Banquet halls face huge losses as weddings get postponed

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 15

Against the backdrop of ban on large public gatherings due to Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty looms large over weddings in Jammu and Kashmir with worried parents deferring marriage functions of their children for indefinite period.

The coronavirus outbreak has hit wedding plans in this peak season of the year as most of the weddings were scheduled for between March and May.

“We have decided to postpone the wedding. We had made all arrangements for the marriage. Everything was booked, from the venue to other things, but now all stands cancelled. We can’t take risk of holding wedding function in such an uncertain time. No doubt, we have faced a a huge loss but safety is more important,” said Asha Devi, a resident of Ramnagar, presently residing in the Pacci Dhaki area, whose daughter’s marriage was scheduled for May 5.

The engagement ceremony was held in December. Immediately after the engagement, the two families had an auspicious date fixed by an astrologer. Since April-May is the peak season for weddings, preparations started from January itself.

“We are uncertain about the fresh date of marriage in view of the prevailing scenario,” Devi said.

Sushil Kumar, a native of Udhampur town, was busy making all arrangements for his brother’s wedding, scheduled for May 17 but he has now shelved the plan for an indefinite period.

“This was the last marriage function of our family and we wanted to celebrate it in a grand way. We have postponed the function as the safety of people is most important. We will surely face huge losses and other problems but it is okay since taking precautions is more important. Once things get normal we will again get a ‘muharat’ (auspicious date) and arrange the wedding,” Sushil Kumar added.

Avenish Choudhary, General Manager, Vedas Banquets and Event Destination, said, “Our bookings for the month of May have been cancelled and the people, who had booked banquets for marriages in September and October, are still not sure whether the government will allow large gatherings by that time also. It will take long to come out of this problem. No doubt, the wedding industry has been bearing serious brunt of this pandemic.”

Amit Gupta, owner of Royal Estate Banquets, said, “It was the peak season of weddings and we are suffering heavy losses. The people, who had made bookings for the month of April, have asked for postponement of their functions due to the prevailing uncertainty. They are now requesting for new dates after the normalising of the situation. We are cooperating with our clients.”