Big fat wedding season kicks off, vendors overwhelmed

As the big fat wedding season kicks off, severe shortage of vendors, including, DJs, bands, flower decorators, caterers and priests is being felt across the state.

Those interested in booking a venue and availing paid services from November 16 to December 15, face a herculean task.

Planners attached with the industry said around 1.5 lakh weddings had been scheduled till December, thus pumping in crores of rupees in the economy.

Jaideep Narula, a wedding planner, said, “The wedding season is jam-packed. The entire industry is working over time. On several days, caterers and videographers are doing three shifts to manage the rush.”

“As the NRIs are already here, resorts, wedding halls and tailors are hard to find. Even booking a priest is a tough task, given the huge demand for the next 28 days,” he said.

Similarly, liquor contractors are busy arranging favourite brands. “We have told our customers to give advance orders. There are hundreds of functions where we need to supply liquor within a short span of time,” they said.

A senior excise official said those applying for permits had also jumped from around 10 persons to a couple of hundred per day. “Those who want to serve liquor during marriage ceremony must apply for the permit. The fee is minimal. There is a huge rush and our staff are dealing with it. We are clearing applications within a day,” said the official.

The sudden rush means that those attached indirectly with the wedding industry are busy too.

Harinder Singh, owner of Telex Tailors, said, “I have stopped taking orders for the next three weeks. My staff is working overtime to clear 480 pending orders.”

Interestingly, blame the planets for lining up in a certain way — the weekends till December end are the busiest, both as per Hindu and Sikh traditional rituals with hundreds of weddings planned everyday.