India, March 14 -- I f you have a wedding to attend in Delhi-NCR this month, you may want to double-check with the hosts. The LPG shortage triggered by the Middle East crisis is now affecting not just homes and restaurants but also wedding celebrations across the region, say planners and caterers. With fewer cylinders available, many are struggling to organise food for large gatherings, forcing some couples to postpone their big day. Among them is Gurugram-based entrepreneur Priya Raj Khatri, whose wedding was scheduled for March 18: "We are now postponing it as there is no better option seeing the situation. We had invited close to 700 guests, and if we have the wedding now then it would be a huge compromise to cut down on the guest list. Most people who are attending a wedding are excited for the grand spread of food, so my fiance and my family don't want our friends and relatives to go back without experiencing that." Another Delhiite, Angad Khurana, a real estate professional, shares that his March 16 wedding is also being postponed: "My partner and I had decided an in-depth menu almost a year in advance. We want to have a spread with over 10 cuisines, which doesn't look possible now. Our wedding planners were honest with us that what we wanted could not be delivered owing to the LPG crisis." Wedding caterers say alternatives such as induction cooking cannot fully replace gas when preparing food for hundreds of guests. Raj Pal from Rathi Caterers in west Delhi says, "Yes, some food can be prepared using induction cooktops, ovens and other electric appliances but not shaadi ka khana. There are live counters for chaats, pasta, etc. that need gas. If we are promising a certain quality of food, then we cannot provide food made solely in ovens and over induction plates." He adds that they have already had to cancel four bookings over the next two weeks. Rising costs are adding to the pressure. Shahid from AN Caterers says, "We used to buy commercial cylinders for Rs.1,456, and now we are not able to source these. So we are compelled to buy the smaller domestic cylinders, that too with a lot of difficulty. We are trying to still manage our existing bookings with whatever we can, but have stopped taking new bookings." Wedding planners say the crisis is already hitting their schedules. Rahul Kumar from Noida-based Perfect Events says, "We had five weddings booked for March, but have had to tell our clients that we cannot organise them till the LPG crisis is solved. We cannot find caterers who can provide large quantity of food for our functions."...