Earlier this year, France 24 reported on how the global economic crisis has taken its toll on the wedding industry, especially in India where festivities often last for a week and run $34,000 at minimum, according to some wedding planners.
It seems many young brides have had to scale down the lavish ceremonies. One bride-to-be named Preeti (no, not our Preeti) cut her wedding down from the customary five days to three days and reduced the number of ceremonies from the traditional nine to three.
And it’s not just India’s growing middle class, which has helped create a $27 billion wedding industry in that country, bringing it within arm’s length of the U.S.’s $50-$70 billion wedding industry, that has had to cut costs during these hard times. Apparently, India’s upper class has even been economizing.
Other methods couples have used to save money include combining the “mehndi” and “sangeet” ceremonies, or skipping the “sangeet” altogether. Meanwhile, once trendy – and costly – Turkish and Moroccan-themed weddings are now being abandoned in favor of more traditional, and cheaper, Rajasthani or Lucknowi ceremonies.
The downturn in the economy has had a negative effect on wedding vendors in India as well. Wedding planners are seeing fewer clients than in previous years and other vendors have even been forced out of business.
What about you? Has the state of the economy had an impact on your wedding ceremony? What cuts have you made to save money in planning your wedding?
It’s an interesting read, to see how economy can effect parts of culture in life, weddings. We often think about having a 2nd wedding as our first was so simple and quick. Considering our own economy when deciding what goes into our dreams of another ceremony is no small part of it.