensure that sanitization protocols at the venue are adequate to keep your guests safe."
She adds, "All clients are different. Some prefer bigger events and others want a more intimate experience. My job is to guide people about the possibilities of exposure in unrestricted events with a large number of guests. I can also convince them that a more intimate and personalised ceremony is the way to go keeping in mind government guidelines etc. But it has been difficult for bigger families who would ideally invite over 5,000 to 7,000 guests. We try to find a middle-ground to deal with such situations."
Ankur Sarawagi of The Knot Worldwide says that technology has been a huge help in providing alternatives during this time. "Wedding technology apps have helped couples and families bridge the gap between them and vendors by enabling them to plan the wedding of their dreams from the comfort of their homes. We aim to connect our couples with the top and trusted wedding businesses and vendors in their preferred cities, through our online platform. We ensure that our vendor partners comply with the local and state regulations to help couples host their dream wedding in a safe and responsible manner."
Things You Can Do to Ensure a Safe Gathering
Ankur Sarawagi of The Knot Worldwide suggests the following measures to ensure safety of all attending a wedding function during COVID-19:
1. Contactless greeting etiquettes such as a namaste, pranam, salaam, bow, or something more casual and playful like a contemporary ‘gesture line’ filled with bows and waves.
2. Offer a virtual component by live-streaming ceremonies to include guests who are unable to attend due to safety reasons.
3. Make sure to abide by social distancing guidelines so that guests in attendance feel comfortable being in close proximity to one another. Add more tables to account for seating with more space in between each guest.
4. Prefer seated plated dinners as this will prevent groups of people from being near food at a buffet or self-service food stations, and multiple bars. If a serve-yourself style meal is what a couple prefers, smaller stations will be incorporated rather than a long assembly line for a full buffet.
5. Choose weekday wedding dates due to those being the only dates available.
Nitin Arora of MD Katalyst Entertainment says, "There are various challenges, right from convincing the client to restrict the numbers, to convincing the hotel, to making sure that all the SOPs are taken care of and then convincing and preparing the artistes, taking all the precautions and maintaining social distance on stage, off stage amongst people. Then you know, taking care of guests and staff who are entering the venue in terms of doing sanitization. So there are various challenges and these are really difficult times."
The essence of wedding scenes has gone back to being intimate with your loved ones around.
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