A stunning way to say ‘I do’

When luxury fashion influencer Sonam Babani tied the knot with her beau Neil Sanghvi earlier this year, it was against the majestic backdrop of the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, surrounded only by a clutch of close family members. The two-day affair in the Swiss Alps was a magical winter wonderland experience, with ski sessions on freshly-powdered slopes, gourmet Swiss cuisine and staying at a luxury ski chalet. The elegant wedding mandap was set up at a height of 2,222 metres, framed by glistening white views and the Matterhorn. 

“We were originally set to get married in Bodrum, Turkey, with a big fat celebration hosting 400-500 guests, but that soon changed when the pandemic hit,” says Babani. “When my wedding was postponed, I was sure of one thing. It had to have the perfect backdrop.” The couple chose Switzerland for their love for skiing and its picturesque landscapes, lending itself to a truly ‘gram-worthy’ wedding. 

Like Babani’s nuptials, a large number of weddings have undergone a paradigm shift. Venues are bespoke; the destinations are becoming more glamorous and it’s all about capturing perfect moments for the gram. 

According to WedMeGood’s annual wedding industry report, the average wedding guest size this year was reported to be 270 guests, which is a 40% increase from the guest size last year of 180 guests. However, a quarter of weddings this year were still intimate weddings—under 100 people, the report points out. It’s telling, that the choice of venues and destinations is in keeping with not just the aesthetic of the couple but also the need for intimate, bespoke locations for one’s nuptials and giving guests a great experience. 

According to Tina Tharwani, co-founder, Shaadi Squad, a Mumbai-based luxury wedding planning company, weddings are also no longer customary, conventional events. “People want to provide an experiential celebration. They want to delve deeper into a location’s heritage, history, the food, culture, people and the hospitality.” For instance, we executed a wedding at Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Resort, Shimla, for a guest list of about 150. We planned a bonfire night, a picnic brunch the next day and organised a wedding movie screening on the last day. Given this guest size, it was possible for us to incorporate such personal elements into the wedding and include every single person in the celebrations, whether in a big way or small, she notes. 

Destination weddings are on the rise

As Indian wedding celebrations become more intimate, destination weddings have seen quite the increase. According to WedMeGood’s report, nearly 18% of weddings this year were destination weddings with places such as Jaipur, Udaipur and Goa topping the list. Internationally, Thailand, Dubai and Bali were the top three choices, with Turkey and Azerbaijan adding to the mix in 2022. 

Devanshi Parekh, founder, Shreem Events, a Mumbai-based bespoke wedding and event planning company, points out that when it comes to scouting for venues, hotel ballrooms and lawns are not the only locations couples want to utilise. “For instance, at Westin Goa, we saw the hotel lobby be used for the mandap for that particular wedding and at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, the fountain made for an ideal backdrop for the mandap,” she says, adding that they are always on a lookout for locations offering multiple uses. This could include a stunning terrace, spa, or even a sundowner location for the mehendi, as it is no longer limited to being a traditional day function by the poolside.

She adds that for this wedding season, all of the nuptials they planned were confined to properties with 110 to 150 rooms. “However, families are still spending the same amount of money as they would have done pre-pandemic, but with fewer guests, as they want to give each one a very personalised experience rather than just inviting guests for the sake of formality.”

At the Leela Palace Udaipur, an 80-key property located on the banks of Lake Pichola, the number of weddings has increased compared to a few years ago. “Traditionally, we would do about 10-12 weddings a year. This number has now gone up to 20-22 weddings a year,” says Nishant Agarwal, general manager, The Leela Palace Udaipur. A smaller-sized wedding also makes it easier for the hotel to deliver luxurious, personalised experiences for the family and their guests, be it an intimate sit-down dinner, butler service or curating wedding favours, he offers. For the calendar year ending December 2022, the property expects 35% of its revenues to come from weddings and has about 8 weddings lined up over the next quarter. 

In Kochi, Kerala, Chittoor Kottaram, tucked away on the backwaters, is a single-key mansion that used to be the abode of the erstwhile Rajah of Cochin. It has now been converted into a luxury heritage property, managed by hotel chain, CGH Earth. “Given its unique history and location, the mansion has been a popular pick for intimate celebrations. Most of the weddings here are limited to a guest list of about 100,” says Mridula Jose, vice president, Marketing, CGH Earth. She adds that as a wedding destination, it appeals to an interesting mix of people—primarily chosen by couples from mixed cultures, both Indian and international. “Many of them live abroad and like to give their foreign guests a unique visual and gastronomical experience.”

Khushnooma Kapadia, area director of marketing, South Asia at Marriott International Inc points out that to a trend that’s taken shape over the last year or so. Families really want to invest in personal experiences for their guests, rather than large, ostentatious displays, she says. “After a lull in travel, couples and their families want to go all out with their wedding celebrations and exotic, offbeat locations are topping the list.”

Kapadia says that some of the Marriott properties which have done well for them as wedding venues have been across destinations such as Mussoorie, Goa, Hyderabad and Kochi, apart from major cities like Mumbai and Delhi. We’re exploring markets like Coorg, Indore and Shillong as upcoming wedding destinations, she offers. Their wedding-related IP, Shaadi by Marriott Bonvoy, also helps curate bespoke and innovative offerings for celebrations. This could range from arranging for a helipad to have guests flown in, to ensuring plant-based wedding menus and even getting one’s own maharaj into the hotel’s kitchens to prepare certain dishes for an event. 

Make it for the gram

Most importantly though, social media is also dictating how weddings are being perceived. Wedding Social, co-founded by duo Natasha Kothari and Anam Batliwalla, is a social media strategy firm that helps create a digital time capsule for newlyweds, be it creating trending reels, wedding content strategy and real-time updates from the wedding. Here, location and the venue play a crucial role. 

“A set-up with the perfect golden hour lighting, scenic views and luxe accents is essential for a wedding to stand out on Instagram,” offers Batliwalla. We’ve noticed a trend where the teams managing digital and social content for the weddings have been involved in venue planning from the get-go. Couples are also opting for international and offbeat destinations so that their photos are not repetitive compared to other weddings. Not just destinations like Bali or Thailand, but locations in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, she says. 

Batliwalla shares an example of a recent wedding they covered in Jaipur, where the bride demanded a picture-perfect, sunset-hued vermala moment in a garden. “This is the perfection the bride wanted on her wedding day and in creating these memories, social media and the venue has quite the role to play. 

When it comes to boutique weddings, Tharwani says that some popular destination picks internationally are Istanbul, Bahrain, Italy, Jordan and Bali, while locally, Shimla, Dehradun, Mashobra, Mussoorie and Tirthan Valley are being explored for smaller, intimate gatherings, complementing the idea of the new-age Indian wedding.