How young Indian couples budget for their weddings

And then there is the culture to contend with, especially if the bride and groom are from different communities.

Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO, Edelweiss AMC, fondly recalls her “entertaining double wedding”. For us, and Hindu rituals were fun for them,” says Gupta.

Indian weddings can be a lot of fun but organizing them can be a mammoth task. Peppermint We caught up with some of the people who got married in recent years to understand how they planned and organized their weddings. We also interviewed a few other people who are soon to tie the knot and asked them about their wedding plans.

budget for the big day

Shaili Shah, a resident of Malad, says preparations for her sister Devanshi Vakil’s wedding have kept her very busy. His sister works as a senior financial analyst in Canada. “We have seen many weddings being held in nice halls. This gave us some idea of ​​the cost, and we added an inflation rate to work out the budget for my sister’s wedding,” says Shah. The families of the bride and groom spent approx. Apart from this, 25-30 lakh rupees are spent in the marriage ceremony. 12 lakhs for bridal jewelry and clothes and wedding gifts.

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“We had an idea of ​​how much each category like food, venue, etc. would cost based on what we had seen at the weddings of our friends and siblings,” says Vallabh Remani, product manager at a life insurance company. Remani and his wife Aishwarya Vuppu also set a limit on wedding expenses: their combined annual salary. Eventually, except for the jewellery, he spent almost 22 lakhs in marriage

Nikita Peer and Riaz Ahmed, who are getting married on December 8, and their families were very clear that they would not splurge. “We wanted to get married in Dombivali (Mumbai) where my mother and our relatives live. moving away would have added to the cost,” Peer says. They’re spending 19 lakhs on marriage, except Spent 25 lakhs on Pir’s jewellery. “My mother felt jewelery was an investment and wanted to give me 300 grams of gold, which was gifted to my sisters at their weddings,” says Peer. A third of this jewelery was bought 10 years ago, while the rest was bought closer to the wedding, she says.

For Bavdharini KS, the main expenses for her sister Paripurnani’s wedding in Chennai in February were related to the booking of venues, caterers and hotels. priest (priest). his sister’s wedding expenses are covered 13.5 lakhs.

Most of the couples we spoke to said that most of the wedding expenses were borne by their parents. Many brides said that some part of their jewelery was gifted to them by their mother.

expect vs spend

Despite all the preparations, many couples found some things costlier than expected. Both Shah and Peer, as did a few others, pointed to the exorbitant cost of wedding photography and bridal makeup. Pir says she is spending 2.5 lakhs on pre-wedding shoots and photography including video shoots for other functions to be held in Mumbai and Vijayawada and others 1 lakh for bridal makeup

Although the cost of photography for Paripurnani was less than 1 Lac. “My sister also didn’t want any elaborate makeup. so we spent 8,000 on that,” says Bavdharini.

Remani, whose engagement and wedding ceremonies were held in June in Hyderabad, bore the cost of the venue’s decorations 5 lakhs much more than what he had estimated.

So, does starting wedding preparations early help from a cost perspective? off course not. According to Shah, there is not much scope for discounts and pre-booking does not help. “People choose auspicious dates for weddings, and most weddings take place during the wedding season,” she says.

“we spent 2-2.5 lakhs on the purchase of clothes at the last moment. My sister feels it would have been expensive no matter what time the wedding took place,” says Bavdharini.

online vs offline

With wedding preparations starting just 10 days before the big day, Paripurnani and her family had no time to shop or book online. Paripurnani works in the Netherlands, and the wedding was hastily arranged during her visit to Chennai.

According to Remani, finding suitable venue options online was difficult. “My family had attended other weddings in Hyderabad, and hence knew of some good venues. He visited a few and picked one,” says Remani.

Peer relied on Instagram and www.weddingwire.in for photographers to shortlist the makeup options. The rest, such as venue selection and food catering, was only possible with the actual tours.

Shah feels that there is no substitute online when it comes to shopping for bridal accessories. “Designer clothes are very expensive but Bandra/Khar in Mumbai has some good local boutiques and designer shops,” she adds.

Look back

Shah says the celebrations should have been minimal. “It’s a waste of life’s savings,” she says. Peppermint It would have been better to invite fewer guests. Remani believes that some work should have been outsourced. This would have given families more time to enjoy the programs.

None of the people we spoke to had hired a wedding planner because they all felt it would add a lot to their costs.

Here’s what some wedding planners have to say about wedding budgeting. According to Kundan Singh, CEO of Par@bliss Events, it’s close 25-30 lakhs for a destination wedding. For others like Gala Events, Hyderabad and 3X Events, Chennai, there is no such thing as a minimum budget and it can vary, depending on what the families want.

Many wedding planners charge a fixed fee 2-3 lakhs for a 2-3 day event. According to Flinters Management, Bangalore, their clients seek assistance in hospitality, logistics, decor, artist management, sound and lights.