If you are planning a destination wedding in Kerala some months down the line, you may find yourself toeing to the state dictated budget for your wedding. The State Women’s Commission is keen on pushing through a bill that regulates expensive weddings in the state, limiting expenditure to Rs.6 Lakhs.
Their social welfare minister, M.K. Muneer had first announced that they were considering this idea last year in February.
Muneer told the state assembly that the situation has reached such a “dangerous level” where weddings only mean flaunting of one’s wealth.
He said people have reached a stage where they try to “wear a dress made of gold”, and that ostentatious weddings have become a law and order problem too.
“People spend several lakh rupees for a wedding, where in the other side there are families who struggle to conduct their daughter’s marriage. So we should put an end to this,” K C Rosakkutty Women Commission chairperson told The News Minute.
The commission has recommended that the bride shall not wear more than 120 grams of gold. It has also been suggested that the bridal wear should not cost more than Rs.20000 and the groom’s outfit should be within Rs.15000. Invitation cards shouldn’t cost more than Rs 25, the auditorium rent should be less than Rs.50000 and decorations cost shall not cross Rs.5000.
Considering the kind of gold craze many Keralites harbour, this may probably be a wise move. Buying and wearing gold has been part of culture and tradition in Kerala, but in recent times, Malayalis have been buying up gold like mad. A 2011 report by The Hindu shows that roughly 75 tonnes of the 500 tonnes of gold sold in the country are being bought by Malayalis.
The people most affected by this are the bride’s family who go practically bankrupt trying to keep up with the social pressure of decking their daughter in kilos of gold.
Small wonder then that when one bride, Elizabeth Chandy, took the decision to go for coconut shell jewellery rather than gold, it became viral news.
Of course, the proposed bill just limits excessive expenditure. If violated, people stand to pay a fine, which may not be a very effective way of curbing it. In most cases, if people really want to have lavish wedding, they would just cough up the fine and go on with the festivities anyway. Or hold weddings in neighbouring states.
In fact, the only thing that may be impacted by this bill is Kerala’s standing as a top destination wedding spot, for Indians and foreigners alike. And neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka would surely benefit from all the local Malayali weddings that may happen there in terms of tourist inflow – provided the bill gets passed and people actually take it seriously.
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