Flight Chaos Leaves Newlyweds Stranded Attend Own Reception Online
IndiGo flight cancellations forced Medha and Sangama to join their reception virtually from Bhubaneswar as the bride’s parents took their place on stage in Hubballi, Karnataka.
Dharwad: It was an unusual yet heartwarming wedding reception in Hubballi on December 3, when the bride and groom attended the event — not in person, but virtually on a giant LED screen. The couple could not come from Bhubaneshwar as their IndiGo flight was cancelled.
Medha hails from Hubballi. She married Sangam Das at Bhubaneswar on November 23. After attending the programs there, they were scheduled to attend the reception in Hubballi on December 3.
More than 600 guests had gathered at Gujarat Bhavan for the celebration, but the seats reserved for the newlyweds remained empty. Instead, it was the bride’s parents who sat in their place.
On the screen, bride Medha, in a blue saree and her husband Sangam Das in a royal blue outfit appeared from afar, greeting guests and apologising for their absence. “We were scheduled to come, but our flight was cancelled. We sincerely apologise,” Medha said. The video of the “online reception” has since gone viral on social media.
Medha’s father explained that the couple had tied the knot in Bhubaneswar on November 23, followed by a reception there on November 26. “We all attended the ceremonies and returned by an IndiGo flight after two days. Everything seemed fine. But later, flights kept getting cancelled, and they could make it here,” he told reporters.
He said the family waited till late on December 2, hoping the newlyweds could somehow travel. “Relatives had come from distant places, and we were expecting around 700 people. They were all coming to see the couple. Cancelling the programme was not an option, so we decided to let them address everyone through the LED screen.”
Guests at the venue, touched by the situation, asked the bride’s parents to sit in the chairs decorated for the couple.
Six members of the family, including the bride and groom, were supposed to travel to Hubballi for the reception from Bhubaneswar. Tickets had been booked two months earlier, but flight cancellations disrupted all their plans. When travel via Bengaluru failed, they even tried routing their journey through Mumbai — but that too did not work out.