Band, baaja and no more waste

Our new series on having a dream wedding without wastage! In part 1, we look at how to treat your guests to dinner without going over-the-top.

It may strike you as no big deal to see mammoth amounts of food go to waste at Indian weddings. But a shocking study by the Union Food and Consumer Affairs ministry has revealed that 15% of India’s total food-grain waste can be traced back to the big fat Indian weddings.

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Calling Indian weddings “extravagant and luxurious”, the ministry has asked people to cut back on the unnecessary frills at weddings, in an effort to reduce the waste.

According to city wedding planners, an upper-middle class wedding costs anything between Rs. 40-50 lakh, with Rs. 3 lakh spent on food alone — of which food 15% lies surplus. "There are around 600-1000 guests and the cost per plate starts from Rs. 500 upwards," says Kuldeep Sharma of Balajee Eventz, wedding planners. "The same amount of money can be used to feed 47,468 children under the School Meal Programme organised by the Akshayapatra Programme," says Manish Sharma, of the programme.

In the first part of our series — Go For A Guilt Free Wedding — we take a look at some tricks on how to ensure that your lavish dinner buffet is not surplus to requirement.

YOUR FOOD BILL
Average number of guests: 600
Cost per plate of food: Rs. 500, plus taxes
Variety of dishes: 15-20
Variety of dessert: 3-5
Total cost: Rs. 3 lakh