Delhiites shift wedding venues to NCR amid curbs

Wedding planner say delhiites have cancelled most functions for January. Even for February, they’re holding back planning till mid-January to decide about changing their venues.

As per the restrictions under yellow alert in Delhi, a maximum of 20 guests are allowed at wedding events, organised in court or at home only. This has many rushing to shift their weddings to the NCR and other cities without such curbs. Raghubir Singh from a Delhi-based event company, shares, “Delhi mein kaam thap hai. Many are shifting venues to NCR or opting for cities like Jaipur.”

Delhiites shift wedding venues to NCR and book non-saaya dates (January 1-13) to accommodate the last minute changes as Delhi government allows only 20 guests at weddings.

This has led to shortage of venue options in NCR, too. Salil Chaudhry, an event planner from Delhi, says, “About 80-99% business has been shifted out of Delhi. But the saaya is so heavy from January 15 to February end that venues aren’t available now!” Destination weddings seem more feasible to some, amid these issues. Take for instance, Ramesh Dagar, a businessman from Delhi, who says, “I shifted my daughter’s wedding to Udaipur (Rajasthan). A gathering of 200 people is allowed there.”

Meanwhile, city-based wedding planner, Jivika Mehra, says, “People have cancelled most functions for January. Even for February, they’re holding back planning till mid-January to decide about changing their venues.”

Some have even booked non-saaya dates (January 1-13) to accommodate the last minute changes. Rudhir Sharma, an event planner from Gurugram, says, “Guests from Delhi are choosing non-saaya dates for weddings in the NCR as saaya dates were already booked. The rush for wedding venues in the NCR has surged since the restrictions were announced in Delhi, as people don’t want to wait to get married any more.”

“We are at the end of two financial years and Covid has crippled the industry and Haryana has been lenient in terms of giving those small numbers to the industry. Either people are postponing their events, or they are doing it in small numbers and shifting it out of Delhi. It’s a 50-50, wherein some are holding their functions outside of Delhi with a good pomp and show, and some are doing it at home wherein they just want to finish the formalities,” says Puneet Gupta, MD Tivoli Gardens/Tivoli Garden Resort Hotel.

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