COVID-19 or coronavirus has left conferences, shoots, concerts and even the IPL suspended. But it doesn’t just stop at that. Many people have been forced to postpone their weddings also, especially those who were planning to tie the knot in March or April. Shagun Pannu, a wedding planner based out of Mumbai, told The Quint that one of her clients had to postpone their wedding from April to December. Whether it’s a traditional wedding at a banquet hall in the same city or an elaborate destination wedding scene, people are looking at pushing plans because of the lockdown due to the coronavirus scare.
“Clients don’t want to release funds from their end and we are struggling with placing orders. Though most people I work with are supportive, anything to do with a flower deco is difficult to manage right now,” says Gaurav Chanana a wedding planner for the past 20 years and owner of Whistling Teel Events & Weddings.
Most wedding planners place the order for flowers much ahead of the wedding date. The vendors have to, further, place orders with those who own fields and pluck the flowers. Once an order is placed and cancelled close to the date of the occasion, in most cases, full payment needs to be made.
“Four destination weddings I was supposed to execute have been cancelled this month and in April. I was supposed to plan a Holi carnival in Jaipur between 10th to 12th March which was also washed out,” says Gaurav.
As for May weddings, the planners are trying to be cautious. “We are working on the production aspect of May weddings but we are trying to work around a decor that can be reused in case there’s a cancellation,” Gaurav adds.
Borders are shut and that means no fancy European weddings this summer. Europe has fast become a popular choice for Indian couples planning a destination wedding. Indian wedding businesses also rely on China for imports. Decoration materials are mostly imported from China and since December these imports have been affected. Gaurav tells The Quint that he’s expecting prices of raw materials to shoot up when things start getting back on track. “There will be a high demand and the supply will be short, the prices will shoot up,” he adds.
We Are Refusing Work: Wedding Planners
Planning an event or a wedding is also a hands-on job where one has to arrange for meetings, face-to-face conversations, decide the decor and then place orders with the vendors. “The other day I got a call from a client who had a roka function happening on 29 March and wanted decoration for the same. But it's very difficult to get any vendor right now so I don't think I can go ahead with it,” says Mumbai based Shagun Pannu before the city went into a complete lockdown. “Till last week I was still meeting a few clients who have their weddings happening in November and December but this week we have decided to stop all meetings and just work from home,” says Shagun.
A Guest-less Wedding?
Wedding planners are also convincing clients to postpone weddings but there are times when it’s too late to cancel. Shagun Pannu says she executed a Goa wedding just last week. “Of course, the people attending it were half compared to their guest list. But it was too late for them to cancel all bookings so they had to go ahead with it.”
However, Gaurav is of the view that destination weddings are easy to monitor as compared to a banquet wedding in the same city. “When you have a destination wedding, there are chances that people will not fly if they are not keeping well. We also know where people are flying in from, so we can keep a check. But with banquet weddings, guest lists tend to be extensive and you will never know about anyone’s travel history,” says Gaurav.
The Catering Business also Takes a Hit
Anil Kalra has a catering business in New Delhi and he’s been doing this since years but he says he’s “never experienced anything like this before”.
“90 per cent bookings are postponed and corporate functions have been cancelled indefinitely. I have lost most business for the months of March and April but the bookings for May are on as of now. If there’s a blanket ban, we are expecting a massive loss,” says Anil Kalra.
Will the Cancellation Policies Change?
Wedding planners are trying to work around policies to save the business. “We will have to work out the cancellation policy because some clients are placing orders but aren’t releasing maximum funds for the arrangements to be made,” says Gaurav Chanana. As for the catering business owner Anil Kalra, he says he’s trying to work it around in a way to save his regular clients. “We will have to reassess the policies but we have refunded the amount, adjusted the advance amount to facilitate our regular clients.”
The wedding industry overall is expecting to be back on track by May. They anticipate that the prices of commodities and materials will shoot up and a shortage is expected. “Everyone will be in hot soup in case the current issue of coronavirus scare is prolonged. Rental properties, taxes, salaries...everything will take a hit,” says Anil Kalra on a pessimistic note.
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