No gifts please; no bouquets please

We recently received an invitation for marriage.It was from our friend,whose daughter was getting married.The invite itself was quite interesting as it had several venues and events; a hindu maharashtrian wedding; a church blessing ceremony and later reception and dinner at a different location;throw in a mehendi function and you have an interesting two day event.But the operative part of the invitation was 'no gifts, no bouquets, please'.
I have come across such 'requests' earlier too.It used to be 'no gifts' , so we used to end up taking bouquets!So this time, the message was loud and clear.
It makes sense no doubt.We have hilarious stories of gifts being given which are of pretty little use to the family;four flasks, five wall clocks ;umpteen wall hangings is what i remember about our marriage gifts.There was a thrill in opening gift boxes.I suppose the trend nowadays is one is expected to grow up and not look for such thrills when one is getting married!Leave childhood behind..
Another interesting facet of this wedding was there was no 'chathram' and centralised place where all events took place. Guests were put up in various locations and elaborate arrangements were made to ferry them from venue to venue!But everything neatly planned and meticulously executed, is what i could see.
Reception was in a huge lawn ;the atmosphere was relaxed and no one was in any great hurry to leave!I was comparing the situation here in chennai, where the hosts invite 10 times more people than they can accomodate comfortably.So there is a massive queue to go and greet the couple; pose for a minute on the stage to record your attendance!Then a mad rush to the dinner table.All the while your hosts are busy giving half smiles and nods to everybody.And everyone is in a screaming hurry to get in and get out.Not what you could call a pleasurable evening, to remember and cherish.
But this one was different, there was singing and a bit of shaking a leg and bonhomie all around, jokes were cracked and a band was playing choice old world songs.I am all for tearing down all these marriage halls and having open air affairs perhaps away from the city for marriage receptions in a relaxed and enjoyable manner.