Weddings in Nepal are getting bigger, fatter and more expensive day by day. Most of it's credit must be given to Indian influence in Nepali weddings given the close proximity of Nepal and India geographically.
Nepal has historically been an agricultural country and our society as well as socio-economic dynamics was also hugely influenced by agrarian way of life. However, the scenario now has changed. People these days are more economically capable to afford more lavish lifestyles. Due to this, the way people used to conduct marriage has changed.
After 1990s, many Nepali people travelled to foreign countries in search of income generating opportunities given that very limited opportunities was available in Nepal. Most of the population was under the poverty line as foreign employment served as great factor to uplift lives of Nepali people.
Given the monetary flow from foreign countries, people now had opportunity to conduct things which they could only think about in the past. Lavish weddings emerged as the best way for people to spend their life-long savings as according to Hindu culture, marriage is done only once in life's duration. This prompted people to make their once in a lifetime moment even more special through making it bigger and better.
However, the scenario is not applicable for all the population. There is large disparity between people in terms of financial status. Despite of this situation, people tend to make their wedding a grand occasion even through taking loans or borrowing money from others. A bad example is being set through these lavish weddings as people are blindly throwing away their life-savings in largely unproductive event.
Trends like haldi, mehendi, sangeet etc. which are Indian rituals that presides the marriage are being practiced in Nepal too. These events along with dowry (people call it gifts now) add up the cost of wedding to the extend that even middle-income person would find it extremely expensive to afford these days.
It's true that spending money in wedding would cause flow of money in the country's economy and creates positive impact in economic performance too. Many businesses specifically target wedding seasons where many people get employment opportunities as well. Therefore, there are both sides of the coin when it comes to significance of lavish weddings and it's entirely upon one's choice whether to choose it or choose rather the simpler one.