ā—Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

The big business of Indian weddings

Austin Cross Jun 19, 2015
HTML EMBED:
COPY

The big business of Indian weddings

Austin Cross Jun 19, 2015
HTML EMBED:
COPY

For Indian millennials living in the U.S., a wedding may be the biggest party of their lives. Combining ancient tradition and American extravagance, these events can last for weeks and run well over six figures. Itā€™s a booming industry, and venues across the country are all vying for a piece of the action.

ā€œWhen hotels hear ā€˜Indian weddingsā€™ they think, ā€˜cha-ching!ā€™ā€ says Ani Sandhu, owner of Ace of Events in the District of Columbia.

Heā€™s one of the areaā€™s most successful Indian wedding planners. In order to plan a successful Indian wedding, he says you must first understand the cultural significance of the event.

ā€œIn the Indian community, there are two things on their mind: one is education and one is marriage,ā€ Sandhu says. ā€œItā€™s not just the bride and groom getting married, itā€™s two families coming together ā€¦ itā€™s a party that lasts a very, very long time.ā€

Understanding the context, however, is just the prerequisite. The real heavy lifting happens when bringing together hundreds and even thousands of different elements to make each wedding a unique experience for each couple.

Lavish South Asian weddings are growing in popularity, Sandhu says, and more venues are rolling out the red carpet to the wealthy client base. (Indian-American households have a higher median income than the rest of the U.S., according to census data.)

ā€œOn an average ā€¦ weā€™re usually over a quarter-million dollars when itā€™s all said and done,ā€ Sandhu says.Ā Three-hundred- to 400-person guest lists are just the start.

ā€œBy the time you are flying back and forth from India, you have jewelry thatā€™s coming in, then you have all these events that are happening, all these traditions that need to take place, the total value that clients are spending towards weddings adds up to be a quarter million, three-hundred thousand plus,” he says. Ā 

Many hotels have started training their staffs in Indian traditions and customs in an effort to make families feel more welcome.

Sandhu often gets some pretty out-of-the-box requests. One groom asked to arrive on the back of an elephant. Another asked to arrive in helicopter. But when a groom came to him two years ago asking to make his entrance on a jet ski in the Maryland harbor, Sandhu had to do some brainstorming.

ā€œAnd Iā€™m like, ‘How do you expect to get off a jet ski, take off your wet suit, and be in your traditional Indian gown and not need it to be ironed or anything?'”

He managed to talk the groom out this idea and found a compromise: ā€œFor that specific client then we rented a private yacht that could accommodate about 30 guests, and the groom and his groomsmen made their entrance on the yacht.ā€

Thereā€™s a lot happening in the world.Ā  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.Ā 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the worldā€™s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.Ā 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you. Ā