Will The Big Fat Indian Weddings Slim Down Now?

This is literally a billion dollar question; How will the Indian Wedding scenario pan out post-the Covid 19 pandemic? Let us try to understand the possibilities:

‘Bachpan se hi na...mujhe shaadi karne ka bahut craze hai, by God!’

For all the Geets and bride-to-be of 2020 who had been planning their big fat wedding for months and years, this craze might get dampened by the prevailing doom of Coronavirus.

This time, mehendi toh rachegi but at home with your immediate family, your dulha won’t come on a white horse but in a car with gloves and masks on instead of the sehra. Your friends will dance on nachde ne saare but over the zoom video call. This time, London won’t give thumkas with you because it's busy handling its own crisis but your friends there might record a dance step or two and send you their love. The crazy wedding will feel incomplete without your loved ones dancing on zingaat or Gud naal ishq meetha and finally the baaraat will feel incomplete without the ‘mere yaar ki shaadi hai’ and desi dhol beats.

But it’s yet a wedding right? It may not be your dream grand wedding but it is with your closed ones, an intimate closed group wedding which is overflowing with love. That's the thing about weddings, they are such an important element of Indian social values that, it will always be there. As said by Anushka Sharma from the bollywood movie Band Baaja Baaraat,

“Recession ho ya inflation, shaadiyan toh honi hai.”

A report published by KPMG in 2017, stated that the Indian wedding industry is estimated to be about $40-50 billion in size. With the time that has passed and as in 2020 the amount must have definitely doubled. In 2019, weddings were at its peak. Extravagant weddings with never-ending guest lists, exotic destinations, bachelorettes and themed parties- Indians sure knew how to throw a grand wedding. But with the onset of Coronavirus in India by February and India under lockdown the whole scenario has changed and weddings post-pandemic are likely to be quite the opposite.

Big fat Indian weddings are often criticized for their over-the-top expenditures and unnecessary grand exhibits and not to forget the wastage of many resources. With wedding guest lists not more than 50, venues under lockdown and vendors and suppliers shut there won’t be much option other than reducing the scale of the weddings which in a way isn’t that bad. The luxury fashion industry in India which rides in a big way on these weddings will surely be affected.

Here we have summarized the impacts and new trends that will come up within the Indian wedding industry post-pandemic.

Weddings going Virtual:

Say hello to virtual weddings and adios to big grand weddings. A shift will be seen in the industry to a virtual wedding. While your pandit might chant his mantras over a zoom video call, the couple will be taking pheras at their house. Not just during the lockdown, with a rise in the prices of air tickets it’ll get difficult for relatives and guests to fly down to the destination of the wedding. Hence there are high chances that they'll be at their place, safe and watch the wedding nuptials taking place live. Even the couples planning their wedding will look for photographers and videographers that are well-equipped with knowledge and equipment to live-stream the wedding for their near and dear all over the world. Hence, with changing times it’s important for various businesses like photography, catering, floral vendors to adapt to the changing times.

Small and Intimate affair

The weddings which will take place post lockdown will also be small and intimate. The guest lists which surpassed 5000 will now be limited to 50 guests. Only the immediate family of the bride and groom will be called and others could be watching the wedding live. Taking in mind the health and sanitizing conditions, the guests might also be called in intervals for the wedding. Many elderly members won’t be able to attend the wedding in persons due to the Covid-19  threat. The couples will themself prepare downsizing their weddings with less contact of people and make sure that proper hygiene conditions are maintained.

Future of Destination weddings

We all blame the classic celebrity weddings of Deepika and Ranveer Singh or Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli to introduce us to the mesmeric wonderland of a location for our dream weddings. According to Statista, the wedding tourism turnover across India was estimated to be valued at about Rs 458 billion in 2020! The beautiful land of Europe was the favoured destination for many couples who were looking for destination weddings. But with the onset of Coronavirus and Europe being declared as the ‘epicenter’ for the pandemic, all destination weddings became a complete no-no. Even if couples will look for a destination wedding then it would be somewhere around their hometowns. Since destination weddings are anyway an intimate wedding with only the most important guests invited, the guest lists can remain the same. Till a cure/vaccine is found destination weddings will be avoided. People will yet be fascinated with it, but at least for another two years, destination weddings can take a pause. 

Lockdown effect on Weddings

India celebrates over 10 million weddings a year, and with a majority of 80% of them being Hindus. Hence when the nationwide lockdown was announced on 24 March 2020, many upcoming weddings were affected. February-July being the peak time of the wedding season, many couples now faced the problem of what to do. While few couples took the virtual wedding way, some others decided to have a small intimate wedding consisting only of their family members. The other set of couples postponed their wedding all together to the second half of the year. The couples who are set to get married in the later half or in 2021 are now using their lockdown period to create their vision board for the wedding and think through how they want everything to look and be.

Effect on Vendors, Suppliers and Planners:

The wedding industry is a source of lakhs of employment. Each wedding makes use of so many services. It involves floral vendors, catering, venue booking, wedding planners, jewelers, fashion designers, makeup and hair artists, salons, event managers, photographers and videographers! So many services and people come together to create one grand wedding. A woman starts planning for her wedding sometimes even before she gets engaged! It takes months of planning to stage a perfect wedding. From running to the best designers and tailors in town to getting the perfect jewellery to go with their outfits for every function of the wedding- it’s a mammoth task!

With coronavirus looming ahead each of these people face challenges and will have to adapt to the changing times.

1. Venue Managers:

Venues are booked for weddings approx six months prior. With all the weddings that are getting postponed and destination weddings getting cancelled, it’ll get very difficult for the venue managers to give their space and the bookings will pile up for the second half of the year. People will start opting for a court marriage or a temple wedding and then throw a reception for their guests on any available dates without worrying about the ‘muhurat’ dates. Moreover, open and big halls will be preferred over small ones so as to practice social distancing.

2. Catering:

Even the catering industry may take a hit. With the reduction in the number of guests, catering will not be wanted much. But even when in demand, certain trends will take over like personalised menus to avoid contact, traditional seating and sit down dinners will be preferred over buffets so that people don't touch the serving spoons. People will prefer in house catering service to be safe and would want the raw materials to be hygienic and safe.

3. Floral and Decoration:

Decoration and floral vendors might suffer a little loss too as the business can be limited with downsized weddings. With the majority of materials coming from China, many shipments will be on hold hence creating a halt in work.

4. Wedding Planners:

Wedding planners and event managers are using the lockdown period to understand their clients wants and needs better hence creating a post-pandemic wedding which fits to the rules and safety measures. Couples will also prefer focusing on venue sanitization, they’ll have sanitizers at every place possible, specially the entries- it will become an essential element in the wedding kit in fact! It'll be the job of the wedding planners to make sure the nitty-gritties are taken care of to avoid any unfortunate events.

5. Fashion Designers:

With masks becoming the new norm, fashion designers will have a new task of adding the masks to the wedding outfits and to make it look in coherence with the outfits so as to maintain the style quotient and yet be safe and hygienic.

6. Makeup and Hair Artists:

On the contrary, the makeup and hair artist will have to do with the masks and yet glam up the bride and guests. While doing this they’ll have to be careful with their own gears. They themself will have to wear their gloves and masks all the time and moreover have their makeup and applicators disinfected and cleaned after every use.

7. Photographers and Videographers:

Coronavirus will in fact create new opportunities for photographers and videographers. Couples will want a detailed wedding video to show their dear ones who couldn't attend the wedding because of the distance or it being a small wedding. There can a demand for photographers and their creative skills.

8. Jewellers:

If there’s one business that can truly benefit due to Covid-19 in wedding businesses gold or diamond jewellery business and brands. Since the expenditure of couples on other things like catering, decoration, and venue might have reduced, they’ll look into investing the excess money into gold as it stays to be an asset for them. For many Hindu brides, gold jewellery is a very important part and investment for their wedding which is always taken after important considerations.

In India, couples rarely go for wedding insurance but now with the prospect of changing times, many will consider it to not deal with high monetary losses.

Conclusions:

So, is it time to bid adieu to Band, Baaja, Baaraat?

These are challenging times and a path where we don’t see a light at the end but it is often believed, during great crises come great opportunities. Coming up with creative and safe solutions during such times is very important for the survival of small businesses. Eventually it shall pass. Ultimately, it's an Indian Wedding! Shaadis are a part of Indian DNA- It may change, downsize, modify and transform but it shall survive and thrive.