Mumbai: This time due to elections in Mumbai, many people have postponed grand wedding events. Due to this, November has been a relatively dry month for venue managers, wedding management companies, caterers, etc. for large-scale events. Every year during this period, about 20 to 30 marriages take place in Mumbai in which crores of rupees are spent. However, due to fear of confiscation of cash and jewelery during elections, some people have considered it appropriate to conduct marriages only after following the code of conduct.
The wedding season starts after Devdiwali. Royal weddings are held at various grounds in Mumbai. Venues like Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Islam Gymkhana on Marine Drive, Parsi Gymkhana, NISC Club at Grant Medical College Ground (GMS) Worli are being booked for a long time.
Rich families of Mumbai spend crores of rupees on luxurious weddings. A wedding costs at least Rs 2 to 3 crores. The budget of many events is more than five crores.
Sometimes an event company is contracted and sometimes independent work is given to individual caterers, pavilions and decorators. However, as acknowledged by those involved in the wedding industry, weddings are officially reported to account for only half of the total expenditure. Half of this amount is paid by check and bank money transfer while the remaining amount is paid in cash.
Due to elections, code of conduct is currently in force. Black money transactions are being monitored. Therefore, investigations are being done at various places and teams are patrolling. Therefore, handling cash has become very dangerous during this period. Even if there is legitimate cash, the process of seizing it by the Election Commission and then reporting it to Income Tax takes a lot of time. Election Commission teams also seize gold and silver jewellery. In such a situation, if confiscation happens on occasion, it can cause a big rift in the marriage.
Sources said that some people had decided their wedding dates a year in advance and orders were placed accordingly. But after the election dates were decided, some people have postponed their plans. Since the Election Commission is considered more strict this time, some people have postponed their marriage at the last moment.
These marriages will now take place after the code of conduct is over. Due to the postponement of the wedding, all our preparations and future plans have been disrupted. A caterers company has informed that due to cancellation of many weddings, their entire schedule for the month of November has been disturbed and they have not been able to get the expected business.