Friday 21 January 2011

The Numbers Game

What often surprises people most about Indian weddings is the (insanely large) amount of people that get invited. My sister got married a few years ago, and there were eight hundred people at her wedding reception (honestly, I'm not joking). 


"The Numbers Game", then, is the battle between the bride - who only wants to invite close family and friends - and her parents, who want to invite everybody they know. And their neighbours. And the uncle of the guy who invited them to his daughter's wedding back in 1980 (you get the picture).


Our wedding will, by Indian standards anyway, be notably smaller. If you are wondering why, I must be honest and tell you that I did not win The Numbers Game - not at all. However, the Groom-to-be has a rather small family. His guests (including friends, family - close and distant - and friends of family) total 50 people; my immediate family and closest friends total way more than 50 people. 


It seems that the best way to avoid The Numbers Game altogether is to:

  1. Give in
  2. Elope
  3. Marry a non-Indian (my personal favourite)

Oh well, at least that's one less game to play.

7 comments:

  1. This is good! hahahahahaha... my wedding is going to be huge (not that i want it to be), and it is inevitable as the guy i'll be getting hitched with has sooo many uncles and aunts, and they have kids and they have kids and non stop! oh my god... i guess were NOT in the same boat loooool!

    I'm gna have to go for the 'give in' option anyway cos i have a medium sized family, but my dad will come up with some next heads who I do not even know!

    The thing is the guy suggested we shud get married in a TEMPLE... (WTF)i think the temple would collapse considering how many fam members we both have causing a catastrophu!!!

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  2. oo sweetie it sounds nutso!
    my family are a bit like 'just bum off to the registry office and we'll have a nice meal after' but pete's brother is spending like 25k getting hitched in richmond park so looking forward to fighting this one out!


    xxxxx

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  3. You are lucky - I didn't know about 70% of the 800 people who attended our wedding reception! And I must've have smiled for 800 pictures, so my face was in complete spasm for a week - who needs botox!

    See, you have to weigh up the pros and cons; big wedding = lots of people = lots of presents/£. Small wedding = less presents/money, but lower wedding costs...hmm.

    Lets see how your numbers game goes...!

    Kaaj x

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  4. Love it! And so true... :)

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  5. Love it!
    Mealie
    xx

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  6. This is soo true Meera! haha
    I feel your pain. I was dragged to a 'family event' recently and came across people who I was supposedly 'related to'..I am pretty sure I had never seen them before!
    I say, just give in- I think your parents just want to show of their beautiful daughter to the community..let them have their moment :)

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  7. Thanks for the comments guys!

    Anon: I am SURE your wedding will be wonderful no matter what! But it is quite a big task to sort out numbers. Good luck with it! And keep me updated on how your wedding planning is going :-) (PS. while getting married in a temple sounds crazy number-wise, I bet it would be really lovely!)

    Zoe: getting married in Richmond park sounds seriously amazing. Unless of course it rains...

    Kaaj: I definitely prefer less presents and less wedding costs!!

    Sara: thanks for the lovely comment <3 I love those moments where you're like "uhhh hello uncle/alleged best friend of my dad who I've never ever heard of..." haha. We haven't really cut on numbers (because the other side is really small) - lucky!

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