NEW DELHI: Traditionally, allocating a budget to a wedding was the job of families, but as millennial couples take charge and plan their own weddings, budgets have drastically changed, found a new survey. Half of the survey respondents said their preferable budget was less than ₹10 lakh, with 25% of couples opting for ₹5-10 lakh as their preferable budget, said WeddingWire India, a subsidiary of The Knot Worldwide, an online marketplace for wedding professionals, that released survey statistics on wedding planning.
The survey received responses from 635 newlywed couples, and revealed that 29 was the average age of people who got married during the pandemic. The survey covered key aspects of wedding planning such as safety measures, in-person versus virtual celebrations, vendor selection, etc., to decode the changing dynamics of the Indian wedding ecosystem, the company said.
An important factor was safety in 2021. Couples enforced health and safety measures and keeping the guest list smaller was the top priority (82%), followed by providing hand sanitizer (75%) and requiring staff to wear masks (69%).
While digital platforms like WhatsApp were popular when it came to communicating and inviting friends and family, wedding functions are leaning towards pre-pandemic level in-person celebrations. The survey highlighted that 90% of respondents preferred celebrating physically with family/friends in attendance (with or without streaming element), while only 5% chose fully virtual ceremonies (i.e. online civil ceremony etc.).
When asked about the top three vendors that they prioritised in 2021, couples chose photography and videography (84%), followed by hair and makeup artists at 74%, and mehendi artists at 70%, with word-of-mouth, and friends and family recommendations being the preferable method of choosing them.
When it came to choosing the venue, the cost was one of the key aspects (71%), followed by travel time to the venue (61%), venue capacity (52%), and venue style (52%).
Anam Zubair, associate director of marketing for WeddingWire India said, “Without the shadow of a doubt, the pandemic has significantly changed the wedding ecosystem across the globe, especially in India. Therefore, we conducted this survey to gather first-hand insights into what new-age couples are looking for in this rapidly changing ecosystem. There’s definitely a growing affinity towards technology amongst millennial couples as it offers them ease and convenience,” said Zubair.
With respect to wedding dates getting shifted, 37% of respondents said that the date of their wedding ceremony and/or reception was impacted owing to COVID. In the meantime, while the cancellations were happening, 79% of respondents reported getting engaged in an intimate ceremony.
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