Wedding planners ruling the roost in India

Call it the ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ or whatever the fact is that India accounts for 25 per cent of the world’s weddings. That means that one out of four weddings on earth happens here (China and India represent half of the world’s weddings). The Indian wedding industry is currently estimated at Rs 3.78 lakh crore, and is expected to grow by 20 to 25 per cent annually. In the two peak wedding months of 2022 alone, it is estimated that $46 billion (Rs 3.75 lakh crore) were spent on weddings. Various studies point out that this figure is expected to reach $159 billion in the first six months of this year. That’s not all. According to a survey conducted recently by WeddingWire India (WWI), the per month earnings of nearly half of its wedding vendors (42.5 per cent) have gone up in 2022 in comparison to 2019 and about 31 per cent vendors in the wedding industry have decided to increase their charges because of high product and labour costs.

There are various components that make this industry so big. These are catering and venue services that take about 30 per cent, gifts take 19 per cent, decoration 14, event planning 12, logistics nine, honeymoon eight, photography and makeup three each and invites two per cent. It is therefore pertinent to take a look at the latest wedding trends in India. WWI reveals that love marriages are increasingly getting clearance in India. In 2020, 68 per cent of couples revealed that their marriage was arranged.

On the other hand, in the 2023 survey, only 44 per cent of couples opted for the option resulting in a 24 per cent drop. What is even more important for various stakeholders of the large Indian wedding industry is that when it comes to planning, approximately 41 per cent of the couples start planning their wedding 4-6 months in advance, followed by 32 per cent, who plan it only 1-3 months in advance. It is interesting to note that the engagement period in India is much shorter than abroad as a majority get engaged only six months or less prior to the wedding (72 per cent). This also leaves couples with a shorter window to plan their weddings. What should also be kept in mind is that nearly every second couple that participated in the survey was aware that six out of 11 key activities like budgeting, finding trusted vendors and finding the right ring can be undertaken online. Couples are utilising these tools for planning, budgeting, finding trusted vendors and reading reviews before taking a call. The survey, conducted this year, showed there was an 11 per cent point jump in adoption of wedding technology platforms, as it was found that 58 per cent of couples now prefer to use wedding planning websites, as compared to 47 per cent in 2020.