There are two things for which the budget surely increases. One is making a house and the other is the daughter’s wedding,” says Sandeep Sen, an entrepreneur.
Sen got his daughter married a few years back. Being in the advertising business for the past 30 years he has a good idea of what goes into a big fat Indian wedding.
“Weddings have no limitation.
They can range from Rs 20 lakh to 100 crore. A Rs 20 lakh and below do can be for people of lower middle class in India. For those above that line, the middle and upper middle class, it starts from Rs 50 lakh and above. I regard myself as upper middle class, and my limit can vary from Rs 1 crore to 5 crores,” Sen, demarcating the standards.
Sen adds that people these days are less into rituals and more into presentation. Rituals have given way to the large ostentatious ceremonies and wedding events.
Sen hosted five different types of wedding parties for his daughter; each of them had at least 500 guests. “The bride’s wardrobe and jewellery takes 25 per cent of the total cost.”
He also mentions that unlike earlier times when wedding photography was considered enough for weddings, people have now brought in videographers. Post wedding, these videographers present the whole wedding in a ‘fantastic way’ as compared to what Sen himself experienced during his own wedding. Sen had also requisitioned a band and a DJ for the other parties he arranged, before and after the wedding.
“Food is another important department. Now we try to have more variety, but none of it is worth the cost. There are five kinds of prawn preparations (prawn being an expensive item) but none of it actually tastes good,” he adds.
“I already had the manpower, so I didn’t employ any event management company for my daughter’s wedding. But for weddings below one crore, event management is not required,” he says.
On the other hand Prerna Gupta feels weddings should be a ‘private affair’.
Talking to She told Metrolife, “I won’t mind spending a little and inviting people who really matter in my life. I would want them to be there on my wedding. I would like it to be a small and private affair. But I will not compromise with good food, wine, music and clothes.”
For Gupta, 25, her wedding cost will not exceed Rs 12 lakh.Maninder Sethi from Wedding Asia and director of Excelsior group tells Metrolife, “It's an uphill task for all would-be couples to choose their perfect wedding wardrobe, Wedding Asia is an endeavour to simplify it for them. We strive to provide hassle-free services to people over this platform. Our services include wedding planners, wedding card designers
to wedding photographers as well.”
“Wedding planners assist a family in the entire planning of the wedding. From finding the right vendor to various arrangements, that includes scheduling the entire flow of the event and sometimes assisting them during shopping too. A grand wedding is lavish, loud with extended days of celebrations. Customers are always looking for innovation, every bride and groom desires to have a different wedding. That desire has given birth to ‘destination weddings’ and ‘theme weddings’. For me it's once in a lifetime moment.” adds Sethi.
