Amid rush of weddings, venues are hard to find

Vijayawada: It is 'hunting time' in Andhra Pradesh now. Not the one with a gun and a bow and arrow and in forests. This one is in the cities and urban centres. The only weapon needed is 'currency'.

Yes, even as the 'Moodham' is all set to end by this month end, people and wedding planners are running helter and skelter all around. December has a few good 'muhurthams' for weddings, say about six or so.

Come January, the calendar tends to get a bit crowded from the first week itself and February and March too don't lag much behind. As the fear-free and Covid-free wedding times near, one bad news for those who have not hurried to book the wedding venues is 'no vacancy' sign. There are at least a 1,000 venues, big and small including banquet halls of hotels, in Vijayawada alone. But, mind you, all of them are 'taken'.

Some of these are promoted as five-star venues too (read hiked tariffs and nothing more) charging anywhere up to Rs 10 lakh. Don't be misled by lesser quotes as they come as 'bare venues' without chairs, carpets, mandaps, decoration and lighting. Of course, all these are 'extra'.

A leading wedding hall manager (of Mogalrajapuram in Vijayawada) on condition of anonymity said, "We have upped the tariff now.

There is a tremendous demand. In fact, most of the halls are booked very much in advance. It is going to be really troublesome for those fixing the muhurthams now.

They have to rush to the hotels anyway or plan for resorts. Even this is doubtful as mostly the decent ones are all booked."

The situation is no different in other cities like Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Rajamahendravaram and Eluru. Visakhapatnam, the city of destiny, has 314 banquet halls, 43 wedding lawns and 123 wedding hotels. "There are some new additions too nowadays. The luxury hotels on the beach road would always be in great demand. As for our business, the going is good. This coming season should see us recover our losses of the previous years," says Ranga Rao, a bullion merchant.

Average rent per day in towns like Rajamahendravaram is up to Rs 8 lakh for good venues, it is said. In Eluru, there are 500 plus wedding venues. In Nellore town an equal number of halls are available along with about 175 banquet venues too. The prices are similar to the other towns in the state.

However, it is not only the wedding halls and banquet halls, etc., that are in great demand. The number of popular temples dotting the state also turn out to be wedding venues where groups of 50 to 200 easily would be attending each wedding.

Then there are gardens and farm houses in West and East Godavari districts that too turn out to be wedding venues in some cases. The rural ambience is best reflected in those anyway.

Well, all the best to the families in their venue hunt and a gala time to the food lovers!