When our house help’s third daughter was getting married my father asked me to give him five thousand rupees off my salary. I had just about started earning and it was one of those early life lessons that my father decided to offer me as a way ahead into money and employ-ability.
I was pretty annoyed. Because I knew this money is going into pandal, dinner for fifty guests and a so called lavish reception for the attendees. The bride and groom will get a big fat night of sweat and embarrassment in return.
With 1,00,00,000 weddings each year, the ‘business’ of weddings in India is pegged to be somewhere around Rs 100,000 to Rs 110,000 crore. Out of which the major chunk goes to the bride’s jewelry and clothing. Followed by food and hotel accommodations.
In this growing business trend, banks have decided to take their own pound of flesh.
Quietly noting that approximately twenty to twenty five percent of the personal loans taken off their shelf was done so to support wedding expenses, they found a marketing idea.
Wedding loans.
Which are by the way nothing but personal loans re-branded for few.
A friend of mine visibly unhappy about my views on subject said.
“It is not like people don’t take loans for weddings. They do.”
A market research company in USA published that tomorrow if someone wanted to understand evolution of a given society they will simply collate all print ads into a book and read. The ideas and changes will be perfectly mirrored in them.
Do we tomorrow want to be remembered for this print ad?
In a society such as India where money spending in wedding has already attracted laws (Dowry Act) and a million broken families, promoting an idea such as this is pretty irresponsible. We spend hours on social media and offline trying to seed the notion that money and weddings are not the discussion to be had in same breath.
Do you know even today families of bride and groom sit across the table and decide a figure. A figure which shall be spent by the girl’s family as expenditure. And that figure becomes ear marked as the statistics for family gossips and further pride (or not).
Brands have decided they will keep business ahead of society values. Visibility as opposed to breaking free.
These loans can be branded as seed capital for the couple’s life ahead. Employing a different idea. Maybe a positive campaign where families decide to save money on actual wedding expenditure and allot that money to the couple’s welfare.
There is so much that organisations can do through their own products and associated visibility.
But they choose this.
Am I saying wedding loans as a product should be discontinued? No.
Should they be re-branded and pitched differently? Yes.
What do you think?
Connecting with #MondayMusings.
Post was also inspired by an impromptu twitter conversation with Harini Calamur who herself wrote a post questioning the idea here:
Weddings, debt and advertising
I kind of lean towards discontinuing such loans, may be keep it as a personal loan. It is really a criminal waste, and I subscribe to the view that money should be rather given to the couple as seed capital for their future.
Yes I am with you on that. But to perhaps an idea that companies need to carry out business I offered a solution..
I am against such loans, they are totally against the idea of scrapping the dowry system. In fact even though in many well-to do families dowry doesn’t exist the expense is merely for show-off. That is even more of a big waste.
Exactly. These expenses are fuel to family gossips. That is it.
Hey Richa,
I think they should be re-branded in such a way not to portray only Daughter’s wedding that it looks like a dowry amount. It should be more like a Gift to start a new life.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes Upasna I feel so too. They can be rebranded as constructive loans rather than wasteful show off exercise..
I’m against the notion of big fat weddings and anything involving having to borrow for it. I have a lot of views on weddings and will share them soon! 🙂
I shall await them Corinne 🙂
I just hate the idea of spending so much on weddings. Maybe something I learnt from experience. So the idea of taking loans for weddings is criminal according to me. I don’t think anyone needs to take a liability (of EMI’s) for the momentary enjoyment of people they barely know. I know if the wedding loans don’t exist people will tell D to take personal loanS because having a big fat wedding is very important to Indian Society.
I do green with ypur view though…if the they have to exist they do need to be re branded. Though I hope that people realise that they do not have to borrow especially for things like weddings.
Yes in a world where EMIs are eating away our in hand salaries, this is absolutely criminal to say the least
A wedding loan? Really? Looks like I am missing on a lot of current affairs. I am totally against big fat weddings. what’s the need actually? Others will eat, that jewelry will find place in a locker, and that dress will never be worn again. Then why? For others? Gosh!
Glad you wrote about this else I wouldn’t have known,
You didn’t know about this! Sonam Kapoor herself marketed it during prem ratan dhan paayo 😐
Never heard of wedding loans. How wonderful it would be if it’s used for couple’s welfare.
Yes surely wonderful. And hope people wake up to it soon.
You’ve raised a potent point about wedding expenditure being used instead for a couple’s welfare. I remember a good friend getting married, and his to-be-father-in-law said that he could deposit about 25 lakhs in an FD for both of them rather than spend on a lavish wedding. His mother, on the other hand, was adamant. Imagine how useful such large sums of money for couples to pursue happier lives and not have fights over money.
Indeed, it’s time that we abandon futile expenses on marriage ceremonies. Hopefully when we become parents, we will break away from the rut.
Exactly, that amount can be utilised to bring couple so much respite in trying times of starting a home. I know how much cash crunch I myself faced.
I’ve heard weddings in India can be really festive and go on for days. I think it’s best to be ready for that day and loans are helpful but only if you’re able to pay.
Good points here.
Oh weddings are very very festive. You must attend one to know this more!
This whole spending so much money on weddings is something that annoys me..feeding and pleasing guests while the bride and groom don’t really get to enjoy..And wedding loans,well, I don’t understand them specifically because more often than not the reason behind them is dowry or dowry rebranded as gifts..But yes, it should be rebranded and it should not be shown as some sort of charity done by the children on their parents..
Not charity alone, it should evoke the younger generation to think what they are doing with this money. Be more responsible.
I’m so damn against big fat weddings. I had a HUGE one and my family, his family and both him and I were deep in debt after that. It took us more than three years to finish off the loans that was taken for the wedding.
Weddings need to be made simple with as less investment as possible. If you have the money to spend lavishly, then go ahead and spend but if not, then don’t it. Like they say na “Apne aukath me raho”, this should be applicable for weddings too. People just want to show off with the money that has been begged, borrowed or stolen. Definitely not worth it.
The concept of wedding loans is utterly stupid. The above ad can be repitched differently in a way that it does not only focus on weddings. Personal loans can be taken for so many other reasons.
Oh jesus. really? Three years! That must have been quite a dent to begin with 🙁
Thank God, I or my family didn’t know about wedding loans during my wedding. I didn’t want a big wedding but we ended up spending my hard earned money for the wedding. People encouraged me to borrow from others or to take loans for the wedding, but I was against it and didn’t do any such thing. The thing was both me and my sister spent for our wedding as our family was financially broken. Instead of encouraging the new couple to save and live for themselves, everyone was immersed in conveying how important it is to have a big wedding! Rubbish! There should be a change in people’s attitude about big weddings and automatically these ads will change too.
Thank God Vinitha that you didn’t at least fall for it. Wonder who those so called well wishers really are.. and what are their intentions. 😐
As a sign of growing up I started to evaluate what’s going in our society and everything I see is dishearting me.The ideas completely pissed me off of wedding loans …I mean why to spend this much on marriage In decorations, food and all
I wish if I get marry I don’t want this all luxurious treatment .I will be happy if on that the I can serve a few who sleep hungry and norw on that if there is extra money I want that I invest in not waste ..Spending money on recpetions and jewelleries and satisfying greed these all are not my idea of a beginning of new life
Rightly said banks are clever here
And loan takers are fool…