This wedding season, Lucknowites take outside route for venues

LUCKNOW: There is no right time to get married, they say. But this wedding season, couples will have limited days to tie the knot!

There are just three auspicious dates suitable for marriage in November and only a handful in December. The shortage of dates in turn has set a clamour for venues in the state capital, forcing many to look for options on the outskirts.

“The ‘shukra’ would rise on November 23 and wedding season would start only after that. As a result, the entire November has no suitable dates for weddings. This has also shrunk the number of dates through the entire wedding season,” says priest Rameshwar Prasad Misra.

According to him, there are only three suitable dates for marriage in November and only a handful in December. However, the wedding season would continue till March-April this year. The problem compounds the woes of the families, as Lucknow has very limited options. Jameel Shamsi, a popular city decorator, says: “T he standard of Lucknowites has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, thus limiting wed-

LESS DATES MEANS A LOSS FOR WEDDING HALL MANAGERS. WE CAN CATER TO LIMITED CUSTOMERS, AS OUR VENUES WILL BE PACKED. HAD THERE BEEN MORE DATES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BRISK BUSINESS

MOHAMMAD AHMAD, manager, wedding hall, Lucknow

ding venues options. Barring a few posh lawns, there isn’t much option for those who wish to have a ‘big, fat wedding’.”

“It is hard to find a single venue even in Barabanki or on Sitapur Road during this season, as all are packed to their full capacity on all the dates,” added Shamsi.

Interestingly, people, who simply do not want to compromise on the venue, were found more than willing to shift to the outskirts. The choice is also backed by the restrictions on loud music.

“There are a lot of restrictions on playing music in Lucknow. You cannot play loud music after 10pm. But when you do it on the outskirts, no one ever comes to check,” says Santosh, a city-based musician.

“People call music groups and artistes from Mumbai and Delhi to perform. In such a case, they don’t want the performances to be stopped at 10pm. When they organise parties on the outskirts, music goes on till late night,” he adds. Not to be surprised, the city’s caterers, decorators and even beauticians have agreed to accompany couples to their desired venues.