Bhubaneswar, July 4: The marriage curry seems to have lost its flavour with vegetable prices soaring over the last one month. This unprecedented rise in prices is forcing many middle-class households in the city to prune their wedding fanfare.

The price hike because of short supply of vegetables had pushed up the marriage expenses with hoteliers finding it tough to meet the satisfaction of their customers.

The middle class has been hit hardest by the prices going through the roof. To balance things out, hoteliers are allegedly compromising on the menu.

On the other hand, people arranging weddings at various mandaps are bearing the brunt directly with no option but to buy vegetables at astronomically high prices.

Soumen Patnaik, a government employee whose daughter’s wedding is scheduled next week at a posh hotel in the capital, is worried that his budget has gone terribly wrong with the prices of vegetables going up. Invites have been already sent to about 800 people and Patnaik would have to cough up Rs 700 for each plate, which includes mostly vegetable dishes and two non-vegetarian items.

“I had set aside a large part of my budget for food and beverages. But now I guess it is still going to be insufficient. I have to either make some changes in the menu or shell out a few extra bucks to ensure that my guests like the food,” said Patnaik, who resides in Dharma Vihar area of Bhubaneswar.

The hoteliers said the market prices have affected them badly.

“On most occasions, we have to tell customers to reorganise their menu. It is difficult to whip up whatever dishes they had desired when the price per plate was decided,” said a hotel owner.

They said vegetable contractors have started demanding higher price for supply of vegetables to the market.

“Now, we are only offering dishes that include seasonal vegetables, easily available in the market. For making special curries such as mushroom, we have to charge higher amount,” said another hotelier.

Soubhagya Mohapatra, general manager of Hotel Mayfair Lagoon, said: “Higher prices doesn’t necessarily mean we compromise on the quality. We never do that, but since the marriage programme and payment is fixed much in advance, we cannot charge more from the customer.”

Shikha Singh of Hotel Swosti Premium also admitted that the price rise of vegetables and even non-vegetarian items, including fish and mutton, has had its impact on their budget. The price of mutton per kg has gone up to Rs 280 at present. Officials of Hotel Empires also said that they have no option but to prepare the dishes demanded by the customer.

While those organising marriages in hotels have to pay Rs 450 to Rs 700 per plate of vegetarian food, non-vegetarian plates cost between Rs 550 and Rs 800 each, depending on the number of items on the menu and hotel.

Those arranging the weddings at mandaps are also left with a burnt pocket.

“Besides paying a hefty price for booking a mandap, we have to pay nearly Rs 450 per plate for guests who prefer non-vegetarian food. It is painful to reorganise the menus at the last moment,” said 63-year-old Suprabha Mohanty, whose two sons are getting married on July 8.

Considering the increase in the price of vegetables, some people have been forced to cut down on the number of vegetarian items on the menu. “I was forced to reduce the vegetarian items for my elder son’s wedding last week,” said Gopa Behera, a businessman and resident of Nayapalli.

“The steep rise in the prices of almost all vegetables has hit everybody. With the prices soaring, many varieties of vegetables have disappeared from the wedding menus of people this season,” said a vendor at Unit-I daily market.