Wedding planners prepare for 50-guest ceremonies

Nagpur: Indian weddings are hallmarks of celebration, with hundreds of guests making it to the celebratory event to bless the couple. However, in line with the corona restrictions, wedding planners and hall owners have geared up to offer 50-person packages.
Wedding planners, event managers, celebration hall and lawn owners are raring to get back to work after a wait of almost 80 days. They are looking forward to offering customized 50 guest packages, so the celebrations can happen smoothly, in an intimate yet exciting celebration. They are all prepared for this to be a part of the business for now and the foreseeable future.
Gajanan Umredkar, who owns a hall, threw light on how the cost and budget of booking a hall would be affected if only 50 make it to the wedding. “We have three huge halls on our premises, for which we earlier used to charge around Rs1,75,000. Now, because of the new rules framed by the government, we will be charging only Rs50,000 to the wedding party,” he said.
People in the wedding business want have many outstanding dues. “We will launch a package, which will have all the required costs and decoration expenses for 50 guests. At least the income will start flowing, so we can help our workers,” added Umredkar.
Suhel Ramteke, a wedding planner, believes that dealing with 50 guests would be very different, as they are used to catering to a huge number of people.
“Now, it all comes down to the budget, as we have to cut down our costs too. Also, families won’t spend so much on fancy decorations anymore. Dealing with 50 guests will be a part of the business for quite a while now. We will create packages accordingly, with everything within budget,” he said.
Pramod Joshi, manager at a celebration lawn, says accommodating 50 guests with Covid distancing will not be a problem at all at their huge premises.
“We are keenly interested in going back into business. We will have a scheme for 50 guest policy, all the norms would be followed, less costs will be the norm, and sanitization would be taken care of,” he said.
Even caterers are preparing to incorporate the new 50 guest policy. “To be in the business certain changes will have to be done, like cutting down per plate cost. Earlier it was different, less guests meant higher per plate charge. But now, we will have to ensure that only 50 plates are available on the counter in the coming months,” said Akshay Khanjode, a caterer.
Another caterer Praveen Jhattewar said, “We are looking forward to starting business again, as it will at least boost the market. The per plate cost will of course be a lot less,” he said.
However, not all costs can be controlled. The rent of halls and lawns are fixed, hence the businesses are staring at a big problem.
“We will have to plan the wedding and provide decorative material and props at much lesser cost. Yet, some work is better than no work,” said Roshan Wadekar, who provides wedding management services.