A wedding for a meagre ₹1? As fantastic as it sounds, a Chennai-based wedding planner has launched the “1 Rupee Wedding Campaign,” to help underprivileged couples in Tamil Nadu who cannot afford a grand wedding.
“For the underprivileged, the dream of having a fancy wedding is unattainable. So we thought why not conduct one such wedding every month? Ideally, we wanted to do this for free, but we did not want the couple to feel like they were not spending anything,” said Sharath, CEO and founder of My Grand Wedding Private Limited — the firm that conceptualised the idea.
“For applying, one should be economically poor and either the bride or the groom should have a job earning anywhere between ₹5,000 to ₹10,000. We are particular about one of them having a job, because we want the couple to be financially sound enough to take care of themselves post the marriage,” Mr. Sharath said.
ID verification
A valid ID and address proof is mandatory and the company will then conduct a verification process.
“Caste and community is not a constraint. To start with, we want to limit this campaign to Tamil Nadu,” he added.
“We intend to market this campaign through multiple formats so that it reaches the right audience. We have also formed a committee within the company to shortlist a couple every month,” Mr. Sharath said.
The first ₹1 wedding will happen in December.
On offer
Services offered by the “1 Rupee Wedding Campaign” include dresses for the bride and the groom, photography for the wedding album, marriage video, a car with decorations and breakfast in place for at least 50 guests attending the wedding.
The function will take place at Wedding Street on Old Mahabalipuram Road.
On average, a small wedding with 300 guests would cost anywhere between ₹3 lakh (a simple temple wedding followed by food) to ₹7 lakh (at a small hall that costs ₹50,000 per day), depending on what the family wants to spend on, said wedding planners in Chennai.
