When wedding bells ring

When it comes to weddings, it’s not just the bride all dreamy eyed, dreaming of a fairytale wedding, in fact everyone is obsessed. And happily so. After all, weddings encompass all of favourite Indian past times—food, families and fun time.

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Riding high on the success of organising 750 plus wedding-related events in 2019 in Chandigarh, Sandeep Lodha, CEO, Weddingz.in, shares insights on weddings, their budgets and the popular North Indian psychology behind them. Some trends stay adamant, others emerge, while a few recline into oblivion.

For instance, that obsession of inviting the entire village is slowly fading. “With westernization, the guest list is getting limited. From 500 people, it has come down to 300. However, that in no way means people are spending less. The number of pre and post-wedding events have gone up.”

Unexplored Destinations

The number of people enquiring for a destination is not even funny. “Almost everyone, every single party enquires about a destination wedding and finally most of them settle for a city wedding.” That is because, he adds, “The guest list will be very limited at a destination wedding and then everybody calculates how they will have to throw a reception party for the rest.” The fascination for done-to-death wedding venues stays. “Udaipur, Jaipur and Goa remain the destination wedding hubs. But slightly unexplored places like Jaisalmer, Jim Corbett, Ramthambore are emerging.”

New cuisines

Just when one thought that the never-ending buffets at the venue were finally coming to an end, well, they are not. “The only thing is the cuisine preferences have evolved. People still want more and more counters, apart from the ever-favourite chaat and staple of off-season fruits, but they also want Vietnamese cuisine and Lebanese cuisine at the weddings.” He hints at somebody wanting a chandelier cake.

Beat the bridal entry

Not the blushing bride any more, unless by blush you are referring to the shade of glowing cheeks or flawless make up, brides have truly come of age. “They are involved in the process and call the shots. It’s the bridal entry that has gotten more and more individualistic.” He recalls a bride in black shades dancing her way to the venue.

vintage touch

What was once a demand for luxury, car rentals have subtly evolved to include vintage cars and even bikes. A bride on a bullet is not unheard of.

Click it all

This is one trend that has been there for a long while and has been overdone too. “But there is no way candid photography, photo shoots and exotic locales are going out of trend anytime soon. In fact, at a lot of weddings, photography budgets are on par with the venue and even wedding budgets.”

— Manpriya Singh