Did you know that the Indian wedding industry is one of the most expensive industries in the world. It is worth around $130 billion, each year and is the second largest industry in the world.
Wedding Season!
Who said November to February is just winter? It is also wedding season.
Every winter in India is a riot of colors with bouquet battles between huge buffet skirts, which is literally like the Hunger Games of weddings.
While it’s survival of the fittest for the happy couple who embark on the miserable journey of planning, an endless guest list, visiting countless shops and blowing money on catering, it’s also a high-pressure time for the whole family.
From drunk guests to screaming children, everyone has to be taken care of. They plan a slew of outfits and attend several days of lavish events to celebrate the couple and critique the wedding dinner.
Of course, what’s not openly discussed is the money. But it’s no secret that in India, there’s no business like the wedding business. Indian weddings are a $130 billion industry, the second largest in the world, after China, which is second only to China, where the wedding industry is worth an estimated $170 billion, although India is expected to surpass China by next year, so this should come as no surprise.
Two reasons why India spends more money on weddings.
- India has the most weddings in the world: 10 million every year. Yes, you heard it right, 10 million weddings every year. If you don’t believe us, refresh your Instagram reel; every time you refresh, you will notice another wedding reel will pop up.
- And second, Indian weddings are very lavish; people often spend more than they can afford. The average Indian spends twice as much on weddings as he spends on education, which is not something to be proud of.
But the truth is the average expenditure per wedding is $14,000 or 12 lakh Indian rupees, which is three times the average annual income of an Indian family and almost five times the GDP per capita.
These are just average numbers Indian weddings can be very lavish and that is an underestimate. Driven by Bollywood and funded by rising disposable incomes, they are getting bigger and fatter between November and mid-December this year.
5 million weddings: $70 billion spent!
There are about 5 million weddings in India, generating a turnover of $70 billion, up from $55 billion last year, and about 50,000 of these 5 million weddings cost more than Rs 1 crore.
Each Rs 1 crore is over $110,000; that is a huge amount of money to spend on a wedding. Hence it is called the Big Fat Indian Wedding, or wondering where all this money is going
“Pre-Wedding to Post-Wedding!
Starters are the guests who will never be happy; second are the photo shoots, which are of many types: pre-wedding, post-wedding, and now even honeymoon photo shoots. So Bali is probably going to witness the new Indian tripling husband-wife and he (photographer),
About 10% of the budget is spent on location, mainly due to destination weddings, which has increased from 18% in 2022 to 26% this year and if you are not aware of this trend,
“From Goa to Portugal, Destination Wedding “
So let us tell you that if you want to go abroad, then Oman and Portugal are the new popular destinations. If you are following the wedding trend in India, then Goa, Pushkar, Udaipur, and Kerala are the best options for you. Surveys say this, so location takes a major part of the budget.
Then comes the matter of catering. 10% of the budget is spent on catering, which leads to $14 billion in food waste annually. 6% of the budget is spent on music and sound, so that older guests can’t speak their minds and younger guests can display unpracticed dance.
Then there are some other beneficiaries, like the retail and jewelry market, the auto market, and even social media planners; they will prepare your wedding feed and make wedding reels in a matter of hours because wedding movies that come out a month later are last season plans.
The Indian Economy Will Thank You
Indian weddings are not for the fainthearted, yet despite all your efforts, your guests may complain, but remember the Indian economy will thank you because Indian weddings are a big business, and they are getting even bigger year by year.
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