WedMeGood Annual Wedding Industry Report 2024-2025

BY Sakshi | 02 Dec, 2024 | 240 views | 4 min read

Indian weddings have a vibe of their own- possibly unmatched in the world. The sheer scale, grandeur and details involved in our weddings set them apart. They are vibrant, elaborate, and deeply rooted in tradition, with new-age weddings being a complex mix of the new and the old. In 2024, India’s wedding season is set to break records, with an estimated 4.8 million weddings between October and December, generating ₹6 trillion in business*. India ranks second globally, after the US, in the wedding market, highlighting the industry’s significant economic impact and growing global prominence.

As wedding trends keep changing, WedMeGood has yet again explored the latest shifts in the wedding industry through a detailed survey. We collected insights from over 3,500 couples planning their weddings between April 2024 and March 2025, along with more than 500 wedding vendors like planners, photographers, makeup artists, and venues. There are some surprising findings here!

Matrimonial Dynamics in 2024

A gradual shift towards later marriages, aligning with personal and professional priorities, was visible in the 2024 trends, with the average age for both love and arranged marriages remaining at 28 for the second consecutive year. Bumble and Hinge remain popular among brides and grooms due to their serious dating focus, while Shaadi.com stands out as the go-to matrimonial site.

Wedding Budgeting

Wedding financing in 2024 portrays millennials actively contributing, showing financial independence. While majority (over 80%) of the wedding expenses are paid for from personal or family savings, about 12% opted to take out loans and 6% liquified assets- primarily utilised for high-cost categories. While a bulk of the spend was on Jewellery- Venues, Catering and Decor also accounted for a major chunk of the expenses.

On an average, weddings got 7% more expensive in 2024 vs 2023, primarily
on account of higher prices by the hospitality (venue & catering) industry
that increased prices by over 10%. Almost 9% of Indian weddings have a budget of over 1 cr and more than 60% of these 1 cr + weddings are planned as destination weddings. The average budget for a wedding is ₹36.5 lakh, while for a destination wedding it is ₹51.1 lakhs.

Vendor hiring decisions are becoming increasingly complex with more than 40% of audience saying they used multiple mediums - offline recommendations mixed with wedding apps and social media to together make a decision about hiring.

Rising Trend of Hiring Wedding Planners

While Wedding Planners continue to grow in popularity, this trend is largely driven by destination weddings, with 27% of these weddings having hired a planner as opposed to just 10.5% of local weddings. Also, 83.2% of the respondents managed to plan their own wedding using WedMeGood or other similar platforms.

Destination Weddings & Wedding Tourism

There has been a constant increase in popularity for destination weddings, and the trend continues. While Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala continued to lead the way, some newer destinations on the radar in 2024 were Daman, Khajuraho, and Mussoorie. Internationally, Thailand, U.A.E and Italy were the most popular wedding destinations for Indian couples, with Istanbul growing in popularity.

Honeymoon Statistics

With a whopping 31% of the respondents budgeting over 5 lakh rupees for their honeymoon, travel seems to be on everyone's mind. Not just internationally, honeymoons within India continue to be popular thanks to trends like minimoons and staycation honeymoons. The most popular destinations in India are Goa, Manali, Kerala, Shimla and North East India. Internationally, Europe, Turkey, Thailand, Bali, Maldives and Mauritius are preferred destinations.

The rise of Eco-friendly Weddings & Lab-grown diamonds

Now this is a trend that's the need of the hour! Over 50% respondents opted or are opting for eco-conscious choices for their wedding planning. Wedding vendors are supporting sustainability initiatives by offering organically or locally sourced materials, sustainable decor options and environmentally friendly packaging. Thanks to their prices, Lab grown diamonds have eaten into the real jewellery segment, with 45% brides opting for lab grown diamonds. Engagement rings are the primary use case for lab grown diamonds.