Insure Your Wedding Against Unanticipated Events

A wedding is always special. It is one function that brings joy to a number of families. The increased affordability has prompted a number of Indian families to go for a lavish wedding. The wedding planning industry, assists in making the weddings more enjoyable with innovations, such as theme wedding and destination wedding, temple wedding and others.

The marriages during yesteryears, though, lasted for a number of days, were simple and uncomplicated. They were not subjected to the complications and other elaborations of the current day weddings. Even the wedding receptions arranged only by very wealthy families, were missing most of the posh and lavish arrangements of today. The marriages were normally conducted within the village or city using the help of the relatives and friends living close by. Very rarely, people travelled long distances either to make a wedding arrangement or to attend a marriage.

Present day weddings, on the contrary, are more lavish with a variety of associated celebrations. The disbursals for these expensive weddings include jewellery, dresses, catering arrangement, wedding planner arrangement, payment to wedding venue, video and photographers, travel expenses and others. Therefore, successful arranging and conducting of such a weddings largely depended on a range of external sources. Failure or non-complying their part by any of the external sources,  will partially or totally affect the wedding procedures.

It is still an inexplicable fact, how most of these weddings, performed by spending lakhs of rupees and at times even crores of rupees, gets completed without major problems. There were also few instances, where the weddings cancelled due to  unforeseen circumstances have resulted in huge loss to the families that have spent a good amount of money to complete the wedding arrangements.

In India, the idea of insuring a wedding is yet to penetrate into the minds of the people who are arranging them. Normally, the parents, while arranging the marriages don’t ever wish or perceive any negative occurrence that will lead to the postponement or cancellation of a marriage. Most of them consider the very idea of insuring a marriage as negative thinking and don’t attempt to insure the marriages.
But, there is a visible change in the mindset of the people, especially amongst those who spend huge money in wedding arrangements. They have become more practicable and understand the ground realities associated with the present day marriage arrangements, where they have little or no control over any of the eventualities. The number of people thinking of insuring the marriage is expected to go up in the coming years.

In India, the insurance companies, till today, consider the wedding as an event and cover it only under the event insurance. Such a policy compensates any damage to the property at the marriage venue including the hard cash, cancellation or postponement of the wedding and sickness or personal accident to the persons named in policy. It is possible to customise the clauses of the policy to suit the individual requirements.
The policy also can cover various wedding related functions such as Mehendi, Sangeet, evening party, real wedding and the reception. It can prevent  the loss to the insurer on account of the cancellation and postponement of a marriage on the sudden death of a close relative who is ailing, food poisoning, and fire or burglary at the wedding hall. The policy also covers the falling sick of a groom or bride or any other immediate family member named in the policy and their hospitalization within a week before the actual wedding date. Though, a wedding insurance policy will not cover a wedding cancellation due to differences of opinion between the wedding parties, the policy covers the non-turning up of groom due to dispute in dowry payment.

It is possible to cover a single event of the wedding or the full wedding right from the first day. The premium to cover a wedding ranges from 0.75% to 1.5% of the total sum insured. The policy can be taken in such a way that it can come into force 15 days before the actual marriage date.

In case of cancellation or postponement of the wedding, the insurance will cover all non refundable expenses such as travel bookings, accommodation arrangement in hotels, music arrangement, amount paid to decorators and caterer, advances paid to the marriage hall, and printing of invitation card. The policy also includes loss/damage to received gifts, jewellery, hired sets for the marriage, shamiana and other decorative materials.

It is essential for the insurer to have bills and invoices for all the payments and expenses made related to the marriage to make an insurance claim. The insurer before making any claim should have taken adequate measures to minimise the loss to the properties during such cancellation.

Travel Arrangements for the Destination Weddings & Honeymoon

A normal Indian wedding is always elaborate and continues for at least two days. Some of them even get extended to the third day. Current day weddings especially among the affluent class, while gives preference for the traditional rituals, also provides a sense of participation and relaxation to the participating guests, on all the days. During such weddings,  suitable standby travel arrangements are provided for the ready use of the guests, though, most of them may own a chauffeur driven car.

Destination Wedding
Another interesting aspect that is fast catching up is destination wedding. Such weddings have become more common among affluent business families and in cases where both the bride and groom are well employed. Exotic locations within the country or in an overseas destination have become a norm for such weddings. All the invited guests are extended with to-and- fro travel arrangement from their own places or from a common place.

For the chosen locations within India, inorder to offer travel comfort to the guests’, luxury busses or cars are arranged. Depending of the arranged destination air/train travel advance bookings are made. Some of the Indian locations that are well-known for destination wedding include Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala.
For the weddings that are planned in some of the most preferred overseas countries such as Thailand, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Caribbean, Maldives, Seychelles and Fiji, air travel and local transportation arrangements are made. Invited guests are informed in advance about such wedding to know their availability to arrange visas and complete other travel formalities.

Honeymoon
Honeymoon is the first real occasion for the couple to be all alone and on their own. A perfect honeymoon is possible only with a flawless planning. A clear understanding between the couple, about the choice of place, makes the honeymoon days happy and fruitful. Most of the time, it is the allocated budget that decides the national or international destination for a honeymoon. It is essential for the couples to refrain from allowing their individual tastes to dominate the honeymoon location choice. Intelligent couples try to have a few best locations as their choice to narrow down the choice and finally select a common place of interest.

Role of wedding planners
Making travel arrangements during the wedding, conducting destination weddings in India as well in a foreign country and providing tailor made honeymoon packages have become a part of the wedding planning services. In addition to making arrangements for wedding, most of the corporate wedding planning companies are equipped to make flawless travel arrangements. The adequate knowledge and experience in arranging such packages and the proximity to travel service providers allows the corporate wedding planning companies to make perfect arrangements.

The parents on their part find it convenient to deal with a single source ie. the wedding planner to make all the local and international travel, air/train ticket booking, completing visa formalities and boarding and lodging arrangements needed for all the occasions.

Photo and Video Arrangement for a Marriage

Marriage is one occasion that draws the largest participation of relatives and friends alike. Their participation makes a special marriage occasion into a memorable one. The services of a professional photographer and a videographer help you to capture the unforgettable marriage moments that can never be recreated. The captured moments serve you in treasuring such memories for a life time.

Unlike the earlier days, the video and photo arrangements for a marriage are not confined to just shooting of the marriage events. They go beyond that occasion, to capture the everyday life of the bride and groom, in their very own special surroundings with friends and relatives. The video shoot even goes to a step further and pictures the school, college and working place environs gracefully and include the comments of friends and relatives.

Current day wedding video and photo capturing are no more dull and do not follow the mundane old routine. They no more video or photo capture the marriage function like a documentary. The video and photo arrangements have undergone a total transformation and transition. Every frame of the photo or video passionately captures of the occasion and re-creates it with all liveliness.

The marriage related video and photo shoot starts right from betrothal, starting of the bride and groom for the marriage hall, their entry into the hall, various arrangements in the hall and every single event of the marriage. The occasions, such as bridal shower, mehendi ceremony and sangeet are also included the photo and video coverage. The coverage even describe the intimate moments such as emotion, humor and love displayed during the marriage proceedings without fail. The captured emotional and intimate moments are imaginatively edited and included in the wedding video and photo presentation.

At present the movie style video presentation is in vogue and it is catching every one’s attention. The entire wedding event is videographed in sequence using a number of cameras, edited for crisp presentation and included with apt sound track to add value. Candid photo and video shoots have become regular during the marriages to capture the unexpected and finer moments for inclusion in the album.

Pre-wedding photo and videography is no more a taboo. Photographers use the digital cameras to follow and capture every movement of the couples right from the day one and all the time during the marriage to seize the special unexpected moments in film as they unfold.

It is vital for one to exercise utmost care in selecting the photo and videographers for the marriage. It becomes essential to cross check their experience and earlier work execution with provided samples and by interacting with those who have hired them in the past. Always select someone who will listen to your requirements and exceed your expectations.

Finally before signing a contract discuss the terms of package to understand the type and the number of cameras used to cover the function, various lighting options, and the video and audio quality specifications.  Also, get to know the number of DVD and photo albums included in the package and the cost for extra orders.

Arranging a Theme-based Wedding

Indian marriages are no more confined to marriage halls or temples.  Current day brides and grooms consider their marriage as very special and look forward to celebrating it in a most fitting and novel way. The wedding couple does not hesitate to try various marriage ideas and themes. The theme-based wedding is altogether a new idea, based on western marriage concepts. It is fast gaining acceptance and momentum among the marriage aspirants in India.

The theme-based wedding while continue to have all the ingredients of a traditional marriage, it adds colour and value to the marriage to make it more vibrant. It is becoming popular even among the conservative elders because it continues to keep the orthodox values intact. It provides a different and pleasant type of marriage experience to the participating relatives and friends.

Some of the popular themes used for theme based wedding include royal wedding theme, fairy story theme, fiction or illusion based theme, romantic theme, and colour based theme. If you choose dark red and golden colours as colour theme, then every marriage arrangement such as the decoration, flowers, and invitation cards will bear the identical theme colour. The wedding planner who offers theme wedding will even ask their staff at the marriage hall to wear the same theme colour as uniform.

Similarly, for the families who consider the bride as one who brings illumination to their house, then ‘Lighting’ will become the thematic concept. To go beyond the theme traditional lamps will be kept light up at all the places of the marriage hall. Even the wedding invite will have the lamp in design. If the family considers the arrival of the bride to the arrival of the goddess Mahalaxmi to the family, then lotus flower the symbol of the goddess Lakshmi will be used in all the decorations.

Points to remember in choosing a theme

• It is advisable to choose a wedding theme after doing a thorough research. Always choose a theme that fit the tastes of the bride, groom and their families. Better choose a theme that falls within your budget.
• Discuss the theme atmosphere with your family, especially with the elders to make sure that it will not hinder the religious rituals. Furthermore, make sure that the theme is comfortable for the kids who attend the marriage.
• Always choose a theme that can accommodate both pre-wedding and post-wedding requirements and the reception.
• Settle for a theme that looks natural and not offering a kind protruding unnatural look.
• If you hire a wedding planner, it is advisable to discuss your mind and take the expert guidance of the planner in choosing the wedding theme.
• Do not forget to find out the functional feasibility of the chosen theme at the hall or location arranged for the wedding. If more open space is available at the locatio, then the theme arrangements also need to cover such open space with lighting as well as decorative material. Such an arrangement will naturally increase the allocated budget.
• Never attempt a wedding theme half-heartedly and confine it to the wedding hall only. Have it introduced at all the places of the wedding location uniformly.
• Choosing a flower theme is a convenient choice. The flowers such as gerberas, marigold, carnations, orchids, jasmine, rose, etc., offer a range of arrangement options. Use of flowers as a theme will give an authentic feel for an unconventional theme.

While most of the to be married  opt to celebrate a theme-based wedding in a hall some of the adventurous type among them  even try to experiment and have their marriage at exotic locations. Such ideas include forest marriage, hill-top marriage, sea front marriage and marriage even in the deep-sea.