Wedding bling: For the love of money
Weddings these days are a way of displaying wealth. We focus on every little detail but the wedding itself!
It’s that time of the year again. Fathers lament the drain of their pockets, mothers get teary-eyed at every glimpse of their daughters, designers smirk behind their overpriced outfits, tailors get threatening calls from customers, salons get overcrowded, caterers lie their way through fancy menus and it’s probably the only time of the year when choreographers and the "band baaja walas" earn a decent livelihood. It’s the wedding season, where we focus on every little detail but the real wedding itself.
From designer clothes to custom-made jewellery, weddings these days are known for more than just a simple event celebrating the union of two people. And let’s not forget the overwhelming hype created before the mehendi, where the groom’s side literally has a dance off with the bride’s side. Irony of the fact remains that the mehendi alone is now the highlight of the three-day celebration; the rest of the days are merely reduced to a sequel to the hyped event. But it’s just not about the mehendi alone; weddings these days are a way of displaying wealth; no more than a competing platform where one outdoes the other. As long as it’s "over the top" and gets people talking, it’s in vogue.
Weddings are a status symbol more than anything else. It’s all about living up to society’s expectations, making it worthy enough to gossip about at the next kitty party. We can blame it on societal pressure but we forget that we are the ones who represent society. Recently, our prime minister’s son tied the nuptial knot in Lahore and according to news reports a three hour traffic jam followed an eight kilometre trail of guest cars.
It’s sad how the crux of the wedding – the nikah – is something most of us find insignificant even though it’s the most pivotal part of the wedding. Somehow, everything else seems to take precedence and is blown out of proportion to meet standard expectations.
While some are striving to raise funds to maintain a minimum life-style following one of Pakistan’s worst economic crises, others remain dangerously callous, self indulgent and preoccupied with going all out to manifest their wealth.
From designer clothes to custom-made jewellery, weddings these days are known for more than just a simple event celebrating the union of two people. And let’s not forget the overwhelming hype created before the mehendi, where the groom’s side literally has a dance off with the bride’s side. Irony of the fact remains that the mehendi alone is now the highlight of the three-day celebration; the rest of the days are merely reduced to a sequel to the hyped event. But it’s just not about the mehendi alone; weddings these days are a way of displaying wealth; no more than a competing platform where one outdoes the other. As long as it’s "over the top" and gets people talking, it’s in vogue.
Weddings are a status symbol more than anything else. It’s all about living up to society’s expectations, making it worthy enough to gossip about at the next kitty party. We can blame it on societal pressure but we forget that we are the ones who represent society. Recently, our prime minister’s son tied the nuptial knot in Lahore and according to news reports a three hour traffic jam followed an eight kilometre trail of guest cars.
It’s sad how the crux of the wedding – the nikah – is something most of us find insignificant even though it’s the most pivotal part of the wedding. Somehow, everything else seems to take precedence and is blown out of proportion to meet standard expectations.
While some are striving to raise funds to maintain a minimum life-style following one of Pakistan’s worst economic crises, others remain dangerously callous, self indulgent and preoccupied with going all out to manifest their wealth.