The simple mention of the term ‘weddings’ itself alarms money bells for the event planning industry in India.  With the recent estimates announcing weddings in the country to be a 100,000 crore industry, speculations are ripe on where is the industry heading and what will it be like in the future?



To answer the same question, ‘’Weddings: 2020- The scenario of wedding industry 5 years down the line’’ was the subject of an insightful panel discussion at the fourth edition of the Wedding Fraternity Meet organized by FNP weddings at The Ritz, Gurgaon.



On the panel were Prince Lakshya Raj Singh Mewar, Executive Director HRH Group of Hotels, Aditya Motwane, Founder and Director, Motwane Entertainment & Weddings, Seema Pande, Corporate Director, Emaar Hospitality Group, Nupur Puri, Editor Harper’s Bazaar Bride, Vikas Gutgutia, Founder and MD, Ferns N Petals, Navin Ansal, Business Head, Casa Paradox, Rasleen Ansal, Creative Head, Casa Paradox, Neelam Pratap Rudy and fashion designer, Sanjana John.



The session was moderated by Swati Pandya Sood, Director, Ferns N Petals and Samit Garg, Founder and Director, E-Factor Entertainment.



The panel discussion started by outlining and establishing why the sacred knot of nuptials is rather referred to as the ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding?’ Navin Ansal responded to the question by saying, “There are around 1 crore weddings organized in India each year and thus the term fat is symbolic to the largeness and grandness of the weddings organized.”



Voicing his opinion on the subject Prince Lakshya said, “Weddings today are a larger than life affair and hence people spend enormously on the same. They are called fat because there is fat money involved in the execution of weddings.” Aditya Motwane added to the same by stating that weddings are the showcase of the power of wealth and hence the tag of it being considered ‘fat’ is appropriate.



When asked upon by the moderators what is lacking in the wedding industry today? Navin Ansal replied by saying, “I have personally witnessed a lot of weddings in the country and while some of them are classy, some of them need a lot of style and finesse in their interior decor to begin with.”



Neelam Pratap Rudy responded to the same question by saying, “Weddings is without a doubt a very booming industry however in my opinion what needs to be corrected is that how there has emerged a disconnect between the concept of weddings and celebrations.”



Citing from her own experiences she said, “At times I attend about 8-9 weddings on a single day and there are times when it becomes rather challenging to find the hosts of the weddings.”



So what are the changes one can expect in the Indian wedding industry by 2020? Answering the question Aditya Motwane says, “In terms of destination weddings I feel we are going to further explore locations like Bahamas and the Caribbean. With that being said, the number of guests on destination weddings are going to decrease from 700-800 today to 350-400 in the future.”



Taking his stance on the subject Vikas Gutgutia said, “We have been fiddling with the traditions for our own convenience for now which is the main reason for divorces today. However in the future I feel we will have to restore the faith of the youth in the very concept of weddings.”



Sanjana John reacted to the question by saying, “I hope that some sort of a charitable angle is also added to these grand celebrations. There is a lot of food and other essentials that end up unused at such large events which I feel could be put to a better use in the future.”



Adding to the point, Navin Ansal said, ‘’I feel weddings in the future will still be larger than life however people are becoming more traditional with each passing day and hence a sense of cohesiveness can be expected from weddings in the future.” Seema Pande too agreed to the point as she said, “Yes, Indians are becoming more global however the traditions will always stay the same and in fact the youth today will connect more with it in the future.”