KARACHI:
Marriage is a sacred covenant and a significant milestone in an individual’s life. Therefore, weddings are equally important for both the groom and the bride because the event signifies the mutual understanding of the couple based on love, generosity and sacrifice. Unfortunately, we are losing the true essence and spirit of this beautiful bond.
The trend of spending lavishly on wedding ceremonies has become a norm in Pakistan, which, in my opinion, is nothing but a sheer waste of money. Wedding festivities are a power play about how much wealth we can flaunt in order to establish our honour and status in society. A fortune is spent on multi-layered ceremonies: event décor by planners, customised invitation cards, sprawling venues and exotic destinations, regal wardrobes by high end fashion designers; the list goes on.
Such weddings are obviously held by people with deep pockets. However, can they just pause, take a deep breath and reflect on their frivolous spending? Do they just want an ostentatious display of their wealth or observe austerity and keep the ceremonies simple and elegant?
Even if we buy the argument of lavish spending on weddings acting as a boon for the economy, are they morally justified? Morality may be subjective, but such show of riches is highly inappropriate when there is abject poverty all around us. Such royal weddings have an enormous social pressure especially on the middle class who struggle with economic challenges to host similar wedding ceremonies. A few years ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan levied a restriction of serving a single dish at weddings — a law which is often observed to be violated. Strict enforcement of this can only be possible if the affluent follow these austerity measures and become trendsetters.
Salma Tahir
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2021.
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