While Indians love their band baaja baarat, with the pandemic, celebrations have had to be scaled down. But, at heart, the Indian wedding remains big, moving towards personalisation, attention to detail and creating a luxury experience for guests
Aditya Motwane and team took over the Leela Palace Hotel in Udaipur for the wedding of Sonali Fabiani and Jaynit Raheja
Image: Anand Rathi
In early August, a chartered flight took off from Mumbai, flew down to and hovered over Goa and then made its way back. A chartered flight usually has a capacity of 180 passengers, but on board were about 50 people who had taken to the skies to celebrate an engagement. There were no pictures uploaded, no making it a big deal, just two people quietly making the memories of a lifetime with their closest friends and family, in as much a way they could in the middle of a pandemic.
Under the Covid cloud, there are no grand baraats, massive sets, huge entertainment acts or guest lists running into thousands, but over sangeet, mehendi, engagement and reception, the big fat Indian wedding remains big, if not in size then in sentiment. And the focus is on detailed décor, personalised gifts, fine dining as well as longer dos spread over three-four days, with a complete buyout of luxurious properties.
(This story appears in the 08 October, 2021 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)