Covid Turns Big Fat Indian Weddings Lean & Sleek

A 32-year old MBA graduate from the US, Mohan (name changed) and his fiancée always wanted a lavish, destination wedding at a palace in Rajasthan. But courtesy the Covid-19 outbreak, that’s no longer a possibility.

Now, the couple’s families – while still keeping the ‘destination wedding’ vibe alive -- have shifted venue to a beach in Puri, where the two will tie the knot in November. Reason: flexible quarantine norms of Odisha.

With Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and even Goa following strict isolation rule for travellers, many to-bewed Telugu couples, planners and agents say, are turning away from these picturesque locations and instead looking at alternatives closer home -- ancestral bungalowsor palaces of Hyderabad, resorts in Bapatla’s Surya Lanka beach, farmhouses in Araku Valley among others. The neighbouring states of Karnataka and Odisha too are on the cards, because of easy access. Be it Hampi or Puri and Gopalpur. Besides, there is some demand for resorts in the UTs of Daman and Diu and the Andamans and Nicobar Islands as well.

“People who can afford it are still looking for destination weddings. But the idea is simple: select a location within the state or somewhere in the neighbouring states and plan the ceremony in a way that invitees don’t fall prey to the quarantine trap,” said Priyanka GaneriwalAllahabadi, owner of Weddings and More, a Hyderabad-based event management company.

Even travel agents from the two states, confirm this trend.