The Wedding Jammer

November 8, late evening, Darjeeling. Wedding preparations are in full swing in the Agar­wal household. Hunched around the bed, all four family members are busy stuffing money in envelopes바카라�to be given to the extended family and in-laws in the soon-to-begin functions. Just then, a flurry of news alerts on their phones inform them that five hundred and thousand rupee notes are junk from now on. The festivities abruptly cease. They are in a huddle again, this time to figure out what to do with all that cash. The next day, the groom, Ritesh Agarwal, his thoughts of a honeymoon in Bali rudely interrupted, is queuing up at his local bank branch.

Best-laid marriage plans have gone ­kaput, parents of brides and grooms are in a tizzy and the just-begun great Indian wedding season all over the country is on the rocks. 바카라�Less than a month away from the wedding, when all the payments have to be made, we are in a fix,바카라� says bride-­­to-be Dhwani Sheth, a psychologist in Kolkata. She says the Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal scheme for people who can prove there is a wedding in the family is too little. She has had to cancel the extravagant 바카라�varm­ala바카라� she had planned, and bits of the sangeet that required spending money on a choreographer. Ankita Bhargava, who is getting married next week in Mumbai, has sent out reg­ret e-cards to half the guests. 바카라�Many of our clients are even opting for more ­intimate weddings at home,바카라� says Mehak Sagar, of Wed Me Good, a meeting place for wedding vendors and customers. Rishabh Sood, founder of Candid Tales Company, which specialises in wedding photography, says: 바카라�A client has shifted their wedding from early next year to December in the hope that they will then have the wedding of their dreams.바카라� But for weddings that are round the corner, like Neha Singhal바카라�s in Darjeeling, postponing is out of the question. What바카라�s more, in a small town like hers, she can바카라�t even access her own money as the bank coffers are virtually empty.

Service providers too are having it rough. 바카라�Business is down by 60 per cent,바카라� says Hem­ant Bayana, director of Mantra Events, an event management firm. 바카라�We have had cancellations for many wedding,바카라� he says. Most service providers work with daily wagers, who need to be paid in cash. 바카라�For any catering event, we have to employ labourers and buy ingredients. The cash crunch has rendered it virtually impossible for us to service orders,바카라� says Manoj Kumar of Royal Caterers, Delhi.

Florists have close to no business at all. 바카라�Flowers seem like a waste of money to most people right now,바카라� says Divya Chauhan, co-founder of Divya-Vithika Wedding Planners, Bengaluru. Neeraj Gupta of Sri Sai Florist also has no work. 바카라�We have no orders, and aren바카라�t expecting any,바카라� he says. The baraat bands and the fireworks industry too have been badly hit. 바카라�We have very few bookings, and are receiving payments in cheque, but depositing them and then withdrawing the money is quite an ordeal given the crowd at the banks,바카라� says P.S. Sahni, owner of Raja Band. Maheshwar Srivastav of Majestic Fireworks says a double-whammy has hit his trade. 바카라�First the ban because of pollution, and now order cancellations because no one wants the added expense of fireworks. It바카라�s a season of losses,바카라� he says. Even the few lucky wedding service providers who have orders are struggling to break even. 바카라�We have ­advance bookings for which we have received partial payment. We hope to receive the rest in delayed installments,바카라� says Puneet Luthra of Luthra Tents and Catering.

For families or the industry, this year바카라�s wedding season is hardly balle, balle.