With several states including Delhi, Rajasthan and Kerala banning public gatherings of over 20-50 due to Coronavirus Pandemic, the big fat Indian wedding industry is in crisis. It has caused postponements of weddings across the country.
Wedding planners, hotels, caterers etc are seeing 45-80% weddings getting postponed or cancelled.
About 45-50% of weddings have been rescheduled to after June, says Mehak Shahani, co-founder, WedMeGood. It’s hard to say how much of these too will go up as the situation is changing every day, she added.
According to Statistics, the wedding tourism turnover across India was projected to be valued at about Rs 458 billion in 2020, up from Rs 234 billion in 2017.
The outbreak has not only affected wedding planners but also :
- Wedding Photographers
- Makeup Artists
- Wedding Dress Designers and many more.
Ankkit Malik, a Delhi-based makeup artist, says some of his bookings for April have been cancelled.
Vishal Punjabi, founder of The Wedding Filmer, a wedding videography startup, feels that what he thought was a recession-free industry has “taken a huge hit”.
“Around 10 wedding assignments that I was really excited about and worked hard on have now been pushed to a later date. But nothing is more important than your health and that of those around you. Everyone from the hospitality, travel, fashion, and manufacturing industries is suffering,” he says.
Anyways, the weddings are still taking place, although with gathering of few close members of the family but, it has taken a huge toll on the ‘Wedding Industry’.
