Daily Times

Sir: New trends in wedding ceremonies have made weddings very expensive and complicated; these expenses are very difficult to meet for the poor. Now, the lower middle class and even middle class cannot arrange wedding functions according to the new trends but they utilise all possible resources, including life savings and borrowings from relatives, to make their wedding functions lavish. Why do we not spend on our weddings what is available from our resources, why this pomp and show? Are parents of daughters afraid of grooms’ families? Why do we not take an initiative to make weddings simple? We are too inspired by Indian wedding functions that were adopted by the elite class; now everybody is trying to compete with one another.

Many unnecessary expenses can be avoided, such as a moderately priced bridal dress, providing reasonable dowry, avoiding expensive photo shoots, arranging functions in marriage halls rather than in luxury hotels, avoiding decoration of homes with lighting equipment, no extra dishes at wedding ceremonies and many other minor expenses. The government should take steps in this regard by announcing prohibition on extra and unnecessary expenditures. Clerics should start campaigns to spread awareness among people to abandon nonreligious trends, to change typical perspectives and adopt practical approaches, promoting simple but elegant weddings.

RUDABA GORAYA

Rawalpindi