The changing business: Indian weddings grow bigger and more lavish

Some reports say it is the fourth largest industry in India with annual spending of $130 million. But in our management education we are yet to fully grasp its importance

Weddings have always been important in our country. But they are getting bigger and glitzier.

 

The growth in weddings has thrown open numerous opportunities for marketers. At one time having a wedding in a five-star hotel or resort was a rarity reserved for the ultra-rich. Today it is a sign of success for even the upper middle classes.

 

Business Standard (edition dated September 26, 2024) says with November 22, 23, 24 being among the most auspicious days of this wedding season, all five star hotels are running full. Multinational hotel chains are rolling out special Indian wedding services.

 

Having a wedding in a hotel has added benefits to the hotel in the form of rooms for guests, food and beverage sales, concierge services, etc. The bigger families book out the entire hotel. I wonder if the Oberoi group is rethinking its old policy of “no wedding” as articulated by the Late Biki Oberoi.

 

Companies that help other companies organise dealer conferences, product launch conferences, and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) at one time shunned the wedding business because it was “messy”. That has changed.

 

EEMA India (Event and Entertainment Management Association) has embraced weddings as a major source of revenue and growth. You want a top-flight event company to handle your daughter’s or son’s wedding? They will be ready with a host of services which may include picking up guests from the airport to waving them goodbye. Oh, you want to have the wedding in Mexico? No problem. You want Bollywood celebrities to meet and greet your guests? Done. You want thematic dinners and lunches? Name your theme. Or we will suggest themes and you can pick one.

 

As I have mentioned in my book, “For God’s Sake – An Adman on the Business of Religion”, I was a jury member at the EEMA India Awards some years ago. I saw they had categories such as consumer product launch, car launch, etc. I was wondering when I would get to see wedding as an event. I was then told that weddings were so big there were three categories: Below Rs 1 crore, Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, and above Rs 5 crore. This was a some years ago, now it may be different. Each entry came with a video and a photo album.

 

Some reports say it is the fourth largest industry in India with annual spending of $130 million (PL Capital quoting The Economist). But in our management education we are yet to fully grasp its importance.

 

I have asked my students at SPJIMR to name two “celebrations” that unite all Indians across the country. I give them the first, Diwali. Then I let them struggle with various festivals: Holi, Dussehra, Independence Day, etc, before I tell them I was asking for “celebrations” and reveal that it is the Great Indian Wedding that is common across the country.

 

There has been a slow transformation of the Great Indian Wedding. At one time in Kerala, wedding used to be a simple affair, lasting 15 minutes or less. My students do not believe this and there are many “what” from the audience. In many parts of South India, there was no idea of a ‘Sangeet’ before the wedding. Weddings are solemnised with vedic rituals during the day in South and in the night in North India.

 

The growth of mass media and the importance of weddings in Bollywood movies have created a homogenised wedding pattern across India. It is likely that Sangeet is a part of many south Indian weddings today. Mehndi, which used to be blobs on the hands of the bride and her friends in Tamil Nadu, has now given way to elaborate patterns to the extent that a friend in New York, a talented designer, has a side gig as a mehndi artist. The reception function in the evening with some form of musical entertainment has also become standard fare.

 

From being a one-day affair with two events, most weddings today, even among middle class families, have at least three events spanning two days or more. I understand this is not just true of Hindu weddings but are also seen across other religious denominations.

 

I call this the “Punjabification” or “Bollywoodification” of Indian weddings. What was once a solemn vedic ritual is today a celebration for the entire extended family. And why not? With families living in distant cities, even continents, weddings are seen as an occasion for cousins and uncles to congregate under one roof for two or three days.

 

There could be another reason for the growing appetite for wedding celebrations. As a country we have lived a frugal life for decades. We do not want to splurge on things, wondering if we will be wealthy down the road. The increased spends on weddings is legitimising expenses at one level. And in a way it is also signaling increased consumer confidence about the future —theirs and their children’s.

 

Marketers are waking up to the fact and interestingly hotel brands are first off the block, it seems.

 

Ambi Parameswaran is an independent brand strategist and founder of Brand-building.com. He can be reached at ambimgp@brand-building.com