印度富二代的奢华婚礼

When Indian entrepreneur Suniel Mutha married, he and his bride tied the knot in Madras, her hometown. There were 900 guests, and the festivities lasted three days.
印度企业家苏尼埃尔．穆萨（Suniel Mutha）当年结婚时，婚礼是在新娘的老家马德拉斯（Madras）举办的，有900位来宾到场，仪式持续了整整三天。

Wealthy Indians, today, are still into lavish weddings, but, more and more, a hometown celebration just won't do. The Muthas' son Sidaarrth, now 26 years old, was married in a dazzling display in Macau last year. Their 27-year-old daughter, Shweta, had a big wedding bash in Bangkok in July. The celebrations lasted five days, included hundreds of guests and had all the trappings of atraditional Indian wedding -- down to the team of 60 chefs and kitchen assistants flown in to prepare special meals. The tab for the Macau wedding exceeded $4 million.
今时今日，印度的有钱人依然崇尚极尽铺排的婚礼，不过在老家举行婚礼却是越来越少了。穆萨夫妇的儿子斯达尔斯（Sidaarrth）今年26岁，他去年在澳门举行了极其奢华的婚礼。他们27岁千金施薇塔（Shweta）的盛大婚礼则是今年7月在曼谷举行的。两次仪式都持续了5天，有数百位来宾到场，拥有传统印度婚礼的所有排场──甚至有包括60名主厨和厨师助理的团队，从印度飞过来准备特别的餐饮。澳门婚礼耗资超过了400万美元。

The global economic slowdown may have pinched incomes and reined in conspicuous consumption elsewhere, but Indian weddings appear recession-proof, as wealthy families strive to outdo one another in far-flung locales including Dubai, Thailand, Macau and even France.
全球金融危机在别的地方也许是导致了人们收入缩水，奢华消费减少，但是印度人的婚礼似乎没有受到任何的影响。富有的家族相互攀比，争相去那些遥远异国他乡举办婚礼，比如迪拜、泰国、澳门，甚至法国。

'People spend like crazy,' says Achinto Bose, the marketing manager in New Delhi for Tourism Malaysia, which has invited Indian wedding planners on junkets to such scenic locations as the beach-resort island of Langkawi. Thailand and Macau are also trying to drum up business. Red Events India, an events planner in Ahmedabad that helped plan the Mutha wedding in Macau, says it has arranged a dozen weddings outside India since 2006.
马来西亚旅游局（Tourism Malaysia）邀请印度的婚礼策划人到马来西亚各处景点游览，比如海滩度假胜地兰卡威（Langkawi），旅游局驻新德里营销经理阿琴托．博施（Achinto Bose）说，“他们花起钱来非常地疯狂。”泰国和澳门也在极力拓展这一业务。阿默达巴德（Ahmedabad）的婚礼策划公司Red Events India称，公司自2006年以来已经安排了十二次境外婚礼，穆萨家族的澳门婚礼便是由他们策划的。

Mr. Mutha, 49, owns food-commodity trading and real-estate companies. One of his proudest emblems of success is under glass in a corner of his living room in Pune -- a sculpted elephant decorated with 24-karat gold and Swarovski crystals. It was a gift from the grateful management of the InterContinental Bangkok hotel, the site of his daughter's wedding.
现年49岁的穆萨经营食品贸易及房地产，在彰显其功成名就的诸多纪念物中，最令他引以为豪的是浦那家中客厅角落里的一尊大象雕塑，罩在一个玻璃罩子里，表面装饰着24k黄金和施华洛世奇水晶。这尊雕塑是他在曼谷洲际酒店（InterContinental Bangkok）为女儿举办了婚礼之后酒店回赠的谢礼。

For the marriage of his son to Niyati Karia, a 26-year-old jewelry designer, Mr. Mutha made six trips to Macau to pick a hotel for the wedding and make plans. He settled on the MGM Grand, mostly because it was willing to give the group unfettered access to its kitchen.
穆萨的儿子娶了26岁的妮亚迪．卡利亚（Niyati Karia）为妻，她是一位珠宝设计师。为了筹备儿子的婚礼，穆萨跑了六趟澳门，挑选举办仪式的酒店，安排各种相关事宜。最后他选定了美高梅金殿酒店（MGM Grand），主要的考虑是这家酒店同意他们随意进出厨房。

The bride's father, Yogesh Karia, a Pune construction-company owner, also favored Macau, the former Portuguese enclave, now a gambling mecca. His daughter met the Muthas' son while shopping for shoes. They asked their parents to arrange a marriage. The engagement was finalized in August 2007, a few months before Mr. Karia visited Macau. All told, the wedding, held in July 2008, was 11 months in the planning.
新娘的父亲尧戈什．卡利亚（Yogesh Karia）是浦那一家建筑公司的老板，他对澳门这个昔日的葡萄牙殖民地、如今的博彩胜地也是情有独钟。他的女儿和穆萨的儿子是在买鞋子的时候认识的，后来两人请双方的父母来安排婚礼。2007年8月，他们正式订婚，几个月之后卡利亚去了澳门，2008年7月婚礼举行，前后算下来筹备的时间花了11个月。

'Once we decided about the marriage, both of us [fathers] had the 'destination' concept in mind,' says the 57-year-old Mr. Karia. 'We wanted something different, something exclusive.'
Mr. Mutha paid for the wedding guests to fly to Macau; in-flight hand towels and toothpicks were printed with special wedding logos. The Karia family footed the bill for hotel accommodations.
现年57岁的卡利亚说，在我们决定了要举办婚礼的时候，我们俩人（两位父亲）头脑中就都有了自己的“目的地”。我们想要一个与众不同的、独一无二的婚礼。穆萨承担了婚礼嘉宾飞往澳门的费用，飞机上的擦手巾和牙签上都印制了特别的婚礼标识。卡利亚家则结算了宾客们住酒店的费用。

In India's multireligious, multicultural society, there's no set agenda for weddings. Some last a single day; others go on for many days with rounds of rituals and entertainment. Each community has its own rites. The Muthas are adherents of Jainism. Believers eat a strict vegetarian diet that excludes onions, garlic and potatoes; dietary restrictions added complexity to arranging the ceremony outside India. For the team of chefs and kitchen assistants flown to Macau from Ahmedabad in northern India, the first order of business was to sterilize the hotel's kitchen, removing any trace of carnivorous Chinese feasts.
在印度这个宗教多样化、文化多样化的社会，婚礼并无一定之规。有些婚礼只需一天时间，有些则要持续好几天，有数轮仪式和娱乐活动。每一个社会群体都有特定的仪式。穆萨家族信奉耆那教。耆那教徒都是严格的素食者，而且不吃洋葱、大蒜和土豆。他们的饮食习惯如此严格，在印度以外举办婚礼就变得更为复杂了。厨师和助手们从印度北部的阿默达巴德飞抵澳门后，第一项任务就是对酒店的厨房进行彻底消毒，把做中餐时用到的所有跟肉食沾边的东西统统清理掉。

Set decorators, choreographers, hairdressers and photographers were imported. Artists who apply henna to the hands of the bride and her friends during a special party were summoned from India. A pandit was brought from New Delhi to officiate at the wedding.
布景师、舞美师、美发师、摄影师是从国外请来的。在某场特别的仪式上新娘和女伴手上要进行彩绘，彩绘艺术家是从印度请来的。婚礼的主持则是一位来自新德里的梵学家。

All told, 250 support staff, including the culinary team, were flown to Macau. The $4 million-plus price, which Mr. Karia cites, is about double the average price of an overseas Indian wedding these days, according to Technopak Advisors, an Indian consulting firm. Technopak says costs can climb as high as $30 million. Relatively modest weddings start at about $300,000.
算上厨师团队，一共有250名工作人员乘飞机来到了澳门。印度咨询公司Technopak Advisors称，卡利亚所说的400多万美元的婚礼开销，大约是目前印度海外婚礼平均开销的两倍。Technopak公司说，海外婚礼的费用最高可达 3000万美元，相对简单的婚礼则需要30万美元左右。