Hiring choppers for weddings a rage among couples

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, February 21

The ways of celebrating the moments of matrimonial bliss have been swiftly shifting from traditional ones to advanced ideas and concepts. Refusing to set limits in the weddings, be it the bride’s side or groom’s, everyone seem to be more resplendent than the other.

Earlier, there was a craze among brides was to make a grand entry sitting on bonnet of Mahindra Thar while that still continues among a few. Now, a new craze has taken over couples, especially in NRI-dominated Doaba region weddings, where they make an entry by air, landing at the venue on a chopper. It has become a rage among people.

Day by day Indian weddings are getting westernised and lavish.

“A wedding these days is no longer restricted to bride’s outfit, wedding theme, decoration or food, instead the Gen-X would settle for nothing less than something that is classy, extraordinary, stylish and trendy. Everyone looks for something out of the box,” said Varneet Kaur, a wedding professional.

Divulging details about chopper hiring in marriages, city-based Abraham Aviation Service said: “The craze to hire our services is taking up among youth both in urban and rural areas. Even we are receiving advance bookings from nearby villages and towns such as Phagwara, Nawanshahr and Nakodar. It would be wrong to say that only NRIs are interested in taking the chopper services as all bookings that we have made till now are of non-NRI families,” it said.

“A written permission from the district administration, either DC, DM or SDM, is required to operate from the place that is not a licenced airport/helipad. Obtaining landing permission from the district administration is the responsibility of the client. However, we also assist the client in obtaining the same, if needed,” an official of the firm said.

He said: “Some facilities such as plain hard surface of at least 30m diameter, proper helipad markings should be there for the same. Also, we provide chopper facilities like grand and unforgettable entry, flower dropping/showering over the marriage venue, local sightseeing opportunity and lot of time to click photographs.”

“Nothing makes a wedding more epic than the bridal party or groom party surprising guests with an unusual activity, which is not generally seen in usual marriages,” said Kawaljeet Singh (28), a businessman who recently tied the knot.

What actually the couples want was that their chattering circles should gossip about their function till long and every single detail of the wedding should be on visitor’s tips and that was possible only when you would have something different such as a chopper entry, he said.

“Today’s wedding celebrations have become more elaborate, depending on the type of experience and memory the couples want. Residents in the region are making extraordinary efforts to make their occasions memorable,” said Harvinder Singh, an employee of another city-based aviation service.

“Earlier, the trend was common among posh families but slowly and gradually the trend has become popular in the entire region,” he added.

A costly affair

Harvinder, an employee of a city-based aviation service, said various companies offer various ranges depending upon the experience and facilities the couple and the family want. The service cost starts from Rs 70,000 per hour to Rs 5 lakh. A helicopter is booked for a minimum of two hours/day or for maximum five hours that includes the flight time used to position the aircraft from our base to the first venue and back to the base from the final venue.