Discovering bliss in the backyard: weddings for the ultra rich in 2021
Saurabh Goswami, Director of Ultra Rich Match, a matchmaking platform that caters to the niche and uber-rich Indians, talks about the latest 2021 wedding trend — backyard weddings.
A marriage is between two souls, but not weddings. Crowded, boisterous, musical, lavish, and scrumptious are but a few words that describe our extended Indian marriage functions.
Amidst the pandemic-led economic crisis, the $50 billion (according to a KPMG report) wedding industry, which was expected to grow exponentially, faced unprecedented collapse.
Wedding planners, venues, caterers, makeup artists, photographers, trousseau boutiques, and a lot of other auxiliary services suddenly found themselves workless during the otherwise busiest time of the year.
Image source: Shutterstock
While some couples postponed their weddings sine-die, others are employing imaginative ways to make their wedding as memorable as they wanted to.
Designing of Vishal* and Neha’s* wedding’s e-vite and personalised website cost almost as much as printing and posting wedding cards would have. Their pre-COVID-19 wedding budget was used up to bring in a local celebrity to emcee their entire wedding on zoom.
On the other hand, a couple from Ahmedabad decided to donate their wedding budget to an orphanage while they got married in a court.
‘Backyard weddings’ is another trend gaining popularity in the pandemic. Most of Ultra Rich Match’s clients are opting for backyard weddings, where they can make the best arrangements despite limitations.
Why are people opting for backyard weddings?
Cost-effective
For obvious reasons, a backyard wedding is extremely cost-effective. Though for my clients, money isn’t really an issue, arranging a backyard wedding is much more convenient in this pandemic situation.
Also, since most of them already have a huge garden, it makes a lot of sense to limit confusion and opt for a backyard wedding.
Versatile
When it is a matter of decorating one’s own backyard, there are a lot of ways one can experiment. Be it décor, lighting, or staying, every decision is literally at the tip of your fingers.
Also, celebrating in your own garden gives a lot of options while redecorating for different wedding functions.
Limited guests
Since the guest list is limited to 50, it does not make sense wasting money on a big venue. Couples are instead increasing the number of events and inviting different sets of guests to each of them.
Arranging more events in their own garden is much easier than arranging transport for various guests to rush them to different venues.
Convenient
A backyard wedding wins hands down when it comes to convenience.
A prominent business family of Jaipur organised a lavish wedding in their mansion’s almost one-acre ground, in line with all the government guidelines.
Anup Sagar*, father of the bride says, “It was amazing to organise my daughter’s wedding with such ease, but without any compromise. (It) Makes me wish my younger son gets married in the same settings.”
Outdoor wedding Setting
Since the pandemic is showing no sign of relenting, people are compromising by opting for an outdoor wedding. Maintaining sanitation and hygiene becomes so much easier in an open setting. An open venue also provides better decoration options.
(* Names changed)
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta