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With more ostentatious wedding s being the norm of the day the risks of anything going wrong is huge. But the risk attached to getting married is the last thing on the mind of Hiren, who ties the knot on December 7. The young executive just insured his wedding for Rs 5 lakhs, and bought peace.

This December, when Indians shell out close to Rs 50,000 crore over couples taking the vow, many of the glitzy wedding ceremonies would be covered against fire and accidents to the bridegroom or bride, cancellation of the wedding and disputes between the bride and the groom or their families.

According to Mr. Kartik Jain, marketing head of ICICI Lombard the marriage insurance market at Rs 30 crore is growing 50% year-on-year. Consumer awareness is on the rise and the demand for the product would not be restricted to any period. Sources in Oriental Insurance Company also mention that they are planning to come out with a marketing strategy for this segment as well.

Lately, the high and mighty of the society have been spending mega bucks on weddings. People do take care to make this once-in-a lifetime event a memorable one. In case of any postponement or cancellations, there is a certain risk of significant monetary loss. The wedding insurance package can compensate the monetary loss. Bajaj Allianz offers to insure anything between Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 70 lakhs the premium on the amount would range between Rs 3,770 and Rs 14,276. Though there is no minimum and maximum limits for the insurance, Mumbai-based clients go for Rs 40 lakh and above basket, it is learnt.

According to industry sources the recent wedding of actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai was also insured by a huge amount. Many other weddings of Bollywood personalities were also insured. Experts in the know mention that this segment is growing at the rate of 50% a year. They points to the fact that most wedding counsellors these days advice their celebrity clients to go for insurance, and over 60% of their clients agree.

And the middle class, too, is realising the benefits. Says RK, a Delhi -based executive who has insured his daughter's marriage, "My family had a bad experience in a marriage function where there was a fire at a marriage pandal and all the valuables of family members & guests alongwith the elaborate arrangements got destroyed leaving us with a huge bill. I do not want to go through that, and don't mind paying a premium."