My size zero wedding

The ShahJain wedding is the microwedding prototype 65 people at the pheras a 100 at the reception the bridersquos roka outfit will include a piece of fabric from her motherrsquos wedding saree and shersquoll wear her grandmotherrsquos banglesUnless you are part of the inner circle you probably arenrsquot invited to this new kind of weddingMichelle Shah and Vedant Jain met while studying medicine a few years ago and are looking forward to the next part of their fairy tale The date Christmas Kind of wedding Small intimate microShrey Bhagat founder of Raabta and Parthip Thyagarajan CEO of WeddingSutraShah a paediatrician grew up in Juhu The suburb symbolises love safety and family for her ldquoSo when the time came for Vedant and I to think of a venue for the ceremony we decided it will be held at my home since both of us knew that it should be held in our place where our family can attend A maximum of 65 people will be thererdquo she says over the phone from the US where she is pursuing higher studies at Harvard University A tight group of 100 guests not more will be at the reception held the next day ldquoEven though the guest list is longer for this function it will again be intimate and include only people who truly want to be thererdquo says ShahHas this rubbed some relatives the wrong way given how we are used to include a fifth cousinrsquos Insta follower in the wedding party ldquoYes it was a bit hardrdquo she admits ldquopeople did feel bad But we are lucky that most guests understand the intention behind itrdquoThe tight list does not stem from nor mean frugality ldquoLess expense was not the focusrdquo says Shah ldquoThough it might be for others and I can understand why We wanted only those interested in witnessing everything about our day in attendancerdquo she saysShrey Bhagat founder and creative director of Raabta luxury wedding photography and cinematography brand says that microweddings might be cost effective by default but thatrsquos not the driving factor ldquoIt varies across couplesrdquo he says ldquoWhile microweddings are generally costeffective many clients choose it to prioritise emotion over expense Itrsquos a deliberate decision enabling a meaningful celebration From the guest list to the rituals outfits and food every aspect is meticulously planned to enhance the significance of their special dayrdquoWeddings are a big industry in India we know Approximately 35 million weddings are expected to take place across the country in the 23 days spanning November 23 and December 15 this year according to a survey by the Confederation of All India Traders CAIT This is expected to generate a flow of about R425 trillion in weddingrelated purchases and servicesParthip Thyagarajan CEO of WeddingSutra says in the Indian context the region the couple belongs to also dictates scale ldquoIn India what might be a small wedding for a Marwadi home might be a big wedding for someone from another staterdquo he says ldquoIt may be restricted to only one single function or even be hosted at someonersquos homerdquo But a ldquoslim and smart weddingrdquo as he calls it does not skim on emotion ldquoThere is a lot of emotion attached to everything in themrdquo he adds Hersquos a bit sceptical about this becoming a longstaying trend ldquoIn Indiardquo he says ldquomost couples still want the big fat wedding where parents and best friends get what theyrsquove envisioned for the couplerdquoIn June this year WedMeGood released a report that said the average number of wedding guests has dropped to 275mdashnearly half of the preCOVID average of 500 And destination weddings have only made an 18 per cent comeback so they surely are shrinking