Now’s the season when sharing and cheer are usually in good supply. It also happens to be the season for big, fat Indian weddings. We were treated to a fair share of the later this past month.

But what made for a refreshing departure was the change in approach for at least some of the weddings that we attended. In a pleasant U-turn, we noted how some couples were opting for smaller, intimate celebrations with just the immediate family and a few friends in attendance. It was lovely, made good sense, and ensured that the bride and groom were actually not some far-off, hard-to-catch celebrity couple whom the rest had to see and cheer from a distance. Everyone seemed far more relaxed; the parents on both sides were smiling (not the plastered variety) and the general mood was that of light-hearted fun, bonhomie and loads of revelry.