(Pakistani) girls just wanna have fun. Party, decoration, music and bride and groom, but without religious commitments or family dramas. Mock weddings are all the rage in Pakistan.
The setting is that of an authentic wedding, with flowers and cheerful tones of yellow. It looks like a typical Pakistani Mehndi — part of the country’s traditional three-day wedding festivities. But a closer look reveals something unusual: the “groom” is a woman. And this is not a same-sex marriage, but rather a “fake marriage”.
The trend has been gaining momentum in Pakistan since 2023 and replicates the aesthetics and celebrations of a ‘real’ wedding, but without the legal, religious commitments or family pressure that typically define Pakistani weddings. In other words: it’s a party to enjoy, without the subsequent responsibilities of life as a couple — much less with your spouse’s family.
This type of event became popular after a fake wedding organized by the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in 2023, which received considerable national and global attention, both in traditional media and on social media.
Negative reaction
The media coverage, although it aroused criticism, also ended up increasing the popularity of this type of event, especially among young people and influencers.
Sairam H. Miran, former president of the LUMS Student Council, told DW that students faced considerable “online abuse” after footage of the event went viral.
“There is a tendency for people and the media to focus more on LUMS as an elite university, disconnected from reality, which generates much more repercussions than any positive news about the students themselves,” said Miran. “Just like the rest of the world, it is possible for university students in Pakistan to have fun and excel in their fields at the same time.”
LUMS, like many other Pakistani universities, organizes weekly social events for students and believed that sham weddings offered a more traditional and socially acceptable space for celebration and fun. However, following the backlash, the student council and university took several precautions to ensure student safety and privacy, such as not allowing influencers to post on public pages.
“There were consequences for the administration, which had to be accountable to donors and parents, and for us, students, who did not consent to going viral and faced problems with our families too,” a LUMS student who graduated in 2023 and preferred not to reveal her name told DW for fear of retaliation.
“The groom had no problems with his family, but the bride’s family was very angry,” he added.
A safe space for women
The possibility of experiencing wedding festivities without the watchful eyes of society or family is precisely what makes these events so appealing, especially for women.
Rida Imran, founder of Hunar Creative Market, organized a women-only collaborative fake wedding last month. To achieve this, it enlisted the help of artisans, artists, content creators and event organizers.
Imran told DW that the Mehndi of a traditional Pakistani wedding, usually the first of three days of celebrations, brings together women to apply henna, sing, dance and celebrate. However, most families continue to pressure women to behave discreetly at weddings.
“Even though wedding celebrations are such an important part of our culture and tradition, women still face a lot of surveillance over how they act, dress and celebrate” explains Imran. “Having this exclusive Mehndi for women gave them the opportunity to enjoy their marriage without any social pressure or family scrutiny.”
Authenticity surpasses Western models
Punjrush, a comedian and content creator who played the role of “bride”, shared that, as a single woman, she never imagined living a “drama-free marriage”. Typically feels tension between family members or pressures to follow social norms. For her, the event was like a “moment of decolonization”as brand promotions and exhibitions follow a Western model, while Pakistani wedding culture (shaadi) is authentically South Asian.
Beyond authenticity, the sense of security that women feel at fake weddings contrasts sharply with other events in the country, such as raves and parties, which are often marked by uncertainty and security concerns. For example, in October 2024, police raided a Halloween party in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. The event had been widely publicized by the media and labeled as a “vulgar activity”, with many participants seeing photos and videos of themselves posted online, violating their privacy.
According to Shifa Leghari, journalist and commentator, fake marriages in Pakistan offer a much safer space for women, without attracting suspicion from authorities or family members, as they are a socially acceptable form of celebration.
“These events also tend to be paid or organized in a controlled way, with monitored entry points, and are very culturally appropriateso that people — especially women — can enjoy it freely, and men know how to behave with respect, because this is part of the culture of marriage,” said Leghari.
A growing market
Fake marriages have carved out a considerable niche within Pakistan’s complex wedding industry. The question now is whether this trend fuels the increasingly luxurious wedding industry, or whether it offers an alternative market outside the mainstream.
Pakistan’s wedding ecosystem — including venues, catering, designer fashion, jewelry, photography and makeup artists — is estimated to be worth at least 900 billion Pakistani rupees (2.74 billion euros) per year.
Some fake wedding planners argue that, rather than following standards, they offer alternative ideas, suppliers and services, based on creativity rather than a “copy and paste style” typical of most traditional weddings.
More accessible and innovative wedding services are emerging, driven by social media and the marketing provided by fake weddings. For example, organizers of a fake wedding in Islamabad called “Shaam-e-Mastana” (“festive night”) are trying to set a new standard for what weddings can be, bringing together folk music, fashion and cultural tradition.
Aqeel Muhammad, events curator, compared Pakistan’s fake weddings to the annual, stunning fashion show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
“You are free to express your style and identity in a heightened way if done creatively,” he told DW.
