Indian weddings are always a lavish affair and many families save up for a grand wedding when their children are toddlers itself. In the same manner, the purchase of gold and heritage sarees is not simply about ensuring that a bride looks beautiful on D-day, but it’s also a special emotional gift that a bride’s parents give her as she embarks on the journey of marriage.
But what if we told you that there are many ways you can save money without feeling guilty about having gone overboard? In fact, we’ve listed 4 expensive wedding splurges that you can do away with entirely or which can be reduced expense wise so that your family can have more savings. Here goes:
Image courtesy Wedding Frames Photography
A designer gown or lehenga
Every girl’s dreams of wearing a Sabyasachi or a Manish Malhotra on the day of the wedding and looking ethereal. If you’ve saved up for the ultimate wedding outfit, there’s no reason why you can’t grab the limelight wearing one. However, once you’ve been seen in it, are you honestly going to wear it for another function again? We suggest going with a designer option that can be customised and worn differently after the wedding so that it looks like an entirely fresh purchase altogether. This expensive wedding splurge will be worth every penny spent!
Image: Confetti Films
Fresh Flowers
The sight and smell of fresh flowers can work wonders to uplift one’s heart and mind. However, not many couples think about the huge quantity of flowers that are purchased and often dumped even before the day draws to a close. The irony is that even if a huge amount has been spent on sourcing the freshest blooms, they begin to wilt within hours of being cut. A good alternative is to go with potted plants which can be decorated with LED hanging lights and artificial green runners. In fact, you can even give the potted plants as a thank you gift to your guests.
Serving up a Feast
The social standing of a family is often measured by the number of dishes served at the wedding. But if you think seriously about it, this is one expensive wedding splurge that should be held in check merely because of the huge amount of food that invariably goes wasted every day. The guests aren’t really going to sample all the hundred dishes, and that’s why dishing up organic food that’s good for the soul, mind and body in sufficient quantity is a better alternative. You’ll save plenty too!
Keeping the venue as the focus
The importance and poignancy of the wedding ceremony is often lost in the glamour and glitz of larger than life wedding venues. However, it doesn’t necessarily take a 7 star hotel to make your wedding special and staying focused on a grand venue is an expensive wedding splurge that is meaningless when you have plenty of other alternatives at hand. Opt for a small closed door ceremony instead with a restricted guest list to make your wedding more private and intimate. That’s a trend that many couples are embracing whole heartedly across India these days.
Main Image courtesy Ankur Dandekar Photography
