Chartered flights to ferry outstation guests, chauffeur-driven luxury sedans for local transport.
In booming Hyderabad, being rich is not enough. If you have wealth then you must flaunt it, especially during weddings. At least this is what the City of Pearls has been witnessing of late.
Weddings are all about grandeur — costly invitation cards, pricey mandaps, exotic food, expensive liquor, luxurious cars and thousands of guests. Who said extravagance was the exclusive domain of the erstwhile royal families?
Take for instance the marriage of leading Telugu actor NT Rama Rao Jr (NTR), the grandson of thespian and former chief minister NT Rama Rao, held in the city recently.
According to reports, the cost of each invitation card was about Rs 3,000. Besides, an estimated Rs 18 crore was stated to have been spent on the high-profile wedding attended by around 15,000 people.
However, despite this pomp and splendour, people say the stories of NTR's marriage will soon be replaced by the wedding of Mallika, the granddaughter of GV Krishna Reddy of the GVK group which is into the power, airports, real estate and hospitality sectors.
Though Mallika's wedding is slated to be held a fortnight from now, it has already become the talk of the town. It all started with the fancy wedding card being sent to the city's elite.
The invitation card with an exquisitely carved image of Lord Venkateswara is being sent along with sweets in an elegantly designed box which is 33 cm long, 21 cm wide and 6.5 cm in height. Enquiries in the market revealed the cost of each card would be 3,000-3,500. And the cards are being sent to over 5,000 people.
People engaged in making arrangements for the mega event told Business Standard that three chartered flights have been commissioned for the convenience of guests coming from Delhi and Mumbai.
"In anticipation of the attendance of you and your family, among other esteemed guests, we are arranging a chartered flight that departs from Mumbai (10:15 am & 3 pm)/Delhi (09:20 am) to Hyderabad on June 10, 2011, and back from Hyderabad to Mumbai (11 am & 3:20 pm)/Delhi (12:15 pm) on June 12, 2011," an email sent to invitees by the RSVP team on behalf of the bride's parents, Sanjay Reddy and Pinky Reddy, states.
Rest assured that whoever attends the wedding will be treated royally. Arrangements are made for their stay in five five-star hotels in the city: Novotel, Falaknuma, Taj Krishna, Taj Banjara and Taj Deccan. Luxurious, chauffeur-driven cars will be placed at their disposal for commuting between their place of stay and the Shamshabad airport arena where the wedding is going to be ceremonised.
According to reports, the event is expected to be attended by a host of Union ministers, corporate honchos and Bollywood celebrities besides the state chief minister and his Cabinet colleagues, among others.
Mallika's maternal grandfather T Subbarami Reddy is a senior Congress leader and former Union minister who is known for hosting grand parties for celebrities and political bigwigs.
While the bride's side expects 1,200 guests from outside Hyderabad, the bridegroom's side said most of the guests would be from the city. "Only 50-60 will be from outside," Syam Prasad Reddy, father of the bridegroom Sidharth Reddy, said.
Founder of Indu Projects, an infrastructure company, Syam Prasad Reddy said he was expecting about 4,000 people to attend the reception he would host after the wedding.
