Why Gen Z loves fake weddings
The world may be breathlessly watching all the drama surrounding the Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sanchez wedding in Venice, but in India, a new trend is unfolding: the non-wedding wedding party. In cities like Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru, event managers, clubs and bars are organising 'wedding-themed parties" (some are brashly calling them fake weddings, no cap) and they are a hit with Gens Z and Alpha.
More than 1,500 people turned up over the course of a few hours for his 'big fat fake wedding", says Rahul Avadhani, a Bengaluru-based events curator who recently 'hosted" a mega wedding party at the JW Marriott Hotel. Most of the attendees were between 21-30 years old, and it was put together by 8club.co, a private members club that organises experience-based events across cities in India, inspired by similar events that became mega popular at locations such as Ballr Club in Pune, which was among the first event venues to kick off the trend.
Yes, people paid to be there: while women could enter for free, 'stag entry' was at a cover charge of ₹5000, fully redeemable against food and drinks.
'The vibe was like a typical Indian wedding, with mehendi wallas, dhol, wedding decor, photo booths, a DJ… only the bride and groom were missing," says Avadhani. 'The idea is why wait for someone to get married to have fun and dance till you drop? This way, the pressure is off and everyone gets to have fun."
It was such a hit that 8club is planning to replicate the event in Delhi at Bel-La Monde, a posh wedding venue in Chhattarpur. As part of the promotions, a ghodi (horse) dressed in Punjabi wedding finery has been filmed around Gen Z-friendly spots in the Capital, such as the mysteriously popular Faqir Chand Bookstore in Khan Market.
Without clutching our pearls and going into 'everything is a photo op for Gen Z of course they love fake weddings!" lamentations, the popularity of these events is a bit puzzling to someone not from the generation, at least initially. As someone who gets literal nightmares about weddings—losing one's entire wardrobe, turning up under or over-dressed, landing up at the wrong venue —it seems almost masochistic to do this voluntarily, without the spectre of family obligation and rashly sent RSVPs hanging over one's head.
And yet, maybe that is the trick—being able to enjoy a wedding without feeling like a misfit, wondering if everyone's judging your clothes, and having people come up to you wagging a finger and going 'you're next!". I can sort of see the appeal—Indian weddings are hella fun if you can leave all that baggage behind. You get to hang out with friends, a chance to air all those outfits you wore just one time for a cousin's wedding, eat, drink and dance, take some lovely photos for Instagram, and go home without worrying if your gift will be deemed good enough. Who wouldn't want them? Are there any fake weddings for Gen Xers?
Apparently, there are. The trend has advanced so rapidly in such a short time that now there are spin-offs of the same idea, such as more traditional fake wedding parties—think Hum Aapke Hain Kaun rather than Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. Your Third Place, a Bengaluru-based events company that promotes 'curated IRL experiences that spark real connections", is organising a Sober Sangeet Social in July. Founder Anurag Pandey calls it a 'begaani shaadi" (someone else's wedding) and says guests can expect 'flowers, food, mehendi, and some classic shaadi games" including a Sangeet Social Antakshari. As a child of the 1990s with bona-fide antakshari-winning credentials, I could see myself at one of these parties.
Maybe Gen Z has got it right, after all. Maybe weddings should not be about managing egos, expectations and stress, the way I grew up experiencing them (hence the nightmares), but having one hell of a good time.
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