Big fat Indian weddings have taken a back seat due to the Corona virus and with the government mandate of not more than 50 guests per wedding, intimate and small weddings have become the new normal. Here’s a real bride sending her story of her lockdown wedding in her own apartment with full decor ( her balcony played the major role ) and mehendi.

Who would have thought 3 years back, when I invested in a 2BHK apartment, I would end up getting married in the same house says bride Avantika Singh

Our wedding was scheduled for 27th of June 2020, with all the bookings done well in advance. However, Universe had other plans and we were hit by the pandemic eventually leading to a lockdown in the country. Initially, we were hopeful that by June the lockdown would get lifted and we would be able to conduct the ceremony as planned. However, by mid May, when we saw no respite, we had to decide whether to go ahead or postpone the marriage. To add to the situation, the property we had initially booked for the event refused to host us for the said dates as they were not in a position to do so. As much as we had plans of a grand Royal wedding celebration, our families and friends advised us to go ahead with the decided date and a limited guest count (In our case it was 15 immediate family members)

Next task was to look for another venue which would accommodate our request at such short notice following all protocols mandated by the Government. After having researched for almost 20 days and having faced serious logistic issues with all the properties in consideration, our families mutually decided to have the ceremony at Home. Yes, Mera Ghar!

Now that the venue was finalized, I had to look for someone who could help me with the decor of the space available. I have an L shaped passage from the lift until the main door which I decided to utilize for decoration as well the size of my balcony was decent enough to accommodate about 8- 10 people at one point in time. However, the challenge was to have decor in a way that would not cramp up the space available and yet give a Royal look and feel. I was fortunate enough to find Jalpa (NWT events) who was patient with me and my specifications regarding the decor. Together, we chalked out a plan and the pictures are proof of how beautifully all the three days (Mehendi, Engagement & Wedding) turned out to be.

The last and final step for a smooth ceremony was to get nearby Police permissions and submit medical certificates of all outside vendors who would visit the society for the 3 day event. It wasn’t easy to get the permissions at once, as safety of the people around us was put at risk and the society was also skeptical of giving us a go ahead. After multiple reminder emails and a lot of convincing, we finally managed to get the sanction from the managing committee. Special mention here for the frontline support staff of my Society (guards & housekeeping) who were on their toes all throughout to make the event smooth for me keeping in mind the guidelines issued to them.

For all our relatives and well wishers who were not in a position to attend physically, we set up a YouTube Live. My best friend, sister in law and many other relatives who couldn’t make it watched us Live until 4 am in the morning and made us feel so loved and special. Their participation overwhelmed us and we will be forever grateful that they blessed us virtually.

This transition from an outsourced wedding to taking us back in time when weddings involved every family member and making it work, little did we know our DIY wedding would be such a delight to bring together. A huge thank you to both our families for being the pillar of our strength. No extravagant banquet hall, no elaborate decoration, no specialty chef, no royal entry, no coordinated trousseau. Just us surrounded by our loved ones, our wedding was perfect for us in every way. We kept it small and simple but ensured we carried out all rituals as planned and enjoyed them with all our heart. This intimate celebration of our little story (#VIKAwedding) will now stand the testimony of time.

A big shout out to these lovely people who joined at the last minute to help us expedite the preparations and the results were fantastic. We were as good as the team that backed us. Kudos!