How Much will my Wedding Cost in South Asia?

Written by Atiya Abbas • August 2011

Fifty-five years ago, Grace Kelly, the sensational American actress, became the Princess of Monaco, in a celebration that was billed as the “Wedding of the Century.” Fast forward to 2011, and 24 million people tuned in for the next “Wedding of the Century,” that of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It had a fairy tale aura and for a moment the world swooned and sighed as the dashing prince and beautiful princess read their conjugal vows.

The pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding was nothing new to the average upper class Indian man and woman planning to get married. The booming economy of India is allowing the elite to hold weddings where money is no hindrance. In March 2011, Gaurav Assoumul and Kajal Fabiani were wed at the Casino Monte Carlo in Monaco. Elephants were flown in from India to join the entourage. Other weddings have featured a Russian ballet performance and airplanes with hourly departures so that guests can jetset as they wish.

Meher Sarid, a wedding planner in New Delhi says that they have become accustomed to receiving such unusual requests, be it exotic dancers from Spain, expensive flowers from Thailand or ice-sculptures. Preparations start months in advance and celebrations last weeks after the big day. Anita Patel, Managing Director of Tania-Tapel Events, an event-management company, told Time magazine that in India it is more about the glitz and glamour because people want something bigger and better than the last event they attended. She says budgets are astronomical and Indian weddings surpass even the recent British royal wedding when it comes to money.

Such pomp and splendor has attracted international luxury brands to look eastwards. The Indian wedding industry, now worth a whopping $40 billion, was valued at $11 billion in 2005 with a growth rate of 25% per annum. It has fast caught up with the U.S. wedding industry, also valued at $40 billion, to date. Businesses have also caught on and have started marketing their products during the wedding season. Sony, LG, Samsung and other appliance brands offer discounts during the wedding season that lasts from September to March. GE Money India offers loans exclusively for weddings.
In April 2011, a special online service was launched that delivers all the essentials that a wedding couple and their wedding party would need, directly at their doorstep. Called Exclusively In, the cyber boutique is the brainchild of Anu Duggal, who says that this is the first e-commerce platform that aims at bringing the best of South Asian wedding apparel and jewelry to the global non-resident Indian community.

The extravagance of weddings has also spawned a new and more enterprising crop of wedding planners. The term “wedding planner” was unheard of a decade ago and now it is considered passé not to hire one. Wedding planners charge anywhere from U.S. $2,000 to $10,000. They arrange for the venue, décor, catering, wedding attire and other pre-and post wedding arrangements. Subhata Roy, a wedding planner based in Kolkata, says that weddings are affairs for the elite to showcase their wealth. “Better standards of living, travel and greater aspirations have also fuelled this trend to have luxurious weddings,” says sociologist Salma Siddiqui.

Bollywood’s obsession with decadent celebrity marriages has had a trickle-down effect and the rising middle class, estimated at 300 million in 2005, is eagerly jumping on the bandwagon of dream weddings. Mallika Reddy, daughter of the well-known socialite, Pinky Reddy and Sanjay Reddy, will be tying the knot soon. Several A-list Bollywood stars are rumored to have been invited to the wedding. Many of these stars are paid to mingle with the guests at the weddings of the elite. For instance, Shahrukh Khan commands an attendance price tag of $750,000 while Salman Khan will show up for half of that!

These extraordinarily extravagant weddings have attracted criticism as well. Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, a member of the Indian Parliament from the Congress Party tells Time that they should be conducted on a smaller scale and that the lavish $3 to four million can be given to charity. Renowned columnist and publisher, Malvika Singh has termed these weddings as “graceless.” She adds that while once weddings were celebrated, today they are well-executed performances.

Inspired by the glitz and glamour, even the poor want to have expensive weddings. This should be cause for alarm in a country where inflation stands at 8.7%. Kuruppasserry Varkey Thomas, India’s Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has brought up the idea of regulating the number of guests invited and the dishes served at all weddings.

The glittering banquets about Millennium Development Goals (MDG) hide the stark reality that the fruits of a booming economy are only benefiting the elite and the middle class. There has been no social development. The government’s claims that their measures of hunger reduction have made an impact do not match the existing rates of malnutrition. Diseases like tuberculosis and malaria are rampant in some regions; measures seem to have only been taken on paper with no implementation.

The economic boom has done nothing to curb the patriarchal and feudal structures in rural India which places heavy burdens on women and girls. If social structures are not changed then the improvements in health and education will remain on paper leaving the 75% percent of the rural Indian population destitute.

However, extravagant weddings are unlikely to go away, says Ashish Abrol, CEO of BigIndianWedding.com. He adds that the rising middle class is not used to this kind of wealth hence the need to show it off is greater. Some 300 million wealthy middle class people compared to 75% of rural India is a pretty small number and the rising GDP, which the Indian government proudly highlights, is only benefiting this minority. Proper measures will have to be taken for social development and the government will have to develop stringent measures to curb excessive expenditure on nuptials.