Tips on Booking a Marriage Hall in India

Most of the American residents having their home country in India arrange marriages of their children in India only as their close relatives are mostly staying there. The marriage arrangements in India can be made very easily once you have been able to get the suitable marriage hall booked for your occasion. As I have resided most of the time in the city of Vadodara in the State of Gujarat, my tips on how to book the marriage hall would be more pertinent for the Gujarat State in India. First of all, you need to book the hall well in advance in India. Sometimes this period can be as long as one year. It is always better to arrange marriage in the closed hall, rather than the open plot in India as the decoration of the open plot can be very expensive and also, weather can change suddenly bringing rains.

The most important factor in locating a suitable marriage hall is to initially compile the detailed list of all such halls of that city or area. Such list can be available from the yellow telephone book of a particular city or through the feedback from all your friends and relatives. The marriage halls operated by the government bodies like Municipal Corporation, State government etc would be quiet cheaper as compared with the privately managed halls. The rent for the government halls would be in the range of around Rs.2500 ($60) for 24 hours. However, the rent of privately managed halls would be in the range of around Rs.6000 ($150) to Rs.40000 ($1000) for 24 hours. This rent generally includes the water supply, large cooking utensils, around four large gas stoves, 500 plastic chairs, standard wedding chori without any decoration, the floor carpet in selected areas, and the two large sofa chairs for the wedding couple.

The electricity is available on chargeable basis. The initial meter reading is to be recorded at the time of taking the possession of the hall and the final reading at the time of vacating the hall also is to be recorded. The actual payment would be based on the difference of these readings. You need to pay certain amount towards the security deposit initially. This would be settled later in your account. All the decorations of flowers, lightings, carpets, water fountains, dinner tables and counters, and the hall furnishings are treated as extra and are to be paid separately. All the food items you want to serve to the guests can be finalized with the caterer. The caterers are sometimes attached with the marriage halls. Hence, you will have to fix up the contract with the same caterer linked up with the hall.

All marriage halls have their own rules and regulations. Please make sure to study all such rules before hand to avoid any problems later. Some halls may not allow the music band, fire crackers, powerful flood lights, playing filmy songs at full volume, and the food service inside the hall. The timings of playing the music also do vary based on the city in which you are arranging the marriage. As for example, such procession or music is allowed only till 11 pm in the night in most of the cities of Gujarat State. The check in and check out timings also must be carefully noted in the beginning. Sometimes the check out time of the hall is not 24 hours but 12 noon. The clear receipt indicating your reservation details may also be obtained at the time of booking and paying advance and preserved carefully. Sometimes the hall is rented to more than one party for the same day due to mistake of the hall management.

Make sure to observe the hall in details at the time of finalizing the booking. This would help you to plan all the activities of marriage precisely. Make sure about the security arrangements of the marriage hall as the theft of costly gold ornaments at such time is quite common in India. Engage your own security agency if the hall arrangements are not sufficient. Make sure to vacate the hall at the specified time as otherwise you will have to pay heavy penalty charges. The hall also must be cleaned thoroughly prior to handing over it back, as otherwise the hall management may deduct a large amount from your security deposit. Make sure that none of the belongings of any guest is left out at the hall premises. Please ensure giving all the details of your program to the hall staff to avoid any miscommunication later. If you observe any damage to the hall property at the time of taking the possession, make sure to show it to the hall staff so that you are not considered responsible for the said damage.

I am sure these simple tips in booking the marriage hall in India would help all my AC friends to organize their functions nicely to their satisfaction in India. As such marriage functions come very rarely in life, all the efforts are worth to see that the functions become enjoyable without any unfortunate event.