How to keep calm and handle wedding stress

Aditi Srivastava, a 29-year-old IT professional based in Delhi, resigned from her job six months ago to focus all her energies on orchestrating her elaborate Indian wedding. “As per bank records, 57% women aged between 26 and 30 years, appear to have availed the loan.” While he attributes the behaviour to an attitude of self-reliance and self-awareness among the younger generation, he admits to having some clients express concerns about the mental stress associated with managing wedding expenses. From meticulously planned haldi-sangeet ceremonies and receptions to curated hashtags, the pressure to create flawlessly documented weddings is a major cause of heightened stress among prospective wedding couples and their families. Neha Wadhwan, who is a wedding planner, designer and co-founder of The Doli Diary in Mumbai, has seen how this pressure plays out all too well among brides and grooms Social media has cultivated a culture of people only wanting to showcase the highlights of their life particularly their relationships, careers, and weddings,” Wadhwan says. “Wedding stress is common for both the groom and the bride but the extent to which they experience it can vary,” says Mumbai-based therapist Gunjan Adya.