150 Indore couples called off their weddings in last 40 days, 62% cited social media activity as reason: Report
A wedding is regarded as one of the big life milestones. Everything may seem dreamy and picture-perfect with surprise proposals and engagement parties, but sometimes, out of the blue, things can take an unexpected turn, derailing all plans and throwing a wrench in the much-awaited ceremony.
Something like this hit the headlines when Indian women’s cricket team vice captain Smriti Mandhana, and Indore-based music composer Palash Muchhal’s highly anticipated wedding was called off before the ceremony. But it turns out such last-minute wedding cancellations are becoming increasingly common, and this high-profile celebrity case actually points to a larger trend that’s afoot now. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report dated November 10, in Indore itself, more than 150 weddings were cancelled at the last moment, within a span of 40 days.
According to a Dainik Bhaskar report dated November 10, in Indore, more than 150 weddings were cancelled in just 40 days. As per the report, old social media posts about former relationships were a major reason for these breakups.
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Causes
Based on the findings, a staggering 62 per cent of marriage cancellations were linked to social media, while the remaining cases involved issues like death/accident in the family, mutual disputes or other unexpected situations. The report highlighted several examples where one partner discovered old social media posts, usually related to a past relationship, which were often the cause of conflict.
One couple from Indore and Gujarat called off their wedding after an argument broke out during the pre-wedding shoot over the bride’s old posts. In another case, a bride disappeared right after the sangeet at a wedding that had a decor budget of nearly 1 crore; it was later found that she was in a relationship with someone else. Likewise, certain venues like Vitthal Rukmani Garden, three weddings were cancelled within a single month due to illnesses, family disagreements and unexpected deaths.
Earlier, dowry was one of the major reasons behind wedding cancellations, but now the report shows that 60-70 per cent of cases are linked to social media, whether it is old posts, comments, likes, emojis, or even friend lists.
Financial losses
The vendors suffered massive financial losses. Wedding planners, hotel operators said that the last-minute cancellations left them with no way to recover their expenses. According to Hotel Association President Sumit Suri, the cancelled wedding ended up costing around 25 crore for the wedding industry. These sudden cancellations created a ripple effect across the sector, impacting planners, hotels, caterers, bands, decorators, and other service providers who had already accepted advance bookings and made preparations beforehand.
It goes on to show how digital footprints can alarmingly influence relationships, to the point of breaking engagements. Couples thoroughly scrutinise each other’s online presence, digging into old posts and activity to uncover anything that might raise doubts. These digital traces are becoming increasingly powerful, and can impact big life-changing moments like marriage.
