Big Fat weddings, here we will learn about Celebrities and their grand weddings, why they flaunt it? Effect of celebrities Big Fat Wedding on common people, Increasing personal loans for wedding, Dowry and its effects, Indian thought process about wedding and the future of Big Fat Wedding.
What is marriage?
Marriage is life-long tie between two individuals (mostly man and woman). To pursue their responsibilities and duties together. There are different names for marriage in India across the country like Vivaha, Lagna, Kalyanam etc.
Wedding is Ceremony of marriage between two different rituals and tradition performed for several days. These rituals and traditions vary across different ethnic groups, religions and social classes. Many pre and post marriage rituals performed as part of wedding ceremony. In presence of bride and grooms families and friends. It includes engagement (Pre-wedding), Haldi ceremony (Pre-wedding), Barakhsa, Grooms arrival, Vivaha Vidhi etc. Let us find out more about Big Fat Indian weddings.
Weddings in Today’s world (Big Fat Wedding)
Big Fat Wedding is Festival of colors and celebrated across many days with different ceremonies. There are pre-wedding and post-wedding ceremonies. like Mehendi, Reception and all new types of bachelor parties. Wedding ceremonies celebrated with help of event management companies. And the wedding industry has become a billion dollar industry.
wedding ceremony a status symbol
Toady wedding ceremony have become status symbol. Pandemic has made the weddings less crowded and more grand. People are celebrating more and more destination weddings, weddings in palaces, at beaches and in mountains as well. India is a country with lowest number of divorces in the world. People celebrate their weddings only once in life time. They want to make sure every things is perfect and grand.
From where the Big Fat Wedding concept came in picture?
The Big Fat Wedding concept comes from history. In olden days kings and queens used to have Big Fat Indian weddings. As time passed, business men, politicians started continuing trend. By pouring money and flaunting their kids wedding. Sports icons and Bollywood celebrities took the Grand wedding trend to new heights.
Effects of celeb wedding on millennial population.
Bollywood and Indian media has huge contribution in increasing Big Fat wedding craze in India. With more and more celebrities doing Grand wedding, their fans wants to follow their footsteps.
Example of few celebrate weddings in recent time.
Janardhana Reddy
Janardhana Reddy at an estimated cost of $74m had gold-plated invitation cards, 50,000 guests and samba dancers flown in from Brazil. for more please click on Reddy’s Big Fat Wedding
Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s only daughter, Isha Ambani wedding
Isha Ambani married recently to young industrialist Anand Piramal. Their wedding was estimated to cost nearly $15 million. Aaccording to livemint media. Almost every politician, Bollywood celebrate, sport star attended this Big Fat Indian Wedding.
Virat Koli and Anushka Sharma.
Commonly known as the Power couple. Virat koli married Anushka sharma in Tuscany, Italy. Amongst this couple one is famous Bollywood star and other is new face of Indian Cricket. to find out more of this wedding click on Inside wedding
Pictures from their gorgeous wedding made their way to social media, fans were left floored. Media covered every aspect of their wedding. Right from Dulhan’s Lehenga (Bride’s Dress) to the venue, in Italy. This wedding popularized the destination wedding concept in India.
Katrina and Vicky Kaushal
This wedding is most recent Big Fat Wedding of B-town. This caught more eye balls of India media. Their wedding took place at the royal Hotel Six Senses Fort Barwara, Sawai Madhopur, Rajastan.
Hotel Six Senses Fort Barwara
Rewilding the forest to east and reviving Barwara Lake. Historic fort has sensitively preserved and converted, enjoying a sensational view of lake and temple. The landscaping integrates purely endemic plants and water features. The property is working with the local community to rewild the forests to the east and revive the sacred lake to its former glory.
After this wedding the demand for wedding bookings in palace hotels has increased throughout the country.
Why Celebrities are Doing Grand Weddings?
1. For Privacy:
Celebrities are doing their weddings at exotic locations. They prefer their weddings to stay as private as possible. Considering that they live their lives in the public eye, this only seems like a fair demand to do their weddings in complete secrecy avoiding any mishap.
2. Marketing themselves:
Fans tend to copy their favorite celebs. Brands prefer these celebs for endorsing their brands and for selling their products. As the celebrities are getting married and making news. Celebrities are marketing themselves through their Big Fat Wedding to gets special discounts on their outfits, bookings and almost everything for that matter. Even after their weddings some brands stick to these celebrities. Generating new revenue streams for these celebrities.
3. Publicity stunt and Profitable business:
This could be a reason the celebrities are doing grand weddings. This will get them more fame in future & brans endorsements like explained above. B-town celebs can save their falling carriers through such publicity stunts.
Celebs do their weddings in complete secrecy. Later they sell the wedding photographs and videos to OTT platforms and earn huge sum of money. This will generate them double the money of actually spent at Big Fat Wedding.
Why India has biggest wedding industry?
1. Millennial Population in India
Indian, millennials are 34% (at 440 million) of the country’s total population, aged in between 20-30. In last few years India has become the world’s largest millennial market. Drawing attention from across the world to Indian millennials. These millennials contribute to wedding market. This why India can become biggest market for wedding industries in the world.
The Indian wedding are colorful and cacophonous. An occasion often marked by hundreds, if not thousands, of guests, lavish banquets and venues and brides and grooms kitted out in eye-popping costumes and jewelry. Some 10 million weddings take place each year in a market worth $50bn.
Weddings are a major business in India. According to a report by KPMG, India’s wedding industry is estimated to be around $40–50 billion in size. It is the second largest wedding market after USA, which is at $70 billion.
Big Fat Indian Weddings and Debts
Big Fat Indian Weddings puts enormous social pressure on the bride’s family. To spend vast sums of money. To fulfil of groom’s demand and to impress their relatives. Failure to do this can have ramifications. Some times the marriage may be called off. Because of these reasons the bride’s family borrows huge sum of money. As Debts from Banks or money lenders.
Personal loans and Big Fat Indian Weddings.
According to research by Pragati Gramodyog Evam Samaj Kalyan Sansthan (PGS). More than 60 % of families in India borrow loan from banks or private money lenders. For celebrating wedding ceremonies. These loans comes with Astronomical interest rates indebting bride’s family for life.
Wealthy Indians flaunt their Big Fat weddings. This causes increase in demand and the overall budget of a wedding increases for common people. And it causes problem to poor section of society triggering unnecessary social pressure.
As we talked in our previous point wedding is an occasion which includes thousands of people and have many small-small expenses. According to researchers the wedding expenses in tier-1 Cities is about 50-80 lakhs, tier-2 Cities 25-35 lakhs and tier-3 Cities is about 8-10 lakhs.
People tend to spend their entire life’s savings in a weddings and those who don’t have enough savings borrow Loans from banks. 80% of personal loans borrowed are for wedding purposes. And those who cannot borrow loans from Bank go for private money lenders.
Speaking increase in personal loans for wedding purposes, this is a rising bubble which may bust in near future. Let us go through an example how bubble bust takes place.
Collapse of the US housing bubble
2007-08 the collapse of the US housing bubble
2008 Crises commonly known as Great recession. The collapse of the major investment bank Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008. Origin of crisis was the collapse of the US housing bubble, which peaked in FY 2006-2007 causing the financial crisis in 2008.
It all began after the 2001 terrorists attack on World Trade Center. US economy was entering into a recession to save from that Federal Reserve System (Fed) reduced its interest rate to 1%. Upon analyzing the grate recession in detail the NPA (Bad Loans) were primary reason for recession.
Non-performing or bad loans were the major reason as explained above. Due to this there was only 0.9% growth, in the Global economic activity. In the year 2009.
Personal loan Bubble Bust
Increasing Personal loans are causing similar bubble in market. People are borrowing loans for their destination wedding. This may result the banks to give more bad loans and may cause bust of bubble similar to 2008 crisis.
Dowry the Bad Side of Big Fat weddings
A Dowry is a form of payment like property, money, Automobile or jewelry. Paid by the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry is not popular only in India. It has historical references in entire world. Dowry is in practice many parts of world. And remains as social evil in many parts of world. Like Northen Africa, Balkans etc.
In actual Dowry is type of conjugal fund, the nature of which may vary widely. This fund may provide an element of financial security. In widowhood, or against a negligent husband. And may eventually to provide security for her children in future.
In Modern world meaning of Dowry has changed. Dowry viewed as a gift made to groom, or form of payment made to Groom. High profile rich people have set immensely high standards by doing Big Fat Indian Weddings. for middle class and poor people. Dowry is highly influenced by Unrealistic Big Fat Indian weddings these days. Dowries can be in any form like Cash, Real Estate, Cars, Jewelries or any other material for that matter.
Why Dowry is social Evil?
Law against Dowry
Dowry has resulted in act of violence against women, including killings, acid attacks and even burning women alive in demand of dowry. Now there are very strict laws against such violence on women in demand of Dowry. On single complaint by woman, her husband and his whole family might go behind bars (imprisonment).
Girls are viewed as liabilities form their birth it self in Middle class families and poor families. From their birth itself girl’s family is under the burden of her marriage. Because of this girl’s family won’t spend much on educating their girl child.
They arrange their girl child marriages in very small age. As the girls becomes eligible for marriage her family arranges her marriage with or without girls concern. This been a major reason for killing of girl child. The child is viewed as “Curse” in some parts of world. Under the marriage burden.
Indians Thought process about Weddings
In country like India weddings are viewed as Big occasion. Under influence of ultra-rich people and Bollywood celebs flaunting their weddings ceremonies, Weddings have become much more costly for middle class and poor people.
Marriage Bill was introduced in parliament in year 2017. Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure. The bill says, “Families spending more than 5 lakh (about US$7,000) on a wedding. Must have to donate 10 % of the overall wedding cost”. To brides coming from poor families.
Other development made in this regard. Formalizing wedding industry with RERA like framework, create tourism circuits for wedding destinations. Some developments are already made in this view and father yet to come.
Who is wrong?
Media Companies:
Media companies have nothing to do with celebrities Big Fat Weddings or ultra-rich people weddings. They are showing their wedding to gain TRP for their media platform. The common man is more concerned about celebrities wedding. Compared to their own life.
We need to be the change here. We have to start thinking rationally about Big Fat Indian Weddings. Should stop appreciating the grand wedding culture. As it is causing problem to middle class and poor family. By setting unrealistic social standards for them.
Future of Big Fat Indian weddings
Initially the wedding ceremonies were performed in front yards of homes. By constructing small Mandaps or in wedding halls. Now people are celebrating their wedding on exotic destinations. Calling it as destination wedding. People have started celebrating their wedding in palaces in flying Flights. Under deep see waters. We might see new heights of celebrating wedding in future. Read more about the future of world at “The Changing World“.
Let us know your opinion on Big Fat Indian weddings