From vetting vendors to creating a backup plan, experts from India, where big ceremonies are a way of life, offer some universal advice.
At some of the largest weddings Priya Maganti has planned in India, there were 50,000 guests, give or take a couple hundred.
“To be honest, you can’t count after a certain point,” said Ms. Maganti, who runs RVR Eventz & Design in Hyderabad, India. “Everything doubles or triples: your food catering, your seating, your gifts, your planning team, the allergies and requirements.”
Having that many wedding guests isn’t exactly normal in India, but large weddings of 500-plus are more common there than in many other countries.
“Weddings are a way of life in India,” saidParthip Thyagarajan, the founder of WeddingSutra, a planning website. “A wedding is not just about the bride and groom in India. It’s about two families talking about their values, their vision and communicating to the world who they are.” For some luxury weddings, “there are up to 300 agencies, production houses and planners involved,” he added.
An average Indian wedding will have around 310 guests and costs $10,000 to $30,000, according to Wright Research, an investment advisory firm based in Mumbai, India. By comparison, a U.S. wedding typically includes about 116 guests and costs $33,000, according to The Knot, a wedding planning website.
