Search for Wedding Venues Shoot up by 39 percent, as India Closes this Wedding Season on a High
December was the most popular month while Sunday was the most popular day for weddings
- 29% jump in interest for wedding venues vs Pre-COVID
- 13% increase in venue searches observed in October, November, and December 2022 as compared to the previous quarter
This wedding season, Weddingz.in India’s largest online platform offering wedding venues and related services witnessed a 39% increase in search for wedding venues in the last month of the quarter ending in December 2022 vs the previous quarter ending in September 2022. Mumbai has shown the highest interest for wedding venue searches, followed by Delhi and Kolkata. While, according to WeddingWire India’s annual report Delhi after a year again topped the list of the top 3 cities that hosted the maximum number of weddings in country.
The recovery in sentiment is full as demonstrated by the December 2022 trend, which is a 29% jump in interest vs the last pre-covid December which was in 2019.
WeddingWire India, the Indian subsidiary of The Knot Worldwide, a wedding technology platform connecting engaged couples with local wedding professionals, providing free wedding services including planning tools, blogs & wedding inspiration, also released its yearly report on how the year 2022 went by for the wedding industry. With the wedding season returning with a bang, the platform saw a big 48.48% surge as compared to last year in overall traffic.
Marking the kick-off of the year-end wedding season, the full quarter ending December 2022 itself saw an 13% increase in interest and search for venues as compared to the previous quarter ending Sept 2022, according to Weddingz.in
Talking about the findings, Aditya Sharma, Business Head, Weddingz.in said, “The increased interest in wedding venue searches is indicative of the big shift the industry is currently undergoing. The digitization wave has turned this albeit traditional industry into a consumer first digital marketplace. ‘Remote’ planning or ‘Plan from anywhere’ has enabled even the conventionally run businesses to connect, collaborate and seamlessly deliver on their services. After a long period of lull the industry is on high gear, to deliver not just on the pent up demand but also create solutions for the new-age couple. Needless to say, the wed-tech marriage is here to stay.”
As the industry strides back to normalcy, Weddingz.in, recently crossed a landmark number of 35,000 banquet listings on its website. The company has witnessed a 45% increase in the number of venues listed on the platform since 2019.
Estimated to be $50 billion industry, the Indian weddings market was the cusp of change, which accelerated due to the pandemic. A recent survey by Weddingz.in revealed that the pandemic has given a significant push to ‘digitization’ and the growth of online wedding platforms. There has been a rise in awareness and usage of online wedding platforms. In fact, the survey shows that over 63% of millennials prefer planning weddings through online platforms.
The study also reveals the reasons for the inclination towards online wedding platforms. Over 60% of individuals prefer to plan weddings online as it is an affordable choice. Nearly 70% of consumers feel that online wedding mediums are easy to use, offer better customization and a variety of options.
Categories with maximum traction
The WeddingWire India report revealed that venue vendors were the most in-demand with 29% of bookings being made for the category, followed by wedding photographers and Makeup artists at 11% and 5% respectively. In terms of venues, banquet halls with 56% demand emerged as a winner with no close competitors. Interestingly, the demand for resort and destination weddings increased as vaccination weddings gained popularity in the post-covid era.
Destinations in vogue
According to the data, as the covid restrictions lifted up, international destination weddings with a limited guest list and curated experiences became fashionable again. The top three overseas locations with maximum traction in 2022 were Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and New York. On the other hand, in terms of destinations in India, Udaipur & Goa led the bandwagon, and Jaipur followed suit.
Interestingly, Delhi after a year again topped the list of the top 3 cities that hosted the maximum number of weddings. It was closely followed by Bangalore and Mumbai for the 2nd time in a row. On the other hand, Tripura, Sikkim, and Imphal recorded the least number of weddings. The data also revealed, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Gurgaon are the top three Tier 2 cities in terms of weddings.
Making the big decision about the date
The report revealed that December (21.5%) witnessed the maximum number of weddings followed by Feb (15.49%). In fact, 2nd December 2022 (Friday), was the most popular date for weddings last year. Weekend weddings were another trend that still ranked high on the popularity chart as most couples choose Sunday (20%) closely followed by Friday (19.7%).
Budgeting
Last year’s report revealed how the role of millennials is changing in wedding planning. They are not only making key decisions for their weddings but also taking care of payments. The data shows that the average wedding expenditure in 2022 increased by 14.66% to 28 lakhs, up from 21 lakhs in 2021.
Talking about 2022 trends and insights, Anam Zubair, Head of Marketing – WeddingWire India, said “2022 was the year the wedding industry had been waiting for, especially as the last two years were uncertain and slightly limiting for the industry due to the pandemic. This year, we witnessed how the priority list changed for couples and their families. More than the guest list, it was the curated experience that they were spending most time and effort on. However, it was interesting to note that this barely made a difference in the earmarked budget. We are excited to see what 2023 holds for the wedding industry considering Gen-Z is entering the wedding cycle.”
The report divulged that the guest-size curation was a mixed bag with some couples and families wanting to keep it intimate with less than 100 guests (60.21%), while others hosted a much larger crowd of more than 300 guests (13%).