The true cost of big fat Indian weddings | DW Documentary

Glamor, glitz and grandiosity: Indian weddings are often on a huge scale. But the cost of the opulent weddings plunges many families into debt.

For many Indian couples, their wedding is the most important event of their lives. Celebrations go on for days and even weeks, often with hundreds of guests. The party is also an expression of status and wealth. It’s estimated that the Indian wedding business will generate the equivalent of some 130 billion US dollars in 2025. But the glamorous façade often conceals a bleak reality. The pressure to live up to societal expectations is immense. Many families take on debt to cover the cost of a wedding. A tradition obliging the bride’s family to provide a generous dowry plunges poorer families into financial ruin and is often the cause of violent conflicts that have in some cases resulted in the bride’s death.

But why is the “Big Fat Indian wedding” tradition still so deeply rooted to this day? And can couples push back against the pressure and do things their way?

00:00 Intro
00:45 A Typical Indian Wedding
03:03 Anant Ambani’s Wedding of the Century
03:25 The Wedding Business
04:00 Why the Big Event is so Important
05:25 Mass Weddings as an Alternative
07:45 Dangerous Tradition: Dowry
10:25 Against All Conventions: A Small-Scale Wedding

#documentary #dwdocumentary #dwdocs #wedding #indianwedding
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