Indian Weddings Are Not Lavish Anymore, It All Began When Demonetisation Was Announced

We all know about the phrase ¡®Big Fat Indian Wedding¡¯. This phrase seems to be losing its charm since the last few years. In our country, weddings are lavish with guest lists reaching hundreds if not thousands. The more you spend, the brighter one¡¯s chances to improve their social bragging rights. But not all is well at the time being. With economic growth hitting a six-year low for the world¡¯s fifth-largest economy, people have pruned their lavish spending on their weddings.

The present government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen unemployment also decline sharply to a four-decade high.

Both unemployment and economical downturn has had a ripple effect on the spending powers of people. It is such that brides-to-be are spending way less on their bridal outfits and also pruning their guest list.

"Initially I chose a dress that cost 73,000 rupees ($1,000)," Chartered accountant Palak Panchamiya told news agency AFP as she picked through outfits at a recent marriage trade fair.

"But my partner felt it was too expensive, and so now I am here reworking my options and looking for something cheaper", she added.

India's massive wedding industry is worth an estimated $40-50 billion a year, according to research firm KPMG.

The celebrations can last a week and involve several functions, a dazzling variety of cuisines, music and dance performances, and lots of gifts.

Foreigners can even buy tickets to some events.

But these days, except for the super-rich -- a recent Ambani family wedding reportedly cost $100 million -- extravagance is out and frugality is in as families prioritise saving.

"Earlier Indian weddings were like huge concerts, but now things have changed," said Maninder Sethi, founder of Wedding Asia, which organises marriage fairs around the country.

Cracks emerged in 2016 when the Indian wedding season, which runs from September to mid-January, was hit by the government's shock withdrawal of vast amounts of banknotes from circulation through demonetisation in a bid to crack down on undeclared earnings.

Mumbai-based trousseau maker Sapna Designs Studio shut for months as the economy was turned on its head by Modi's move.

"No exhibitions were happening and there were no avenues for us to sell either," said Vishal Hariyani, owner of the clothing studio.

Hopes for a recovery proved short-lived when the cash ban was followed by a botched rollout of a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) in 2017 that saw many small-scale businesses close.

Since then, keeping his studio afloat has been a challenge, with consumers increasingly reluctant to spend too much, says Hariyani.

"We customise our clothes as per their budgets, and now week-long weddings have been converted to just a 36-hour ceremony," he told AFP.

"We have to pay GST, pay workers and even offer discounts to customers," he added.

Analysts say gloomy economic conditions have pushed the country's middle class to pile their cash into savings.

"The whole economy has slowed down and reduced spending on weddings is a by-product of that. Everyone except the super-rich are affected," Pradip Shah from IndAsia Fund Advisors told AFP.

"It is reflective of how sombre the mood is," he said.

In a country where families traditionally spend heavily on weddings -- including taking on debt in some cases -- the downturn is also a source of sadness and shame, with elaborate celebrations often seen as a measure of social status.

"We haven't even invited our neighbours. It is embarrassing but the current situation doesn't offer us much respite," 52-year-old Tara Shetty told AFP ahead of her son's wedding.

"In my era, we always spent a lot and had thousands of people attending the weddings," she explained.

"My wedding was supremely grand, and now my son's is the polar opposite."