Despite winter, Italy is having its moment in the sun. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma tied the knot there last December, and now, as we speak, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are in the process of becoming man and wife by charming Lake Como. Known for its pizza, tiramisu and prosecco, this European country is gaining popularity as a destination wedding hotspot.
Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma wedding
Weddings may be made in heaven, but they sure are planned, agonised over and staged on earth. In recent times, the big fat Indian wedding has moved its sights to foreign locales.
Gone is the hyper-local affair coordinated by a disparate group: the tent-man, caterer, tailor, beautician, photographer and marriage bands in faux military uniforms. In its place is a slicker set of ceremonies, put together by wedding planners who work with ancillary industries to create a memorable experience.
- Have ceremonies in two places, abroad and local, to adjust to the guest list.
- Send out invitations at least six months ahead, so that guests can sort out visas and passports.
- Get a wedding website ready to update your guests at the same time.
- Consider hosting your wedding during the resort’s off-season. Lodging and airfare are significantly more affordable during this period.
A 2017 tourism study by market research agency MRSS India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) estimates the wedding sector to be worth ₹110,000 crore. Of this, ₹23,438 crore can be attributed to destination weddings, and the figure is projected to grow up to ₹45,000 crore by 2020.
An affluent middle class with disposable income, demand from non-resident Indians, celebrity endorsements and the mushrooming of matrimonial event management companies have led to the growing popularity of destination weddings, according to the study.
“It started with film stars going to Goa or Rajasthan for their weddings. Then some well-to-do business families started hosting their functions in Thailand, because it was cheaper. Now, we have countries like Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Oman competing for Indian wedding clientèle,” says Parthip Thyagarajan, CEO, Wedding Sutra, an 18-year-old platform for the wedding industry, based out of Mumbai.
Cost no bar
A destination wedding typically costs between ₹1 to ₹6 crore, which includes air travel, local transport, food, décor, make-up and venue, says Thyagarajan. Added to the cumulative cost of the couple’s bespoke garments and jewellery, the price can rise to ₹40 crore and beyond. “For some communities, where traditions are followed in food and marriage rituals, the families tend to fly down their own cooks and photographers. But we find many international destinations ready with Indian wedding planners locally,” he says.
“From a guest-experience point of view, destination weddings are more fun. One gets to travel to different countries. As all guests are usually hosted in a single hotel, the excitement levels are infectious,” says Tina Tharwani, co-founder of Mumbai-based wedding planning boutique Shaadi Squad.
Best known for planning the hush-hush nuptials of cricketer Virat and Anushka Sharma at the Borgo Finocchieto resort in Italy (reportedly the world’s second-most expensive venue) last year, Shaadi Squad is still high on fame from that celebrity assignment.
“The ‘Virushka’ wedding is still so fresh in all our minds,” says Tharwani. “Keeping it under wraps was no doubt stressful, but we made sure we worked with trusted vendors and still withheld the family’s identity right up to the last minute.”
Celebrity endorsements
Lake Como in Italy’s Lombardy region hit the headlines in September after celebrity guests revealed the location of the engagement ceremony (the resorts Il Sereno and Villa Pliniana) of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha with Anand Piramal, through their social media posts.
As destination weddings become more Westernised, niche segments have opened up in the sector. “Bridesmaids were uncommon in the traditional Indian wedding scenario as recently as five years ago. The pre-wedding ‘bachelorette’ getaway for the bride and her friends is becoming very common,” says Thyagarajan. “Now, couples also like to re-stage their wedding proposals in exotic locales.”
Actress Priyanka Chopra and her ‘girl gang’, have been posting pictures of her bridal shower and bachelorette party held in New York and Amsterdam over the past few weeks. Chopra, who is engaged to pop star Nick Jonas, is rumoured to be headed to Jodhpur for an early December wedding.
A growing segment
“Destination weddings are a growing segment, but that doesn’t mean that customers are not cost-conscious,” says Sudhanshu Hukku, Managing Director, Novel Event Works, a Mumbai-based agency that offers destination options to wedding planners. “They tend to compare prices of flight tickets, and whether the destination has direct connections or stopovers. The cost of the venue also matters, especially if the ceremonies are going to be held in multiple locations.”
Hukku specialises in fixing international shooting sites and production subsidies for Indian film teams. “In many ways, Bollywood and Indian weddings create local and international tourism opportunities,” he says.
“We have noticed a real opening up of markets in the Persian Gulf,” says Thyagarajan. “Abu Dhabi and Oman have dominated the destination wedding scene for affluent families for several years. Now even smaller countries like Qatar and Bahrain are offering wedding packages.”
Very often, tourism activities can be tucked into the marriage celebration itself. “Since the typical Indian wedding has three to four days of ceremonies, we try to incorporate aspects of local culture within the venue,” says S Mohamed Wasif, of Chennai-based travel agency DMC Leisure.
He cites the example of a recent wedding of a prominent Gujarati business family in Chennai, co-organised by DMC Leisure, where the women guests were requested to wear Kanjeevaram silk saris, and everything, from the henna night to the menu, had a distinctively local touch. “It was a way of showcasing our culture,” says Wasif.
