Tips for Organizing a Quick Marriage in India

Many Americans, originally of Indian origin, visit India for arranging marriage of their children in India. It is very obvious that they are not able to get the long vacations due to recent job pressures and competition at professional level. In view of this, the arrangement of quick marriage in India becomes prime important. All the stages of seeing the girls or boys for the first time up to the final marriage need to be completed in shortest possible time. I had one experience recently of planning and arranging such marriage at Vadodara in Gujarat State in India. All the formalities were completed within one week only and the complete Indian traditional marriage was arranged. I have briefly narrated various important tips for arranging such quick but traditional Indian marriage. These tips can be equally applicable in any city of India as the major steps in a traditional Indian marriage are more or less same. However, it is advisable to avoid peek marriage season of April/May and January/February as some of the resources may not be available at this time.

Once the engagement ceremony is over, the first step is to contact your priest to get the best muhurat for the marriage. Most of the Indians believe in this as this muhurat forms the foundation of a successful marriage as per Indian customs. The same priest can be utilized for conducting the ceremony. As soon as the date of the marriage is firmed up, you will have to immediately start running around the city, visiting various marriage halls and checking their availability on the marriage date. Make sure to reserve covered hall in case of rainy season, normally from June to October. You will also need to know the number of guests you want to invite while booking such halls. This is the most difficult step in the entire process as such bookings are done sometimes one year in advance. There are some government establishments available in each city for such functions. These are the cheapest having the rent of around Rs.6000 equivalent to $150 per day. However, it is very difficult to get booking in such places at a short notice. The next option is the private establishments. The list of such establishments can be easily available from the yellow book of a particular city. Such establishments are comparatively costly in the range of Rs.50000 to Rs.100000 ($1250 to $2500) per day. These charges are towards the rent only and all other charges of decoration, electricity, and catering shall be extra. Some of the hotels have also started providing such facilities in their premises. However, such facilities can be only used for entertaining guests up to 250. Such hotels include the rent of the premises in the food charges and offer the lump sum rate per person.

Once the marriage hall is booked, you need to book the decorating and catering agencies. Normally, such agencies are attached with most of the marriage halls and you shall be compelled to use them. Be very clear and specific in your order for decoration as to type of entrance gate, passage, walk ways, the chairs requirement, chori decoration, lighting decoration, flower arrangement with the specific type of flowers, and finally, the time at which you need everything ready. Make sure to get firm offer for all the items you order. Off-late, decorators in India have started lump sum packages for the total job. In such case, be sure to know the exact items covered in the package. Such packages are coming in the range of Rs.35000 ($875) to Rs. 70000($1750) based on the type of decoration you select. The finalizing of food menu is the next. You will have to specify each item you want to serve and get the exact offer from the caterer. Make sure to specify the taste you want to have as otherwise it can be too spicy sometimes. The standard dish having soup of your selection, salads, two sweets, two farsans, four vegetables, rice, curry or dal of your choice, papad, prickles and chutneys cost around Rs. 160 ($4) per head.

You will also need to commit exact number of dishes in advance. The payment for this number is to be made even in case of less guests attending. However, in case of increase in number of guests, the actual dishes consumed shall be considered while making payment. The photography, music band, and the cars for transport also need to be arranged. The photographer charges can be around Rs.10000 ($250) per day including everything like photo rolls, blank DVDs, and the photography equipments. The good music band charges are around Rs.10000 ($250) per hour. The hired cars can be available at the rate of Rs.500 ($24) per day with driver and the gas, with a ceiling of 50 miles per day. All other items like clothes, gold and silver items can be available in the standard shops. However, make sure to visit only standard and approved shops for your purchase. The invitation cards can be ordered after selecting the one of your choice from the samples available for view. The cards can be distributed quickly through the reputed couriers who guarantee the same day delivery in same city.

The traditional Indian marriage can be great fun if everything is planned out well. I am sure these tips shall be of big help to all my AC friends interested in arranging quick marriage in India.