The Big Fat Wedding opportunity!

In India, the largest, most lavish celebrations are not festivals – but weddings. In fact, more than 10 million weddings take place in the country every year; costing approximately ₹100,000 crore! This is a growing trend, escalating at an astounding rate of 25-30% per year.

Indians are known to spend more than one-fifth of the wealth accumulated in their lifetime on a wedding ceremony! If the wedding card market spends are ₹8000-10,000 crore, the band-baaja, bridal buggies, lighting, etc., account for ₹5000 crore. And this doesn’t include the payouts for floral décor, food, venue, trousseau etc… The figures are simply mind-boggling!

Wedding joy extends to a host of ancillary businesses who benefit from the celebration – tourism, luxury retail, white goods, hospitality services, charter companies, gifting, and more.

Case in point: Breguet launched its luxury wedding watches ranging from ₹8-15 lakh in the Indian market and Star Cruises has launched a honeymoon cruise to Lakshadweep specially for Indians.

As international boundaries disappear, the wedding industry is becoming truly global. Not only are international destinations gaining popularity for weddings, but wedding specialists are also crossing borders to delight clients. Indian wedding planners are collaborating with world-renowned designers, planners and creators to deliver world-class ideas at the best possible execution standards.

Digitalisation is now a key part of the wedding planning experience – from apps, 3D, augmented reality, etc., to Oculus experiences for those who can’t make it to the celebration.

Wedding Tourism is the new deep-pocket opportunity that has opened up more employment avenues in Indian and foreign markets. It is witnessing keen interest from tourism boards, international convention bureaus, business associations and governments, ecosystem players, et al; all of whom are wooing Big Fat Indian Weddings. All of them are wooing the Indian wedding tourists, who are identified as high spenders.

The opportunities to reap rich rewards from the wedding industry are endless. The smart ones are trained, organized and prepared for the world. They are reaping the maximum rewards!