post-add

This pandemic will force us to change our outlook towards the “Big Fat Indian Wedding": Romesh Dhamija

Being a wedding photographer for 5 years and a wedding planner before that, I have been a witness to the strangest and most wonderful things that happen during weddings. I once personally was a part of the team that shifted the phera venue to another resort just a few hours short of the rituals. But as it always does in this industry, it all came together in the end. 

The wedding industry is used to innovative, last minute and path-breaking solutions. A post-Covid 19 world is hopefully approaching soon and with that a change in how we celebrate is in lieu. With Covid-19 era restrictions and changes likely to remain a while, intimate weddings, micro weddings with 50 or less guests are gaining popularity. The wedding industry has been brought to a standstill by this pandemic; we are looking forward to an uncertain future and we can only move forward by implementing strict measures once the industry is open for business. 

One of the major shifts in how Indian behaviour towards destination weddings will change from venues abroad to venues within the country and furthermore within their own city. We personally have not seen any cancellations till now of confirmed weddings, all of them have been postponed towards the end of 2020 or early 2021. 

For a couple their wedding is a once in a lifetime occasion and although virtual weddings seem like all the rage right now it is an improvisation for the current scenario. I do feel that although people right now are finding ways to conduct virtual weddings, it does not mean that the weddings in future will be reimagined to be all virtual, I personally cannot imagine weddings without close family and friends with all the fun and charades. 

This pandemic will force us to change our outlook towards the “big fat Indian wedding” and move towards a more mindful execution with precautionary measures. It is not one person that can make a difference, the wedding industry is an intricately coordinated system of a number of different units like Wedding planners, photo and film teams, make up artists, choreographers, hotel staff and many more. All of us will have to come together to implement measures that will make sure that once the industry does open it can adhere to making changes and executing weddings smoothly and safely. 

Many rituals and events which were considered standard and important/unavoidable might have to be improvised, like haldi and after parties are some of the events which might have to be let go. We will see a shift in the pattern that was pretty much set and defined for destination weddings these past years. 

To talk specifically about photography and films, we definitely look towards having smaller teams considering the size of the weddings will be reduced quite drastically and the coverage will be not extensive. One photographer and one cinematographer team shall be enough for an intimate wedding. We definitely look forward to having a live streaming setup for coming weddings as it would be for people who could not be there to view the wedding in real time. 

Think baby steps and take the expert advice on the do’s and don'ts moving forward. The pandemic has only put a hold on the industry and everyone is eager to get back to work. It completely depends on us as the whole wedding ecosystem will have to work together to make sure that we recover and recuperate.

Also Read

Subscribe to our newsletter to get updates on our latest news