Weddings have always been very important in our country. But they are getting bigger and glitzier.
The growth in weddings has thrown open numerous opportunities for marketers. At one time having a wedding in a five-star hotel or resort was a rarity only reserved for the ultra-rich. Today it is a sign of success for even the upper middle classes. The Business Standard [26 Sept 2024] says that with November 22, 23, 24 being among the most auspicious days of this wedding season, all five star hotels are running full. Multinational hotel chains are rolling out special Indian wedding services. Having a wedding in a hotel has many added benefits to the hotel in the form of rooms for the guests, food / beverage sales, concierge services etc. The bigger families book out the entire hotel even. I wonder if The Oberoi group is rethinking its old policies of ‘no wedding’ as articulated by the Late Biki Oberoi.
Event companies that help companies organize dealer conferences, product launch conferences [MICE – Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibitions] at one time shunned the wedding business simply because it was a ‘messy’. That has changed. The EEMA India [Event and Entertainment Management Association] has embraced weddings as a major source of revenue and growth. You want a top-flight event company to handle your daughter’s or son’s wedding they will be ready with a host of services which may include picking up the guests from the airport to waving them good bye when they leave three days later. Oh, you want to have the wedding in Mexico, no problem. You want some Bollywood celebreties to meet and greet your guests, done. You want thematic dinners and lunches, name your theme. Sorry, we will suggest the themes and you can select.
As I have mentioned in my book ‘For God’s Sake – An Adman on the Business of Religion’, I was a jury member of the EEMA India Awards some years ago. I saw they had categories like consumer product launch, car launch, etc. I was wondering when I will see wedding as an event. I was then told that weddings are so big that there are three categories, below Rs 1 cr, Rs 1 to 5 cr and Rs 5cr + [this was a some years ago, now it may be different]. Each entry came with a video and a photo album.
Some reports say that it is the fourth largest industry in India with annual spending of $130 million [PL Capital quoting The Economist]. But in our management education we are yet to fully grasp the importance of the wedding business.
I have asked my students at SPJIMR to name two ‘celebrations’ that unite all us Indians, across the country. I give them the first: ‘Diwali’. Then I let them struggle with various festivals, Holi, Dussera, Independence Day etc. Till I tell them I was asking for ‘celebrations’ and reveal that it is the Great Indian Wedding that is one celebration that is common across the country.
There has been a slow transformation of the Great Indian Wedding. At one time in the state of Kerala, wedding used to be a simple affair, lasting 15 minutes or less. My students don’t believe this and there are many ‘what’ in the audience. In many parts of South India, there was no idea of a ‘Sangeet’ before the wedding. Weddings are solemnized with vedic rituals during the day, in South and in the night in North India.
The growth of mass media, the importance given to weddings in Bollywood movies have created a homogenized wedding pattern across India. It is likely that Sangeet is a part of many south Indian weddings today. The Mehndi which used to be blobs on the hands of the bride and friends in Tamilnadu has now given way to elaborate patterns to the extent that our friend in New York, a talented designer, has a side gig as a mehndi artist. Reception function in the evening with some form of musical entertainment has also become standard fare.
From being a one-day affair with two events, most weddings, even among middle class Indian families today has minimum three events spanning two days or more. I understand this is not just true of Hindu weddings but are also seen across other religious denominations.
I call this the ‘Punjabification’ or ‘Bollywoodification’ of the Indian weddings. What was once a solemn vedic ritual is today a celebration for the entire extended family. Why not? With families living in distant cities, even continents, weddings are seen as an occasion for distant cousins and uncles to congregate under one roof, for two or three days.
There could be another reason for the growing appetite for wedding celebrations. As a country we have lived a frugal life for many decades. We don’t want to splurge on things, wondering if we will be wealthy down the road. The increased spends on weddings is legitimizing expenses at one level. And in a way it is also signaling that increased consumer confidence about the future. Theirs and their children’s.
Marketers are waking up to the fact and interestingly hotel brands are first off the block it seems.
Appeared originally in Business Standard Oct 2024