Some friends of ours who are getting married in the coming weeks are busy finalizing guests at their weddings. Others who are getting married later in summer are finalizing their guest list or mailing out invitations. But how many should be there at a wedding? How do you arrive at your final number of wedding guests?

Guess what Indian government is going to decide how many people you can invite at your wedding. You don’t believe…check out this news report – Times of India.  The rationale is that there is lots of food wastage at Indian weddings. Government officials estimate that nearly 15 percent of all grain and vegetables in India was wasted through weddings and other social events.

That is lots of food wastage in country where so many goes to sleep on emply stomachs. May be it is so because no one bothers about confirmed participation at social events. Nobody RSVP anything in India and everyone who are invited are expected to show up. Of course, there are many wedding crashers too!

Indian weddings are famous for their extravagance and a wave of new money in the country has led to ever more lavish marriage celebrations. Indian weddings are big social gatherings involving entire village or all your relatives. Social circles are large because everyone is an “unlceji” or “auntieji” and families feel obligated to invite everyone. The couple often have less say in such matter and everyone in their family are inviting all their friends and others. And it all adds up.

Moreover, size of the wedding and the pomp and show at such events are indication of your social status. For months and years to come, they talk about how so and so gave so much for ‘dowry’ or their wedding was conducted at such and such place. It is a time to display one’s wealth and shows contacts one has to rest of the family or community. Nobody wants to address such false pretense or the hidden motives behind social events.

How about couples and their parents think of donating something to a worthwhile cause at weddings or feed hundreds of kids at an orphanage or old age home!