Indian 'shaadis' become bigger, costlier

After a lull in the wedding scene last year due to the recession, the Indian
shaadi is in all its glory this season. From lavish sets and exotic themes, weddings are bling-happy! And wedding back-gifts, a popular trend, have become bigger, better and more expensive too.                    

Costly choices
Vishal Chawla, director of Ravissant store informs, “The trend for return gifts among the affluent lot has witnessed a keen pick-up in products such as photo frames, holy books such as Bhagwad Gita with metal engravings and embellishments.” Vishal admits that last year the festivities were low-key due to recession and the terror attacks. “However, this year we see an increase in the budget for the wedding, with the mood being upbeat and people more willing to indulge.” Prashant Sarawagi from Episode also gives a similar impression. “This year we have had several bulk gift orders for weddings, definitely many more than last year. An order for a bajjot (a traditional seat) made in mother of pearl is our most exclusive order this year.”

The gifts can get very costly. Colonel Maltesh Patil, General manager of Tresorie says, “Some of these gifts can range from Rs6,000 to Rs 25,000 and above and the quantity varies from a couple of dozens to sometimes even a thousand pieces. I see a definite rise in the number of people giving expensive back-gifts to at least 15% when compared to last year.”

Designer Nikasha Tawadey recalls something she received. “I got a really elegant photo frame that had the bride and the bridegroom’s picture on it. I liked that as it had a lovely, personal touch.”

Flashback time
In June 2004, during Vanisha’s (Laxmi Mittal’s daughter) wedding, every woman guest present at the Versailles palace in Paris (venue of the wedding) were gifted a Gucci or a Prada bag each. And we have also heard that the near and dear ones got a potli of real jewels, says a friend. 

For Vasundhara Goenka’s (daughter of Harsh Goenka) wedding in January 2007, all the guests were gifted a large silver artifact. The lavish affair witnessed the attendance of about 1,000 to 1,500 guests.

For Nandini Piramal’s wedding (daughter of Swati and Ajay Piramal) in March 2009 at the Jaipur palace, a specially designed perfume made in France, along with a coffee table book on horses was placed in every guest’s room. While almost 1,500 to 2,000 people were invited for the wedding only a select few received a set of seven such perfume bottles. And the set was said to cost roughly Rs35,000. Not just this, a few guests were also given Jaipur rajais. In addition there was also a small book that gave guests details of the entire event which were hand-painted by Rajasthani karigars, informs a guest who attended the wedding.