Vidhi Chauhan and Karan T had been waiting to tie the knot since February 2021, but the pandemic kept ruining their plans. Finally, in December, they decided to go ahead with only close friends and family in attendance. All the other well-wishers attended the wedding virtually. While this is not new, what made their wedding slightly different was their decision to send their ‘maduve oota’ to those who couldn’t be present.
With the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country once again, weddings are seeing a twist these days. Chauhan says, “We would have loved to have waited for things to get better but there’s a new surprise each time. We didn’t want to wait any longer to start our lives together, so we felt it’s best to go ahead with a home wedding. And since we wanted those attending the wedding virtually to partake in the celebrations, we felt that sending food would bring everyone together.”
So when the rituals concluded, a traditional fare complete with desserts had reached the guests’ homes. This has become the new norm, says Vishal Gupta, founder and director of The Creative Kitchen. “Depending on the host, we arrange for meal boxes. We have done a few of them since the first wave,” says Gupta, who also saw a wedding anniversary party opt for home delivery of food.
“As these are deliveries, we have to ensure that there’s a lot of thought put into the packaging of the food. Depending on the cuisine, we’ll have to either plan it in a microwaveable box and provide cutlery so that they don’t have to get up each time. In the case of chaats, all the dry and wet ingredients are packed separately. We’ve even delivered cocktail and mocktail mixers for guests,” he says.
Caterers are tying up with third-party delivery partners to execute this. However, bigger companies like the Taj West End have their own services. Chef Sandip Narang, executive chef of the star property, says, “With the pandemic, we have brought in a lot of innovations and creative thinking, keeping in mind the safety of our guests. We have done several weddings where we have sent out Khow Suey, Galouti Kebab, Baigan Saraf, Pasta, Gulkand Rasmalai ordered through our in-house food delivery platform.”
Narang agrees with Gupta about the effort that goes into the presentation and packaging. “Re-heating instructions and allergens are sent with every food order so that the guests can enjoy the meal in the right manner. The entire packing has zero plastic. The idea is to ensure that food is easy to travel and not messy,” he explains.
Sending only sweets and hampers are also a trend at weddings now. According to Bhim Mandal, co-owner of Heera Caterers, one of his clients, a Sindhi, had ordered about 2,000 rasmalais to be sent over to the guests in clay pots. “He had invited about 30 guests to the wedding at his house and everyone else attended it online,” Mandal says, adding that hampers with a variety of sweets is also common now.