Families call off weddings

Incessant rainfall and unexpected flash floods in Jammu & Kashmir have forced many families in the state to cancel the weddings they had scheduled for the last three days. 

“Hundreds of wedding invitations have not been sent out since Wednesday due to the prevailing weather conditions. Hundreds more are scheduled to be scrapped on Sunday. In this peak wedding season, we have suffered huge losses,” President Anjuman-e-Behbood-e-Ashpazan (Chefs Welfare Association), G N Baba, told Deccan Herald.

“It’s a natural calamity. We don’t blame anyone for it. We’ll return the token money which we had taken from our clients for preparing the feast. Allah will help all,” he added.

September and October are the ideal months for weddings in Kashmir as temperatures hover between 22 to 27 degrees Celsius during this period making it suitable for preparation of wazwan (Kashmir cuisine).

Baba’s information corroborates with several ads in local English and Urdu newspapers calling off weddings due to bad weather.

 Besides, families have also taken the services of local cable television operators and internet news portals to air messages of wedding cancellation. 

While many families cancelled the weddings altogether, a few have held marriage functions behind closed doors in community or wedding halls.