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No vows, no couple, no commitments. Just a celebration of culture, community and chaos, India’s newest party trend has arrived.
At an event space in Delhi’s CP, the music rises as a baraat winds its way through fairy-lit trees. Guests in silk kurtas and sequinned sarees throw rose petals in the air, while a “bride” and “groom” prepare for their varmala. A videographer follows closely, capturing every moment. There is no marriage licence. No families are officiating the union. The bride and groom are not in a relationship. The wedding is not real.
What is real, however, is everything else: the choreography, the staging, the performances, the attire, the emotions. It is a fake wedding in form, but a real social experience in every other sense. Across India’s metros, such events are no longer fringe curiosities. They are becoming sites of cultural reimagination, especially for Gen Z.
The simulation of tradition
Among urban Gen Z, the fake wedding format reflects a deeper re-evaluation of how tradition is consumed, reinterpreted and detached from its original function. The architecture of the Indian wedding, once centred around family, religion, and permanence, is being repurposed into a temporary spectacle of community and aesthetics.
Instead of marking a legal or spiritual union, these events offer the skeleton of a wedding without its formal consequences. Guests arrive in curated outfits, participate in rituals like haldi and sangeet, and perform roles ranging from bridesmaids to drunk uncles. The event concludes with staged vidais, speeches, and even fake drama. But it is not satire. It is a structure without sanction.
Anthropologists studying ritual have long argued that ceremonies serve to reinforce collective belonging and continuity. In the case of fake weddings, the ritual is retained, but the meaning is revised. The function is no longer matrimonial; it is experiential.
A generation reconfigures the idea of belonging
The rise of fake weddings coincides with a generational shift in how young adults experience intimacy, identity and celebration. Gen Z in India, shaped by internet-native subcultures and post-liberalisation urban realities, is less tied to the life scripts of marriage, property and conventional career paths.
Yet the wedding, arguably one of India’s most enduring and aspirational social events, continues to dominate the cultural imagination. In place of resistance or rejection, fake weddings offer reinterpretation. The rituals are kept, but their purpose is altered. Aesthetic replaces obligation. Performance replaces permanence.
Most attendees are between 21 and 30, unmarried, and working in creative or tech sectors. Many do not see marriage as an immediate goal. Yet, the desire for collectivity, nostalgia and structured social experience remains strong.
The ritual without the weight
Unlike conventional weddings, fake weddings are designed to be low-stakes. There are no religious authorities, dowry negotiations, or familial hierarchies. The roles are performative. The intimacy is playful. Yet the affective charge remains real. Guests cry during fake weddings. “Couples” exchange jokes that mimic vows. Entire friend groups rehearse sangeet performances weeks in advance.
In some cases, these events serve as emotional placeholders for something deeper. Mock unions between best friends, queer-friendly weddings that mirror rituals denied in real life, or cathartic enactments following breakups.
The event may be temporary, but the experience is immersive.
Beyond subculture: Toward a new form of sociality
What began as college parties and DIY campus theatre is now edging into formal industry. Event planners in Bengaluru and Delhi now offer non-marriage wedding packages with theme options, mandap rentals and influencer tie-ins. Social media creators see fake weddings as ideal content engines: emotionally charged, visually rich, and algorithm-friendly.
But beyond the economics lies a more compelling shift: a new form of sociality that is structured, collective, and ritualised yet devoid of state or religious intervention.
In an age where many traditional institutions are being re-examined, the fake wedding stands at the intersection of nostalgia and invention. It draws from memory but is not bound by it. It re-enacts but does not reinforce. It performs togetherness, not permanence. Fake weddings do not pretend to be real. Their purpose is not deception but design. What they reveal is that ritual need not be rooted in belief to be meaningful. For a generation negotiating solitude, digital fatigue, and shifting cultural expectations, such events offer rare opportunities for co-presence, role-play and embodied participation.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author/authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members
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