Wedding blues in lockdown time

TNN | Updated: Apr 22, 2020, 08:13 IST

Many weddings are cancelled, but marriage garden owners, caterers are refusing to return the advance booking amount to their clients

Many weddings are cancelled, but marriage garden owners, caterers are refusing to return the advance booking a...Read More

JAIPUR: Due to lockdown, all the weddings that were to be held in March and April have been cancelled. The marriage garden owners, caterers and beauticians, however, are not returning the advance amounts received leaving their clients helpless.
Deepshika Meena’s marriage was scheduled for April 11 in Jaipur which is now cancelled without any return from the marriage garden owners. “We paid Rs 1.5 lakh for a day to the garden owners in Mansarovar. He is not ready to pay back, but assuring us that they will adjust it in whatever next date will be suitable to us. For the next six months, we cannot organise any event and there will be advance bookings for other people in November and December. How are they going to adjust us?” said Deepshika.
Thousands of marriages were cancelled due to the pandemic. Marriage gardens, beauty salons, caterers and decorators – most of them are unwilling to pay back their clients.
Nikita Mehta from Ajmer had Rs 3 lakh stuck in this situation. Her family booked a nearby community hall for the mehndi ceremony and the councillor is not ready to pay back. “The community hall is under the local councillor, but he has refused to pay us back. There is no definite date of wedding any more. We want the government to intervene and take action in this regard,” Nikita said.
The government is yet to take any decision in this regard and no announcement has been made yet.
The Rajasthan Marriage Garden Association, however, said they will return the money to the people who demand and adjust it for those who are ready to wait.
General secretary of the association Bhawani Singh said, “We had a meeting and have decided that we will return the money to people who want it back. And also we are ready to adjust the booking amount for the next date. Any person facing any such issue can approach us.”