|
At a wedding held at New Delhi’s toniest five-star hotel recently, the groom’s party arrived in a convoy of around 100 cars—all Mercedes, Lexus and BMWs. Bollywood stars, some of whom were reportedly paid up to Rs 10 lakh for the night, mingled in the crowd while Lebanese belly dancers sashayed around the wide-eyed guests. Exotic flowers flown in from Bangkok covered virtually every inch at the venue. And as for the food, well, let’s say the only cuisine left out was
Lapland’s.
Jayalalitha, Politician
The chief minister reportedly spent Rs 70 crore on her foster son’s wedding. The taxmen weren’t pleased at all |
L.N. Mittal, Industrialist
Hired Versailles Palace for daughter’s wedding. T. Tahiliani, Abu-Jani, Suneet Varma, Sandeep Khosla designed outfits
|
Subroto Roy, Industrialist
Virtually every politician, actor, sportsperson, including Nadia Comenici, were flown in for his sons’ wedding |
There’s nothing like an Indian wedding when it comes to ostentatious display of wealth. With over 11 million Indians getting hitched every year, the wedding business is estimated to be around Rs 50,000 crore and galloping at 25 per cent per annum. In a few years it could rival the US industry valued at $50 billion. Top global luxury brands and local entrepreneurs are learning that the way into the pocketbooks of India’s new consumers is through their nuptials. Cashing in on this craze to tie the knot are online communities, wedding service providers, magazines and event managers catering to every community, caste, religion, socio-economic class and bank balance. And slated for a 2006 opening is the Omaxe wedding mall in Gurgaon, complete with 400 stores, each one catering to every wedding whim a spoilt bride or groom can come up with. Blame it all on tradition. Weddings in India have always been an extravagant affair, where spending is the barometer of one’s status. Marriage ranks right up there, along with politics and cricket, as one of the big money-spinners in our country. So, if one has the money, Flamenco dancers, Spanish gig artists, Russian ballet and Egyptian belly dancers, gurus of traditional music and even the hottest Indian pop and film stars could be entertainment on D-Day. Gastronomic delights could be anything from Lebanese and Japanese cuisine to the choicest wines, Dom Perignon in crystal stems, imported chocolates and ice cream. The venue could be a farmhouse redesigned to look like the White House.
|
With 11 million Indians getting hitched every year, the business is estimated to be around Rs 50,000 crore and galloping at 25% a year |
|
According to image consultant Dilip Cherian, who heads Perfect Relations, “Weddings have become the single most visible expression of a person’s social standing and wealth, an expression that is both acceptable and expected.” Indian weddings have always been grand and festive affairs, as reflected in films like Monsoon Wedding and Bride and Prejudice. But India’s burgeoning middle class—now 300 million strong—is turning weddings into showcases of its growing disposable incomes and newfound appetites for the goodies of the global marketplace. Says a Mumbai-based wedding planner who caters to the city’s elite: “The kind of people who come to me don’t even bother to know my rates. For, that would be akin to bargaining. They want me to come up with what so and so did for his daughter in Paris or London. They leave the little matter of payment to their most junior secretaries to handle. It’s virtually a blank cheque. It’s awesome.”
The minimum budget for a wedding ceremony is Rs 15 lakh, say wedding planners, while the upper-middle and rich classes are known to spend upward of Rs 10 crore. This doesn’t include cash and valuables given as part of a dowry. The average American wedding costs around Rs 12 lakh.
“Over 18 per cent of India’s population falls in the top-tier socioeconomic class, which is a huge potential market for luxury goods brands,” says Renuka Keron, marketing manager at LVMH Watch & Jewelry India, which sells Tag Heuer and Christian Dior watches in India. According to the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the middle class are those making Rs 20,425 to Rs 10,35,000 a year. NCAER projects that the market for all categories of products, from daily consumables to consumer durables, will double in annual sales by 2010. With the economy expected to maintain steady 6 per cent annual growth, India is widely seen as one of the world’s 10 largest emerging markets. With nothing opening up Indian wallets like a marriage, local entrepreneurs have devised one-stop wedding exhibitions, novel gifting and holiday options, and entertainment ideas.
“It is one of India’s recession-free businesses,” says Diivyaa Gurwaara, who organises Bridal Asia, an annual wedding exhibition that brings together fashion and jewelry designers and luxury goods sellers under one roof. Gurwaara is a trendsetter of sorts; in 1999, she was the first to see the potential of a one-stop shop where families could browse in air-conditioned comfort. |
