Planning a Wedding?

Planning a Wedding ? Well haggle over your pocket if you are an Indian . Indians are popular for first their food (after the snake charmers) and then their weddings . Indians are known for the hefty weddings popularly known as ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding ’ . From arrangements in food to décor , venue to the production , welcome to transport , car to the accommodation , each and everything is planned accordingly to show off the most .

Facts and Figures

The result is the wedding industry in India has a revenue of 1 lac crore and with an annual growth of 25-30%. This is lot more than half of the other BRICS nation combined . According to Indian traditions it is meant to be an expenditure of lifetime earnings . Not only by the bride but the groom is also ready to spend a lot . Special loans are also provided in official and unofficial mediums to provide financial support for marriages and other marriage related expenses . Indian classic movies had this special signature shot of mortgage of houses for marriages .

The cost of an Indian Wedding generally goes from Rs  3 lac to Rs 8 crore . This is just the official expenses done on basic requirements . A lot more hidden cost is there . The dowry tradition might have been made illegal decades ago but still it is openly practised by both the parties without any doubt . The dowry may be in cash or kind , mostly it has household commodities , furniture or cars . the trend of having the bride in a car is of decades ago . The wedding industry has seasons with a record of 60,000 wedding on a single day in Delhi itself . The number almost doubles every year.

The official weddings more than 2 lac in the month of November itself where the season lasts to the December as well as January.

Basic Cost Effecting Factors for Weddings

The Matchmakers

The founder of shaadi.com – Mr. Anupam Mittal says that the matchmaking industry is alone worth Rs 5000 crore . The matchmaking aunties were replaced with these online wedding portals as well as offline agencies for wedding matchmaking . From banquet halls to decorators , baraat to DJ , sound production to wedding caterers , photographers to videographers , matchmakers to web portals , wedding planners to traders , clothing industry to Jewellers, everyone is dependent only on this billion dollar industry .

Average Costings

Number of  marriages in a year: Approx. 1,00,00,000

Indian wedding market is  worth: Rs 100,000 to Rs 110,000 crore

Annual Gold and diamond jewellery market worth: Rs 60,000 crore

Apparels market (wedding only) worth: Rs 10,000 crore

Durable Goods market worth: Rs 30,000 crore

The Hotel and other wedding related market worth: Rs 5,000 crore market

Pandal and venue decoration market: Worth Rs 10,000 crore

Favorite honeymoon destinations: Goa, Jaipur and Udaipur

Goa Destination wedding cost: Between Rs 1 crore to 1.5 crore

Jaipur Destination wedding cost: 1 to 2 crore

Wedding cost in Metropolitan cities: Between Rs 25 lakh to 70 lakh

Wedding Invitation  Market : Worth Rs 10,000 crore annual

Bridal Mehendi Market in India: Worth Rs 5000 crore

Item-wise expenses on Indian weddings

Dinner cost: Rs 700 to 1000 per person

Pandal Decoration cost: Rs 10,000

Bridal Designer Saree / Lehenga cost: Between Rs 10,000 to 50,000

Designer Sherwani cost: Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000

Wedding Invite cost: Rs 500 to Rs 1500 per card

Bridal Make up cost: Between Rs 5000 to Rs 50,000

Bridal Mehndi cost: Between Rs 1000 to Rs 5000

The Wedding Planners

There are a hell lot of wedding planners in India other than Bittoo and Shruti costing just enough to help a lot of people who tend to enjoy the wedding and not rush over every short situation .

Band Baja – Not the one you saw on big screen but indeed one of the best wedding planners in India . They are available in every city of India claiming 3 easy steps for getting a wedding planner . This is a venture of the NDTV group and claims to be the best wedding planning website in the industry.

L’amore Wedding –  Just like the charisma in their name and the feel of an Elegant European Wedding with a Royal Indian Touch. Their delightful décor and themes will impress you enough to fill in your joy and love to a next level and impress your guests a lot.

The Wedding Venues

The venue is one of the most important and the major cost effecting factor in the wedding . This can be any banquet hall , tent , farmhouse , resort , hotel , staged grounds , destination fort / palace , etc .

The Hyatt – One of the most elegant and classy location for wedding in the whole Delhi NCR is the Hyatt , This is near Gurgaon – the modern part of the Delhi / NCR and is known for its class and ultra luxurious feel . The decor , the hospitality , the food , everything is up to the best class .The per plate cost goes to 5000 rs generally subjective on your date and respective matters

ITC Grand Banquet –   TC Grand Bharat is India’s first all-suites luxury retreat and is the ultimate expression of unhurried luxury. Located amidst the ancient Aravalis, ITC Grand Bharat is just 37 kms away from India’s capital city.

Envisaged as a tribute to the glory of India this retreat is set in a verdant 1.2 sq.km estate. The mosaic of luxury experiences are encompassed through the 4 Presidential Villas, 100 suites, a stand-out, 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, elaborate culinary experiences, conferencing facilities and extensive spa, recreation and wellness services.

Post Wedding Expenses

Honeymoon and Tourism

Then after all this comes the honeymoon and tourism expenses which contributes to the hotel and tourism industry of India and feeds stomach of a lot of states like Uttarakhand , Himachal Pradesh , Sikkim , Jammu and Kashmir which are mostly dependent on the tourism seasons completely for their income .

An average Indian Honeymoon can cost up to 30,000 INR for 4 days . The most popular honeymoon destinations are Goa , Manali , Kashmir , Ladakh ,Pondicherry etc. . India is blessed with beautiful beaches , marvelous mountains , heartily hills , etc. .

All these keys contribute together to an Indian Wedding and the best keys make  it  “A BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING !! “