50, 000 weddings on May 16 in Mumbai

50000 weddings on May 16!

After 5 months without any auspicious wedding dates, there's a mad rush for the mandap this Akshaya Tritiya Come Sunday, May 16, and the city will turn into one huge marriage procession. Be prepared for snail-paced traffic through loud blaring music, as approximately 50,000 weddings are expected to take place on the day. Here come the brides: Decorators, caterers and venues are all fully booked for the auspicious day. Pic for representation May 16 is Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most auspicious days for weddings according to the Hindu calendar. The crazy rush this year is because this is the first auspicious wedding date in almost five months. There were no wedding dates between December 14, 2009 and May 14 this year. An 'adhik maas' -- extra lunar month -- in which weddings are considered inauspicious, also added to the wedding drought. The fact that it falls on a Sunday also added to the madness. All marriage halls, caterers, decorators, mehendi artistes, etc, in the city have their hands full. Versova resident Haresh Sharma, father of a bride-to-be, said, "My son-in-law had got a transfer to Bangalore and so we wanted the wedding as soon as possible. But our pandit informed us that there are no shubh mahurats before May 16. My son-in-law had to convince his bosses to put a stay on his transfer for few months. Finally, they are getting married this May." SHAADI MEIN ZAROOR AANA: The crazy rush this year is because May 16 is the first auspicious date for a wedding in almost five months. All marriage halls, caterers and decorators in the city have their hands full. PICS for  REPRESENTATION Said wedding organiser Girish Thappar of A to Z weddings, "After almost six months of waiting, more than 50,000 weddings are supposed to take place in the city on May 16. Anybody who plans to make last minute bookings will not be able to do so." He added that a similar situation would arise on May 23, 28, 29 and 31. "I have increased staff for supervision, as on each day we have at least five weddings to take care of," he said. Rates gone up Auspicious days 2009: November 19, 22-24, 27 and 29 2009: December 2, 3, 8-13 2010: May 15,16, 23, 28, 29, 31 40,000 Number of weddings that  took place on November 27, 2009, in Delhi The rush has seen rates go up by at least 15 per cent at marriage halls. "Cost per plate has gone up, while the decoration costs, which used to be Rs 25,000, has shot up to Rs 35,000 now." "All our venues are booked between May 16 and 31," said Dharampal Talwar, owner of Talwar caterers whose major clientele are Punjabis and Gujaratis. Talwar revealed that many farmhouses too had been booked for marriages on May 16. Nilima Daruwala, general manager, banquets, Blue Foods, said, "Some of the bookings were made a year in advance for this day." Bandwallahs, of course, are all fully booked. "This time we have been forced to turn away clients as we have no manpower who can bear the workload. For May 16 and 29 we are booked," said Dharmesh Singh, a bandwallah.