July. What they perhaps are unaware of is that in a way, they are helping to revive the larger economy through stimulating the wedding market in India. After two years of muted celebrations due to a deadly pandemic, this will effectively be India’s first wedding season with no restrictions in force. “The momentum is high this time,” said Himanshu Kapsime, business head of the wedding services at Matrimony.com, the country’s leading internet conglomerate which oversees several marquee brands. “Firstly, there is a pent up demand because couples who postponed their weddings due to covid are getting married now and secondly, this season has more auspicious dates,” he said. During the previous peak seasons for weddings, the federal and state governments had clamped severe limitations in terms of the number of guests and travel – which are slowly easing. Intermittent waves of virus outbreaks have kept the wedding industry in a constant phase of a lull as it is plagued by cancellations and re-bookings. Virtual and micro weddings – which dominated during the prolonged virus outbreak – are no longer the talk of the town. Mega weddings are back. “The [Indian] wedding industry is largely unorganised and mostly works on referrals. Couples planning their wedding go through a lot of hassles and for vendors and their business is generally unpredictable,” said Kapsime but added that this is gradually changing with the advent of digital offerings and reputed labels. Similar to revenge travel, the term ‘revenge wedding’ has also been coined by industry pundits. “Wedding vendors have seen little to no growth in the last two years and this year they are looking to make up for the lost time,” said Mehak Sagar, co-founder of WedMeGood, a wedding marketplace that provides end-to-end services. WedMeGood has recently put together a detailed report on how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected spending patterns. For instance, their survey has found that spending on wedding venues, catering, entertainment, planning, and decor have considerably been impacted while it is not the same with wedding apparel, beauty and jewellery. “As seen in our report, the ones impacted the most have been venues as gathering sizes reduced, and decor as people opted for more minimal gatherings, and they will be looking to recover the past years’ lost businesses,” added Sagar. Generally, the vast majority of Indian weddings take place between October and mid-January, and from mid-April to mid-July – the traditional Hindu wedding seasons. Indian weddings are usually elaborate affairs and have the reputation of being ‘big and fat’. Inspired by Bollywood and growing disposable incomes, weddings only get more lavish and glitzy with every passing year. Every part of the country celebrates nuptials differently with varying rituals, ceremonies, and customs. An average wedding of a middle-class household could attract anywhere between 200 and 2,000 attendees. “Smaller gatherings are here to stay, a huge shift towards digital invitation adoption has happened and outdoor weddings are preferable,” Sagar said. “Sustainable and zero waste weddings are also something that millennials are conscious about, by trying to reuse flowers or eliminating plastic from their wedding.” Nearly 10 million weddings are solemnised annually in India and the wedding services industry is worth about $50 billion. This could still be an underestimated figure, given the majority of the Indian economic landscape is informal and unorganised. It’s a fast-changing scenario, though. From picking exotic locales to themed weddings to fineries and delicacies, people are willing to spend more money on weddings than ever before. Wedding-specific startups have mushroomed across the country. According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the ongoing 90-day period wedding period and its allied ecosystem are expected to pump in over $65 billion into commercial markets. CAIT is an umbrella body of diverse trade bodies representing over 80 million traders across India. “The flow of capital [through weddings] has completely stopped and got stuck in certain areas over the last two years because of restrictions on social gatherings and travel etc,” said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of CAIT. Of the four million estimated unions, at least 50,000 of them will spend about $130,000 for the wedding and an equal number would shell out half the amount each. “About 80% of the money spent during the weddings will go to third-party traders whether in hospital, jewellery or garments. Once this money goes into the pockets of the traders, this will be back in the market shortly. So, we’re hoping that this huge revenue circulation will be back on pre-Covid levels this season,” he added. Said Khandelwal, “This consumer spending has a positive impact on India’s retail trade, which is worth 130 trillion Rupees. The wedding season will boost consumer sentiments which in turn spur the market. This is betterment for the entire economy.” Green shoots of recovery are seen everywhere. The hospitality sector – which is crawling out of the pandemic aftereffects – is also sending positive signals about the present wedding season with the rise in the number of hotel reservations. The appetite for gold has increased as the demand for jewellery has sharply risen compared to March this year. On 3 May, the Akshaya Tritiya day – annual Hindu spring festival when millions purchase gold jewellery and other items to mark the auspicious occasion – jewellers have found a bounty with brisk sales. Exact numbers are still being ascertained but impressive sales are recorded across the country. Likewise, the demand for banquet halls, wedding planners, and music bands has increased as well.