Colombo, March 9: It looks as if the Sri Lankans’ penchant for grand weddings has not dimmed despite the onslaught of the coronavirus and the attendant government-imposed restrictions.
Enthusiastic and eager men, women, and to-be-grooms and brides, flocked to the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre here on March 6 and 7 to look at the amazing variety of wedding necessities on display and sign deals worth lakhs.
The wedding show did not leave any aspect of a modern Sri Lankan middle or upper class wedding untouched. The display ranged from brides’ trousseau to grooms’ suits, cakes, varieties of food, floral decorations, photographic and video coverage and to fancy vintage cars to give the wedding a touch of the classic.
The quality of the display varied though with some really opulent. However, the way the customers were handled and the techniques used to display the exhibits and the quality of the catalogues determined the rush at counters.
The quality of the “deals” and the “concessions” offered also mattered to customers battling problems posed by a dip in their earnings due to the shutdowns in the past year.
“The crowds this time were the same as in the last exhibition and like before everybody, the customers and the staff at the counters, wore masks with some even wearing a plastic mask covering the entire face,” said a visitor.
However, as everywhere in Sri Lanka, social distance was not kept and people jostled as they normally would in bazaars of this kind.
Pandemic or no pandemic, and no matter what the status of the economy, Sri Lankan weddings will continue to be glittering events to remember.
(Photographs by Tang Lu/Xinhua)
