Matri'Money'

Weddings are no more a simple solemn occasion marking the union of man and woman they’re now more of a spectacle put on for society that's powering a $40 billion industry.

- Rochelle D’Souza

A few months ago, I was invited to a wedding. As I entered the lawn where the reception was being held, I was in awe of what the otherwise plain looking venue had been transformed into. The trees were dripping with fairy lights and glass baubles and as I watched, to my amazement the groom arrived on a caparisoned elephant with drummers all around him. Most temple festivals aren't this extravagant, let alone a wedding. And if all that wasn't enough, the lavish spread at dinner was delicious, all nine courses of it. 

Simplicity and brevity were once the heart of the 'typical' Malayali wedding. A nonchalant ceremony that gets over almost as quickly as it began. Where receptions usually involved everyone merely being escorted from the ceremony - much to their great delight - straight to the dining hall. Marriages of today, many of them preceded by an elaborate betrothal ceremony, have thus transmogrified into events spread over a few days - quite unlike our unfussy and short wedding ceremony - but rather ones that are borrowing liberally from the elaborate, showy functions of the northern states including ‘Sangeeth’, ‘mehendi’ and ‘haldi’ ceremonies followed by extravagant receptions attended by the whole world. The last half century has seen the shift from the unostentatious bride, clad in an elegant cream silk sari and wearing a few ornaments on her person to set off her beauty, to the gold-armoured avatar of today. Not to be found wanting, the groom too has undergone an image makeover.