Unbridled inflation and instability coupled with threats of terror have robbed the ongoing marriage season of its charm as wedding are not being celebrated with the same traditional zeal and enthusiasm, which is part and parcel of local culture. According to survey conducted by Pakistan Today, the wedding season usually starts with the conclusion of the month of Ramadan but usual festivity is missing this time around. The marriage ceremonies are lacking in jubilation and enthusiasm, something that were the hallmark of our traditions. Parents of both the brides and the grooms are more interested in ‘getting the job done’ rather than in making the occasion colourful and memorable.
People busy making preparations to wed their sons and daughters in near future while talking to this scribe said they were trying to bring down the expenditures by reducing the number of guests and food items owing to the price hike. Hashim Raza, a resident of Sector G-7/2, who recently arranged the wedding ceremony of his son, said it took him several days to decide the venue for the event. “My wife, relatives and I myself kept thinking for weeks as to where we should arrange the marriage function,” Butt, who is a government employee, said.
He said hotels and marriage halls proved to be very expensive, while his house was not spacious enough to accommodate all the guests. “After much discussion, we finally booked a cheaper marriage hall, ignoring the security threats that remain a cause of concern these days,” he added. “Gone are the days when people used to celebrate these functions with extravagance, prolonging them to 4 to 5 days, while lighting their houses, decorating groom’s vehicle, booking expensive wedding halls and spending on filming the events and photo sessions,” said Shakil Akhtar.
“Courtesy the inflation, I decided to hire services of a catering company instead of hotels. No lighting, no extravagance, no separate halls for ladies and gents and no movie and photo sessions in my daughter’s wedding function held few days ago,” he added.
Shakil said middle and lower classes were now much concerned about bread and butter and hence wanted to save money. “The government’s directives for one dish wedding functions have proved to be a blessing in disguise for the lower middle class,” he said. The other factor negatively affecting the trend of flamboyant wedding ceremonies is the threat of terrorist attacks. People are afraid to go to shopping centres and hotels due to the threat of suicide bombings.
A hotel manager, wishing not to be named, said besides inflation, people were reluctant to visit hotels due to the threats of terror. “Last year, we had booked halls in advance, as people made reservations several weeks ahead of wedding dates. This year, one can see our halls are mostly deserted,” he said, adding, “Now, hardly a wedding ceremony is held in a week,” he said dolefully.
The owner of a marriage hall located at Club Road narrated the same story. He said people had reduced marriage related functions to a single event. “Now people only arrange rukhsati and walima ceremonies, whereas in the past, the wedding ceremony consisted of a plethora of functions also including mayoon and mehndi, which were organised on different days,” he added. Not only the rent of marriage halls and prices of food items have increased, there has also been an unprecedented increase in the prices of wedding dresses and other items related to dowry. “Prices of bridal dresses such as lehnga and sharara range from Rs 60, 000 to Rs 600, 000 according to the quality of fabric, while last year it was available at Rs 30, 000,” said a shopkeeper.
“People now preferred to get these dresses on a reduced price and return them back after the ceremonies are over.”
Shopkeepers selling wedding items told Pakistan Today that their business was experiencing a constant decline. “It’s a wedding season and hardly a customer has entered our shop so far. Last year, we earned a profit worth Rs 700 on a single suit, while the current figure sands around Rs 300,” said Ahmed Raza, owner of a bridal suiting at F-10 Markaz.
“Likewise, due to the soaring rates of gold, artificial gold and jewellery are becoming more popular with women and majority of brides are using them,” he added.
RECORD RISE IN GOLD PRICES LED TO SLUMP: Record increase in gold prices has led to a slump in the sale of jewellery so much so that even at the peak of wedding seasons there is virtually no buying of gold ornaments.
Noman Iftikhar, a shopper, said he had turned up at the shop to buy gold jewellery for his daughter’s wedding. “High prices have, however, dented my plans,” he said.
Some parents opined that arranging a marriage function under present circumstances was a Herculean task. They said they found it extremely difficult to find a suitable match for their daughters due to the increasing demands of dowry. They said they were strongly opposed to the display of wealth at wedding ceremonies. However, they demanded the government to control inflation so that wedding ceremonies could be organised with traditional enthusiasm as done in the past.
