The wedding season has started with the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Marriage halls in the city can now be seen in business. These marriages have helped a number of businesses to come back to life after Ramadan and people associated with these businesses are getting employment once again.
Caterers, decorators, jewellers, tailors, cooks, car rentals, movie makers, photographers, florists and sellers of generators, chicken, rice and mutton are very happy because of the start of wedding season. The marriage hall owners said that their sales have increased at least by 50 percent. They said that though they had bookings in Ramadan but it was less than current bookings.
Marriage Hall Association President Mian Muhammad Ilyas, while talking to Pakistan Today, said that marriage business did not run throughout the year and stopped during three months: Ramadan, Muharram and Safar. He said that marriages increased immediately before and after these months, adding that their bookings had increased after Eid.
“I have a large number of bookings and many businesses associated with marriages are progressing by leaps and bounds,” he said adding that there were around 700 marriage halls in the city and all of them were booked these days.
The marriage halls are charging Rs 250 to Rs 700 per head from the customers. “The per head rate depends upon the quality of food, location of hall and standard of building,” Mian Ilyas said adding that wedding halls used to get supplies of food items from different people including chicken, mutton and rice sellers, who are also happy earning profit. The cooks are also very happy, as they are getting employment because of weddings. “Though, I have many orders during Ramadan but after the start of marriage season, my business has doubled,” said a cook Ali Hussain adding he was getting orders round the clock.
Besides holding function in wedding halls, people also opt for arranging function in open areas and grounds. As a result, the services of caterers and decorators are hired and their businesses flourish. “We used to charge around Rs 10,000 to 25,000 for decorating stage but it is the peak of the season therefore rates have gone up,” said a caterer and decorator, Arif Hussain.
Car rentals, which had been in troubled waters for the last some months, have now revived. “All of my vehicles are booked in advance,” said a rent-a-car dealer, Zain Arshad adding that besides the groom’s vehicle, people rented out vehicles for wedding days. He said the rate for renting out a vehicle was between Rs 1,800 to 3,500 depending upon the condition of the vehicle. A car decorator and flower seller Aziz Khan said he charged Rs 2,000 to 6,000 for decorating a car. He said that he earned enough in the nine months of the wedding season and rested the rest of the year. A tailor, Sultan Ashraf, said he had a good business during Ramadan and now weddings in the city were helping him a lot in earning profits as well.
A cloth seller in Gulberg, Talal Zafar, said a large number of people bought wedding dresses. He said a bridal dress was available between Rs 15,000 to 1,000,000 while a groom dress could be purchased between Rs 10,000 to Rs 500,000. A chicken seller Sheikh Abid Ali said he worked round the clock to meet the wedding orders. He said though his business declined slightly during Ramadan but now he was earning. “A large number of wedding halls and customers have given me advance orders,” he said adding that around 300 to 400 kg of chicken meat was being sold these days only because of weddings. A gold jeweller in Ichra, Irfan Ahmed, said that owing to high gold prices his business was slow but now it had improved.
