Many of us know Indian Weddings as ‘The Big, Fat Indian Weddings’. They are known by this name for a reason. With loads of glamour, hundreds of pre-wedding functions, expensive decorations, exotic food, designer clothes and jewellery; an Indian wedding is a gala event in itself, hence the name. Almost every Indian wishes his/her wedding to be the talk of the town. In the wake of doing so, people get involved in incorporating several exotic and expensive ideas into their wedding. It is due to this that even after months of detailed planning, wedding budgets tend to go overboard. If you are one of those who plan to have a budget wedding or wish to cut cost in any manner, we are here to sort things out for you.
Venue
In India, the wedding season comes twice in a year (April- June and Feb- Dec). In order to get the best deals on your chosen venue, plan your wedding in the offseason. You can even think about holding your ceremonies in a temple or a beautiful garden to reduce the rentals. Another idea is to book a venue which is at a convenient location to reduce transportation costs.
Dress and Jewellery
An Indian wedding has a lot of pre-wedding functions which in turn mean several festive dresses with matching jewellery. You can cut down the cost on the expensive designer wear by renting it or borrowing it. There are several websites that provide the service of renting designer dresses for your wedding and related functions. Another alternative is to wear dresses from your mother’s, sister’s or your best friend’s wedding trousseau. Just get a few alterations or redesign them (if they permit you to do so) so that you are ready to flaunt a newer-looking outfit! Similarly, you can wear vintage jewellery from your mother’s/grandmother’s collection, invest in semi precious jewellery sets or better still, get them on rent too.
Food
The main attraction in an Indian wedding (after the bride and groom) is ‘food’. It is understandable that you would want your guests to savor plenty of exotic dishes on your best day but in order to be in budget you need to prioritize. An all-vegetarian menu drastically cuts down on catering bill. To satisfy your guests’ palette, you can include numerous paneer dishes in the menu and have lots of appetizers or snacks.
Décor
We know that every girl dreams of a fairytale wedding with hundreds of thousands of colourful blooms but if you are willing to tweak this idea a bit; it can be made more pocket-friendly. If you want floral decorations at the venue and on-stage, then opt for seasonal flowers instead of exotic ones. There are a lot of DIYs (Do-It-Yourself) decoration ideas on the internet that you can match with the floral décor. For the table setting at the functions, you can install one centerpiece per table and light a candle to make it look classy. Another option is to choose artificial flowers (in paper, plastic or fabric), light satin drapes entwined with pretty led lights.
We hope that these ideas come in handy for you to make your wedding a splendid and memorable one without the added expenses.
Images: Vinayak Kulkarni Photography