25% of the world’s marriages take place in India.

How has Covid shaped the wedding industry?

The wedding industry everywhere has gone through very tough times, which isn’t surprising, but we picture Covid as the biggest pause button the wedding industry has ever hit because, at the end of the day, we knew people were still going to get married. do; They weren’t really able to get married during that time. And then 2022 saw the biggest number of pent-up wedding demands the industry has ever seen.

Are Indians Different in How They Plan Their Weddings?

Now in India, couples are playing a slightly more prominent role than before. I think it was one of the things that got accelerated during covid because they started using digital platforms or wedtech.

During the pandemic, everyone was universally forced to figure out how to get married, or simply postpone it. In India, perhaps 70% of marriages are still consummated in some way, shape or form. But in America, it was about 50% and a lot of them came back later and did at least one celebratory event. We are of the view that in 2023, the number of weddings will return to normal around the world.

Are Indians spending on weddings the same way they used to before the pandemic?

We are seeing that the average size of weddings has come down but the budget has remained the same. We say the big fat Indian wedding is still here, but now it’s fat in a different way. People are spending the same amount but in smaller, more experiential ways, elevating that guest experience with more personalization and customization.

How important is the Indian market for vedtech companies like yours?

25% of the world’s marriages take place in India. That is, one out of four marriages on earth takes place here. This is just to give you a sense of scale, isn’t it? China and India represent half of the world’s marriages. So we’ve got a lot of room to run and we’re obviously very excited about it.

Which cities are you seeing the most interest in?

We are seeing a lot of adoption of technology, not only from Delhi and Mumbai and Bengaluru, but also from other places. So we’re really trying to build out the supply base right now to make sure that when couples are looking for wedding vendors, we’re their first choice. Places like Jaipur, Udaipur and Goa are not only seeing demand for weddings from their own cities, but are also feeder markets for other cities where people are planning destination weddings.

Does this mean that Indians will continue to reduce the wedding guest list?

Well, before covid the average guest count used to be 350-400. But right now, it’s 250 or more. But the budget is still healthy because even though the guest list has come down, people are choosing from more options on where they want to have their weddings and many of them are choosing resort or destination weddings where they can spend the same or similar amount. Can spend money on fewer guests.

In India, a major part of the wedding industry operates on black money. How does the Wedtech platform help in regulating this?

The way we feel we have a robust review mechanism is to contribute to the greater good of the wedding industry because ultimately, couples want to know and trust who they are booking with. So our role is not in the transaction, but around it and we try to benefit the wedding industry on both sides of the market.

Has the global recession and inflation adversely affected the sector in any way?

Look, weddings, we mark as ‘recession resistant’. People don’t say ‘let’s never get married’ but how to do things differently. So the shortcut is to, you know, cut the budget by 10% by reducing guest lists, but never say 50%. No one wants to sacrifice that much for their big day. So we have generally estimated a 10-15% contraction in the wedding budget during this time.

and inflation?

Inflation has absolutely had an impact on the wedding industry. supplier costs, food, manufacturing supply chain; Everything is impacted and costs are going up for couples and it would be difficult to calculate but I would say upwards of 10% at least. In India, vendors listed with us are reporting a 20% year-on-year growth in their revenue in 2022, which I take as an indication of the cost of inflation rising so much.

Have hotels and other expenses also become expensive here?

Yes, even the hotel cost and venue cost have gone up as there has been a shortage of supply. With pent-up demand, globally too, there were plenty of Monday weddings and Thursday weddings, as supply could not absorb all the extra demand.

Has the marriage purse globally shrunk?

Globally, I think people want to spend money on weddings. Generally speaking, this industry follows the travel and hospitality industry, which has seen all-time high rates. Things have become costlier in the wedding industry as well, but people are willing to shell out money for such an experience.