A big fat wedding but with a twist

Unconventional weddings take the spotlight as couples seek unique, cost-effective celebrations

As we head into another season of the Big Fat Indian Wedding after the 16-day inauspicious shradh calendar, I sometimes wonder if the younger folk — those getting married — would not prefer something less ostentatious, less glitzy, and perhaps more fun.

Oscar Mayer, the 140-year-old hotdog company must have been thinking along the same lines. Earlier this year in April, Oscar Mayer brought some much-needed relief and variation to the wedding landscape by providing couples the chance to trade the hoopla of a traditional wedding for something more stress-free and fun: An elopement to the Wienermobile — a promo motor vehicle shaped like a hot dog on a bun — parked outside the iconic Little White Chapel in Las Vegas. The “Wienermobile of Love” proved to be an absolute darling. That it was an all-expenses-paid wedding for the lucky twosome, only made it even more endearing.

Earlier this year, there was another interesting wedding — Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole got married in a metaverse wedding hosted on Decentraland, a virtual platform, and sponsored by Taco Bell in the United States. The couple apparently wanted to do something different from the usual. Beyond the novelty, the couple’s motivations were fuelled by the possibility of a fully-funded free wedding offered by the host. Mr Mohnot, who is a big fan of Taco Bell, entered the competition for the company to pay for the technical aspects of a virtual wedding — the avatars, the production, and more — and won. The wedding featured dancing hot sauce packets, a Taco Bell-themed dance floor, a turban for Mr Mohnot, and the famous bell branding everywhere on the metaverse. Taco Bell has stated that it saw fans of the brand interact increasingly in the metaverse and decided to meet them, quite literally, where they were. The wedding idea emanated from there. The chapel at the company’s Taco Bell Cantina restaurant in Las Vegas has already married 800 couples in copycat virtual weddings.

The alcoholic beverage company Hard Mtn Dew is pushing the envelope even further. In a promotion announced last week, the brand said that it wants young couples to forget the champagne and instead opt for a slightly more unorthodox approach, offering to host an all-expenses-paid wedding in Knoxville, Tennessee. The only catch is that none of the people the couple knows and loves can attend. The wedding is strictly for wedding crashers!

The big day will feature attire inspired by the brand, an open bar serving Hard Mtn Dew, and, of course, a couple ready to tie the knot. Those looking to enter the wedding sweepstakes must visit a dedicated microsite and explain why they should win flights, accommodations, and be at the service. Alternatively, prospective crashers can check an Eventbrite page for details on how to join the festivities. This all might seem rather unconventional, but if you’re already in the market to elope with your sweetheart, you might as well say “I Dew” with some help from Hard Mtn Dew.

According to Hard Mtn Dew, this initiative comes at a time when the average wedding ceremony in the United States costs nearly $30,000. In the face of a recession, it does seem mighty hard to celebrate your love without breaking the bank. It follows a previous attention-grabbing stunt where a Hard Mtn Dew fan took love for the brand to a whole new level by marrying a can of the beverage.

And yes, in the planned wedding promo, the man and the maid of honour will be randomly selected at the event, adding to the spontaneity and excitement. Interestingly, according to the brand, wedding crashing statistics show that it affects roughly 1 out of every 14 ceremonies, making this initiative all the more relatable and fun. The only downer in this narrative is that us Indians cannot participate. Eager lovebirds looking to vow themselves to each other in the eyes of strangers at the Hard Mtn Dew wedding must be over 21 years of age and US citizens.

Some of this has been happening in India too. Abhijeet Goel and Sansrati tied the knot on February 5, 2022, becoming India’s first couple to get married on 3D metaverse. The wedding took place on Yug Metaverse (a made in India metaverse platform). The wedding was sponsored by ITC and Matrimony.com. A day later, Janaganandhini Ramaswamy and Dinesh Kshatriyan had a traditional wedding in their native Tamil Nadu. Because of the pandemic, their guest count for the wedding was limited to 100. Therefore, they held their wedding reception in the virtual world with attendees as digital avatars. A startup company called TardiVerse helped them create a Hogwarts-themed metaverse for the reception, and the couple hosted the virtual celebrations on the Polygon blockchain.

Sponsored smaller, slimmer weddings might be the way to go soon!

The writer is chairman of Rediffusion