The pandemic has changed the wedding plans of many who were about to get married or had planned to get married during this time. With government norms for public events, self-concern, safety measures and event planning all these have changed the future of wedding in India as well as in other parts of the world.

The 2020 has seen many couples cancelling, postponing and even preponing their wedding rituals due to the coronavirus disease. The fear of coronavirus has changed the entire life style of people all around the world. Hygiene and cleanliness being a major concern people have become more aware of their surroundings and are planning things accordingly keeping in mind the government rules on social distancing in order to be safe.

The virus has forced humans to incorporate a new life style and this seems to slowly become the new normal. People have applied the government rules on social distancing, hygiene standards into their day to day life.  

So the question is what is the future of public events especially weddings in India?

Before talking about the future of wedding in India, let’s first know the wedding norms as per the government and the safety measures to be taken while hosting an event: –

• Government has allowed weddings with not more than 50 people in the wedding
• Small Weddings
• Sanitizers should be available for all guests at the venue.
• Guests should maintain distance with other guests during the event.

Many couples have made the most out of the current situation and have arranged virtual weddings over zoom, but many are still waiting to celebrate their vows for when the pandemic gets over and the restrictions are lifted. So what do you think, how the weddings in future are going to be? We at Mallu Farms have prepared a list of ways on how the weddings are going to held in future: –

• Health and Safety measures will play a big role: – Sanitized products have not always been considered as a necessary wedding décor. But now on health and safety measures will be incorporated in creative ways into the wedding day protocol. Wedding planners and venues will come up with unique ways to provide guests with highly coveted hand sanitizing solutions which can include welcome bags containing personalized sanitizing bottles or as pre-wedding favours or having the staffs carry around the mini sanitizing bottles.

Additionally the guests may be offered designed gloves and masks which coordinates with the overall wedding décor and style as we as incorporated gloves and masks in their wedding outfit. Vendors will wear personal protective equipments especially those who are serving the guests.

• New Event Formats: – For the events most couples will choose plated means instead of buffet in the near future. But in case buffet system is choose, smaller assembly line will preferred rather than long one to maintain distance among people and also food items.

In order to eliminate guests feeling confined, couples will choose venues incorporating open-air or outdoor elements to their celebrations. Couples will become more intentional with whom they are inviting as guests and grouping together for dining tables. The wedding with fewer guests will become a trend. People will prefer an intimate wedding more than a grand wedding and choose venue for small weddings.

Shorter ceremonies with more room for standing will become the new norm. We can expect to see ceremony venues accommodating social distancing with spaced seating arrangements. Guests will be advised to maintain space with other guests. A new unique way of greeting will become popular- contactless greetings, including gestures or a bow. It won’t the surprising to see hygiene reminders being displayed throughout the ceremony.

Indian ceremonies have to include dance in it and dancing will still be part. But now venues will in future have more than one space for the guests to burst out their moves so that the dance floor is not so cluttered. Not only this will serve as a health and safety precaution but it will also allow guests to explore different entertainment experiences throughout the event.

Couples will book venues that incorporate outdoor elements into the celebration, such as lounge furniture placed among gardens or ambient lighting displays. Additionally venues will also have more than once space such as an outdoor site along with an indoor ballroom with open air terrace; this will allow couples and guests to spread out more.

The influence of social distancing and limiting large group interactions are likely to continue to shape weddings even after distancing restrictions are loosened or lifted. Couples will make changes to their wedding day formats, whether by shifting it to a weekday wedding to ensure that their full vendor team is available, revisiting their guest list for an intimate gathering, or planning multiple wedding celebrations in order to accommodate various guest groupings.

• Guests Communications will change: – In order to keep the guests safe and aware, couples will change their communication methods incorporating more details on paper stationery like health and safety information. There will be an increase reliance on technology such as wedding websites, digital registries, virtual gifting and streaming platforms.

Wedding websites help the couples to be constant contact with their guests and send them regular updates on their wedding. Couples are planning with precaution by limiting close gatherings. Hyper-personalized entertainment for the guests can be included to enjoy at a safe distance. These experiences can include a fun play, their passions or their cultural backgrounds with unique, live musical performances, or a band or DJ creating different themed music areas throughout the function to limit crowds. Music vendors may also lean into technology, like the silent disco concept, so guests can celebrate more spread out at a safe distance.

• Personalization: – Personalization is more entertaining and makes the guests more excited. Couples can send their guests personalized welcome bags or creative send offs at the end of the night. Many creative techniques will emerge as couples are going to infuse more personal, unique touches into their big day to make it more especially and for the guests to remember the wedding forever.
• Rise of Live Streaming wedding rituals: – Weddings with 50 people or small weddings mean that not many people will be invited for the wedding. The live streaming of wedding rituals will increase as their will be many guests who may be uncomfortable traveling or being in large crowd immediately after the pandemic. In addition guests are likely to take digital approach when it comes to gifting.

Now that we know how the wedding trends are going to change in India post pandemic, let’s discuss on a few guidelines to look into before organizing a wedding or going for a wedding celebration: –

• As social distancing is new norm, it is better to take precautions and avoid any physical touch such as hugs or hand-shakes.
• Download the Arogya Setu app and check before whether you are going to a function in a green zone area or not.
• It is best to avoid group picture. If not click pictures in small groups and avoid any physical contact.
• Always carry a hand sanitizer.
• Set up virtual streaming device for people who are not attending the meeting.
• Have a proper spacious seating arrangement.
• Advice guests to not bring gifts or open a digital wedding registry for gifts.
• Host small weddings with limited gathering.
• Choose a venue which is spacious and does not make your guests feel confined.
• Make sure that you wedding venue is properly cleaned and well sanitized.
• If possible talk to your vendors virtually and try to have less physical contact.
• A very important aspect of weddings, catering and food service will be supervised with extra caution. So, tweaking the buffet-style service, using widely spread tables to discourage crowding, with only vendor staff to touch any service utensils, is a good idea.

Thus considering all this, wedding planning will become a hectic task and what can help you to ease out your stress is hiring a wedding planner. There are many famous wedding planners in Delhi but choosing the right one is essential. Thus we at Mallu Farms are here to offer you with top notch wedding services. Contact us for more details.