Matching masks, open venues and sanitiser booths: Welcome to the world of ‘safe’ weddings

These days, there is a meme circulating in social media for all eligible bachelors: If you have not married anyone during the first wave of the pandemic, you must get married during the second wave (or third)! 

It seems that after every lockdown, there is a surge in weddings in the country. 

Needless to say, these weddings are a lot different from those during the pre-pandemic times. A new addition is definitely weddings held online, over Zoom videos. 

But in the offline versions, the bride and groom usually wear masks, along with guests, and the wedding function is held on a small scale by cutting down the number of guests and events. 

When it all began to change

In March 2020, the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangladesh put the would-be spouses in a massive dilemma. 

Many decided to do Akht or register the marriage in a homely function with a limited number of guests, keeping it minimalistic, but memorable nevertheless. 

Some others dreamed about having a big, fat, deshi wedding function later, when things improved. 

As the infection rate slowed and the lockdown was relaxed, wedding ceremonies took place in hotels and restaurants, and love birds rushed to have their dream wedding. 

Keeping safety in mind, we began to familiarise ourselves with wearing masks. Matching masks became a hit, especially for these wedding 'dawaats'.  
'Safe' weddings 

In all the weddings that I attended during the pandemic, the ones arranged in hotels made wearing masks mandatory. 

They even had masks at the entry for those who did not come wearing one. The staff were seen as more cautious about maintaining safety than the guests. 

In fact, once the guests were inside the venue, many of them did not seem to care much about wearing masks or maintaining social distance. 

As per rules, only 100 guests are preferred, but the number of guests is usually kept within 200. 

Open air venues have also become popular now due to social distancing measures. 

And at these weddings, and the ones held outside the capital, the number of guests is way more. 

The duration of the functions has also been shortened and late night celebrations are no longer held. Usually the programmes are wrapped up by 10pm or 11pm. 

Event management companies have also changed the way they work because maintaining safety for the guests as well as for themselves is now the number one priority. 

Taskin Al Anas, managing director of BD Event 360, said, "The pandemic has made everything online; the initial contact between event organisers and customers are held online.

Wedding programmes are being held, but they are not as big in scale as they used to be." 

He also informed us that people are opting more for homely arrangements. 

But in case of larger arrangements, the event organisers need to ensure safety measures like checking the temperature of the guests, setting up a booth for hand sanitisers etc. 

They have also signed contracts with two hospitals to ensure emergency Covid-19 tests if any guest needs urgent assistance. 

In one of the weddings I attended last year in December, the wedding 'dala' (a basket containing gifts for the bride or the groom, sent to their home) had two fishes decorated as groom and bride, as is our custom. 

Not only were the fishes tightly wrapped in plastic film, they also had masks covering their mouths! We had a good laugh about it.

Not wishing to be named, a newly married couple shared their experience with us. "Along with the excitement of getting married, we were really tense due to the pandemic." 

They were also stressed about their wedding programmes getting postponed due to the lockdown. "We wanted to complete all the programmes on time, no matter how simple or grand they were." 

They had to cancel their booking with a community centre, which they had done long ago and eventually held their programme in restaurants.  

It was hectic, yet they were glad to tie the knot safely with the blessings of their loved ones.