There is a guy who is getting divorced, and you should know his story. While he wanted a low-budget marriage, an expensive marriage was the girl’s idea to fulfil her dreams of a big fat wedding. The wedding budget was unnecessarily expanded for the guy, taking a load on his financial liabilities who was the only breadwinner for his middle-class family. Eventually agreeing to the demands of his would-be wife, he tried to make her happy in different ways, while keeping it all under budget. She wanted to go abroad, but he managed a honeymoon in India. She wanted all kinds of expensive clothes, and he tried to pay for that as well. He would even cook meals for her and make her comfortable when in pain. However, the girl did not want to earn, and do anything, even the smallest household chores. Her demands kept on rising with unending arguments, and her efforts for her husband and in-laws never started. At the end, the husband could not take it anymore, and sought to end the marriage on a peaceful note. But again, the wife did not make it easy for him, only agreeing to a mutual divorce if he paid huge alimony in lakhs. This heartbreaking tale led us to write about the legal benefits of a low budget marriage for men, for you never know if your marriage will work, but you can plan in a way that even if you lose out on the relationship, you don’t go bankrupt due to such a corroded marriage.
Keeping it one step at a time, first we discuss the drawbacks of holding a typical Indian wedding, celebrating every small ceremony in a big way to please the extended family. Then we will share how beneficial a low-budget marriage can be, especially for men in India who can become victims of gender stereotypes in Indian Legal System when their wife decides to misuse the laws against her husband, which are otherwise meant for her protection.
Disadvantages of Expensive Marriage
The most important and obvious disadvantage of an expensive marriage is the money factor. You spend lakhs and lakhs just to make it big and blingy, and all people remember is criticism of your dress, the not-so-good Matar Paneer, the only time when Fufaji was forgotten and made a big fuss of it, and all the things you did not deliberately plan. Apart from that, if you are the groom and you demand a lavish marriage, it bites back in unexpected ways. While you will still be spending on things and shagun envelopes and other kinds of rituals, that one big fat wedding will be counted as a burden upon the bride’s family. After marriage, if things go south and you decide to part ways, it will be this blingy expensive marriage which will weigh a lot on deciding the amount of alimony or maintenance.
Benefits of Low-Budget Marriage
While an inexpensive marriage may not seem a great idea to many, it can prove the best decision of your life. A wedding is meant to be a lifetime memory, and people spend their lifetime savings on their children’s weddings. It is all good if the couple is happy and loving, just a few relatives cribbing about how they were not treated well during the wedding. However, if the marriage witnesses a downfall, all those lakhs spent over those 5-6 functions to make the celebration memorable becomes a nightmare. Apart from emotional damage, a bigger threat is that if the bride proves that all the expenses of the wedding were taken care of by her family to fulfil the demands of the groom or his family, it would accompany the demands for dowry, and also have the weight for enhancing the amount of financial support for the wife in the form of maintenance or alimony, as the case may be. All those expensive jewellery pieces gifted by the groom’s family and his relatives/friends will become the wife’s Stridhan and she will get all of that as well.
If it is a low-budget marriage, you save lakhs for your future, have money for frequent travel plans, and you get to know more if you spend more time exploring with your spouse. Apart from that, you still have money for expensive gifts for your spouse after the wedding is over, for every important occasion. You can save for immovable property as well. While you will have a few relatives ranting about why you should have made it for the big fat wedding, you will still have several occasions to celebrate in the coming years, while still making beautiful memories.
How to safeguard interests in Expensive Marriage?
Being a groom, if you still want a high-budget expensive wedding, there are some ways for that as well. If you are someone who is not stuck in the customary set-up wherein the bride’s family takes care of the wedding venue and preparations, and the groom’s family has offered to keep the expenses 50-50, that is an applaudable and much needed initiative. In that case, make sure that you have the bills/invoice in place. The transactions should be made online so that you have proof of that as well. Cash currency handed over for payments would not really reflect whether it was the groom’s father or the bride’s father making payments. In addition, keep the bills for all the rituals that you are taking care of.
There was a case wherein the ceremony which usually the bride’s side takes care of to honor the groom’s relatives was paid for by the groom’s family themselves, and they also had bills, which was used to disprove the wife’s allegations that the groom’s family forced them to pay for all kinds of rituals to make their relatives happy. While things are not as easy in marriages, since both the families are afraid of hurting the others’ feelings, it is always recommended to keep things clear. The Courts have time and again also stated that the families should get an affidavit of gifts to reflect the whereabouts of valuables received during the wedding, through friends and family of both the sides.
Pre-Nuptial Agreement
As explained by Advocate Anam Siddiqui at a previous event, prenuptial agreements have no legal validity in India. While the bride and groom may decide the terms on which they will divide their assets if they end up divorcing each other in the future, the same would be a contract against marriage and thus, not enforceable in the Courts in India. Thus, while prenuptial agreements may seem a good idea as compared to the legal benefits of low budget marriage in India, it will not really safeguard your interests.
Court Marriage
When someone talks about low-budget marriage in India, people often jump over to Court marriages. Here, we take this opportunity to clarify that you can still get married as per your religion, be it Nikah for Muslims or Phere for Hindus, since personal laws govern your other aspects as well. When a person goes for a secular marriage defying the religious ceremonies, there are several requirements to be complied with. For example, Court marriage age requires the bride to be 18 and groom to be 21 or older at the time of marriage. The laws governing other aspects like succession and adoption may also vary, which you should enquire into before taking the step. Otherwise, Court marriage is also an easy way out. While it takes time of almost a month, it is convenient as you will get the marriage certificate issued by the authorities and you will be married without spending those lakhs.
The Last Words
We made this blog highlighting legal benefits of a low-budget marriage for men in India to encourage people to look at the non-materialistic factors that weigh in for your future. We do not mean to suppress the idea of blingy marriages…..not at all. You should definitely get married in a pomp and show setup if that is what makes you happy. What we want is not for the beautiful, cheerful memories of the wedding that took a toll on your pocket, to become a nightmare for the rest of years, as you prepare another set of lakhs of money for your wife. Stay safe and make sure you do not suffer just because you decided to marry someone who ended up not taking the marriage vows seriously and just entitled to everything perfectly done as pre her whims and fancies. We wish everyone a peaceful marriage with a loving spouse by your side as you make beautiful memories on a daily basis.
