Return Of The Big Fat Wedding

After revenge buying, revenge travel, it's now time for revenge weddings, or no-holds-barred weddings. The wedding season is all set to kick in after Diwali and continue till February next year. If 2020 was a historical low for the industry, 2022 is on course to break records in terms of revenues and scale of ostentation, say industry players.

Traditionally, the big fat Indian weddings are legendary for their complexity, diversity and scale. A staggering 1 crore weddings take place in India every year and the wedding industry is growing at 25-30 per cent annually. People across the world dream of attending one, and people in the country go to extreme lengths to have one! These grand celebrations are often characterised by massive spends, which is a big driver for the economy too.

Numbers Speak

Though largely unorganised, industry estimates peg the size of the wedding industry at about Rs 458 billion in 2020. Take a look at this. Ferns N Petals, which owns and operates Fnp Weddings & Events India as well as 11 large wedding venues in and around Delhi NCR, expects to grow 100 per cent this year, owing to the skyrocketing demand this season. The company is backed by Lighthouse India Fund III that invested Rs 200 crore in the firm in March this year.

In our conversation with top wedding planners, one thing was common –bookings for the popular venues are already chock-a-block for the upcoming season and the upper middle class is still choosing offbeat venues. Not only is there demand for domestic weddings, destination weddings are equal favourites for Indians this wedding season.

Such is the demand for international wedding destinations this season that Thailand now plans to address this ‘pent-up demand’ from the Indian wedding industry in order to boost its tourism sector, according to a media report.

To make this possible, Thai officials have teamed up with wedding planners in India. They have estimated a revenue boost between Rs 1,30,886 crore and Rs 1,52,700 crore approximately.

The story of Europe as a favourite destination for big fat Indian weddings is no different. After two and half years of destination weddings being limited to India, popular spots like Jaipur, Udaipur, Goa and Jodhpur had all been

exhausted, Thus leading to the inevitable return to Europe. This summer alone has witnessed some big-ticket Indian weddings in Cannes, Venice, Puglia and Lake Como.

According to experts, Indian weddings in Europe are now being given the same importance as Lebanese weddings, which have the reputation of being big-budget affairs. There is recognition for the amount of business that Indian weddings bring to the host European city — employing local vendors, hotels, kitchen and production companies; while spending money at their establishments.

Decoding Big Fat Indian Weddings

Indian weddings are classified into three different categories. One is the affluent segment, where the prices are not relevant, usually this range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 10 crore, where the price does not affect the choices.

There is another category in the range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore. This segment is very price sensitive. They evaluate the pros and cons and will probably opt for something which is more reasonable or which makes more economic sense. Rs 50 lakh and below are small weddings where they are more worried about other things in life than gold.

In our quest to understand the factors that are driving this year’s big revenue growth in weddings we reached out to Vikaas Gutugutia, MD, Ferns N Petals, which is one of the big names in the wedding industry today.

According to Gutugutia, weddings have not always been a celebration in India; it's a lifetime occasion where people tend to go all-out. “During the pandemic events were restricted, numbers were limited. A lot of people waited for this to get over so that they are able to celebrate their weddings without any constraints. This has automatically resulted in a robust comeback. At least 30 per cent to 40 per cent of weddings were held back, families were waiting for the pandemic to get over so that they can do justice to the big fat Indian weddings.

Weddings are extravagant affairs in India. Here people start saving early for weddings. I have witnessed certain families living a very ordinary life but when it comes to weddings, they tend to leave the big industrialists behind in terms of spending.”

According to Chetan Vohra, MD, Weddingline, the surge in this season is also driven by rising cost of hotel and travel. “We are seeing a lot of traction around destination weddings so that’s definitely up. As far as rising spends are concerned, it is also because the prices are soaring on all fronts -- hotels are more expensive and travel is a killer. So that affects the overall spend too,” shared Vohra.

Addressing pain points

While the Indian wedding sector might be on a roll, for a long time it has been dealing with unorganised practitioners that have been bleeding its reputation

and revenue. As per industry experts, this pain point needs to be addressed to ensure the industry sustains its growth numbers.

As far as the current state of the wedding market is concerned, it's gradually getting organised as per Gutgutia. “For any market to get organised, the most important part is to eliminate the ‘kacha’ part. A lot of black money is still being utilised in wedding celebrations, but this is steadily decreasing,” says Gutugutia.

He adds: “When I started my business, many people in the industry did not even know what a bank cheque was. Things have changed greatly now and there exists greater levels of transparency. If right government policies are implemented, within a few years the countless transactions in the wedding sector will become 100 per cent transparent. The industry will take a big leap. Till date 50 per cent of the money spent on weddings go unrecorded. There exists an agriculture ministry, a railway ministry then why not a wedding ministry? When the wedding industry is contributing so much, there needs to be a separate ministry to monitor the industry.”

Many other experts that we spoke to agreed that for the wedding industry to evolve into an organised institution some notable personalities, serious business houses need to start contributing. Only then will we see the real growth.

Right now the industry remains scattered, it's a seasonal business where stakeholders operate for four to five months and the next seven months it becomes increasingly difficult for them to survive.

This concern was also echoed by Samit Garg, CEO & Co-founder, E Factor Entertainment as well as President, Event & Entertainment Association of India (EEMA).

When we pointed out to him that a significant part of the event industry is still operating in an unorganised way, and how EEMA plans to address it, Garg said, “It is a very relevant path of what we have to pursue. However, let’s accept that such practices will not change overnight. The good part is that there is conversation already underway to deal with this issue and this largely happens in the wedding business.”

“Also, this practice is mostly prevalent in smaller cities. I believe that an active process has to begin now and there are many people involved in this chain, entrepreneurs and individuals are involved, even the government is involved and we are also to be blamed to a certain extent.It is the need of the hour to bring more transparency in our industry, and the more legitimised our practices are, the better the value of our businesses will become, and so will our standing as an industry,” he adds.

While the wedding industry is set to break its own revenue record in 2022, we hope it’s not just a seasonal story but remains a sustainable promise for more seasons to come.