Dollar garland for the groom

Rupee garlands for the groom are passé even as dollar garlands have made their way into big fat Indian weddings, and are the big trend in the Capital this year.

“My cousin who is a permanent resident of Australia had come for my wedding and he gifted me a garland made of Australian and US dollars,” said Karan Singh Arora (name changed on request). He is not the only one. Many people are queuing up to get dollar garlands stitched, say garland makers. “We regularly get customers who bring dollars or pounds and we make garlands for them,” says Pankaj Jain of Prem Collection in Chandni Chowk.

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And as grooms cash in on the trend, legal experts say Indian nationals cannot go overboard while gifting a dollar garland. “According to the Forex regulation of the Reserve Bank of India, a person can legally keep foreign currency of up to $2,000 (approx R1lakh) at home,” says Praveen Khattar, an advocate. “International passport holders can however carry as many dollars as they want,” adds advocate Aman Sareen.