Destination weddings: Latest trends, international vs domestic, hottest locations

People are also experimenting with open roof/no structure mandaps. (Representational image: Raj Rana via Unsplash)

Largely unorganised, the Indian wedding industry is worth about Rs 3.68 trillion annually and in the forthcoming season, it is expected to see a 200 percent growth. Will the upcoming wedding season return to the 2019 levels? Has anything changed?

WedMeGood Annual Wedding Survey: As part of their annual wedding survey, Mumbai-headquartered WedMeGood polled over 1,100 wedding industry professionals to release the first part of the vendor-side survey. The highlights of the survey are:

· On average, vendors reported their business grew by over 16 percent year-on-year (YoY).

· The average wedding party size in 2022 was 270 guests, a 40 percent increase from last year's 180 guests. However, a quarter of the weddings this year were still under-100-people intimate weddings.

· Thailand, Dubai and Bali were the top three international wedding destinations with Turkey and Azerbaijan adding to the mix in 2022.

· Décor has seen an 18 percent budget increase YoY.

· In the invitation space, several semi-permanent changes have taken place - such as the advent of e-invites which has reduced ticket sizes for the category considerably.

· Brides and grooms took the lead in booking for wedding photography, bridal makeup, invites but the family took the lead for categories such as venues with only 18 percent saying it was the couple who booked them.

· Between the couple, vendors reported that brides were doing the bookings 82 percent of the time.

Domestic vs international destinations: Destination weddings made a comeback this year with a reported 18 percent of weddings being destination weddings. The already-popular Jaipur, Udaipur, Goa, Jim Corbett continued their popularity streak, with new entrants such as Mahabaleshwar, Puri, Pushkar and Ranthambore added to the mix.

The Maldives has picked up drastically as a hot wedding destination over the last couple of years. “According to the Maldivian law, couples are not allowed to do pheras, but this is not a deterrent for couples who opt for minimal, Westernized, themed events as opposed to the traditional ceremonies,” says Saanya Sharma, co-founder, Three Entertainment.

Couple from Metros vs. Tier 2 Cities: “Couples from Tier 2 cities still flock to popular destinations such as Jaipur and Udaipur. On the other hand, couples from metro cities now are looking for other alternatives. This could either be in the form of residential weddings (weddings within the same city but where the entire wedding party moves into a hotel), properties close to the hometowns or unique luxury escapes in new cities,” says Mehak Sagar, co-founder, WedMeGood.

Guest numbers: Parthip Thyagarajan, founder and CEO, weddingsutra.com, says that post-pandemic, big fat weddings coexist with the slim and smart weddings. “Most business families are opting for 500-1,000 guest list as weddings are an excuse to re-establish ties with friends and family specially after the pandemic. Couples who plan the weddings themselves opt for smaller, more intimate affair with focus on experiences,” says Thyagarajan.

Décor: On an average, at least 1/5th of the wedding budget goes into the decor.

While there are a select group of people going very subtle and minimal on the decor, there’s still a large percentage opting for the ornate and the loud. Full closed-set mandap is passe, people are experimenting with open roof/no structure mandaps. White wedding setup is pretty trendy these days. Use of paper flowers, mandaps with natural trees, and botanical leaves are gaining ground as sustainable décor solutions.

Home-grown brands: “Thanks to Instagram, a lot of home-grown brands are becoming an integral part of weddings. For example, couples now have a lot to choose from, whether it is nicely-packed agarbattis, juttis, gift hampers, accessories, jewellery and clothing,” Thyagarajan adds.

Functions: “A prominent trend/theme is to have One Cool Function. It could be a carnival/boho-themed mehendi or quirky cocktail parties like the airport theme with relaxed dress codes (sneakers) so people can enjoy fuss-free,” says Sanjana Shah, cofounder, Three Entertainment.

According to weddingsutra.com, concept photobooths, disco nights, rain dance, stand-up comedy, live entertainers embedded in the crowd, circus acts, magic shows, dance floors that spill out from stage to the beach and other extras are being embraced by couples to add a dose of fun and novelty to every occasion.

Sparkler tunnels that started as a fad are now a wedding classic and here to stay. And of course, LED walls will become the norm.

E-invites: As weddings were rescheduled and postponed during the pandemic, e-invites were the only option. The fancy wedding invitation cards might never return because couples focus their budget on the wedding-day experience and being more and more conscious about waste.

Choosing a Wedding Planner: Do your research. With social media, specially Instagram, you can now do extensive research without committing to anything. Do not go by the hype, choose a planner you are comfortable with and ensure that your sensibilities match. Decide what you want and point the planner in a direction before they can take over. Spell out the budget clearly. Priortise the spending.