Indian Wedding Decoration Cost and Tips | USA (2022-2023)
Updated: Sep 3, 2022
In this post Ajay Manaktala will:
Explain Indian Wedding Decor Components
Tell you typical costs across Sanget, Reception and Wedding for USA and Canada Gujarati or Punjabi or Mixed South Asian weddings
Throughout the post he has given you hacks that actually work to reduce costs (Like don't take a ballroom that has a high ceiling)
Wedding Decor can Be Complicated and Confusing
The other day I was looking at a super complicated spreadsheet of wedding decor costs and after a while, my eyes got lazy and I was like, ok, $500 here, $2000 here, ok $76 here....wait...
Did I just say "Ok an XBOX here, a macbook here, a fancy dinner here."
WHAT!?!
Indian wedding decor is sone of those things that you get so caught up in the big ticket items, a million little things sneak in and we all of a sudden don't realize how much extra we're spending.
Drive across town for $100 bill? Sure, I'm game.
Drive across town to buy my Mercedes from this dealer versus another dealer because it's $100 cheaper? Ah screw it, I'm already sitting in this comfy car.
It's the same $100!
In this post I'm going to explain the major parts of Indian wedding decoration.
MANDAP
FLOWERS
Center pieces
Stage and Dance Floor
Understanding Indian wedding decor can be quite intimidating.
There's a million offerings to see on Etsy, Pinterest wedding decor and decorations are a wormhole.
Images on Instagram all seem to look the same after a while.
In this post I'm going to outline a 3-step checklist or guidelines for you to figure out, plan and chose your Indian wedding decorations.
But first, you need to realize something.
Just like with food at a buffet, there is a paradox of choice.
After a few hours you might be in bored mood, but we need to lock in on a mood board!!
Ok sorry, bad jokes ahead.
If you're like most brides I meet...you're:
busy
You want something elegant yet creative and unique,
You want to lock it down and continue the planning process.
You tell your decorator (if you found one): "Hey, I love your work and everything you've done! But now do something for me you've never done before."
EXCUSE ME BRO!?!
But I understand.
Indian decor and wedding decorations are tricky because they're so many flowers and so many colors. But just like when you see the Met Gala pictures all over your news feed, if something feels off...well like Malcom Gladwell says...you can just sense that it doesn't "connect." (for example, in all 3 of the previous pics, if it was standard hotel conference chairs and not tiffany chairs, you'd feel something might be off.
Speaking of Met Gala - if you need a MUA in America who does Deepika's makeup, contact my friend (not cheap though!).
How Much Does Indian Wedding Decoration Cost?
Decor is usually around 25-30% of your overall wedding budget.
A $200,000 Indian wedding (the normal we see these days in major US metro cities) will likely spend about $40,000 to $65,000 on decorations.
So if your wedding is in Laguna Beach, California and has a per-plate cost of $100 per guest...times, 300 guests, times 3 events (Sangeet, Mehndi, Reception), that's $90,000 to the hotel for food, liquor and venue.
Another $25,000 in sound, stage, dance floor and lighting, another $15,000 to your photographer, another $40,000 to however much for decor.
These are just the usual breakdowns we see in California and New York.
Also See: Ballroom Lighting Guide for Beginners
What are the major decor components in Indian Weddings?
Flowers across all the events ($5,000 to $50,000)
Mandap aka the wedding altar ($4,000 to $10,000)
Center pieces for tables at all the events ($10,000 to $50,000)
Stage design
Draping of Ballroom
Additional designs (carnival, pops, hanging art installations, etc..)
The most important pieces are your wedding Mandap and floral/centerpieces.
MORE DECOR DOES NOT MEAN BETTER WEDDING
Even though we are mainly a luxury Indian wedding DJ and lighting company, I have seen over 1000 Indian weddings ranging from 100 people to million dollar parties.
I've seen amazing Indian weddings with hardly any flowers, and the most expensive/lavish Indian wedding where someone spent $75K on flowers but everybody was bored from 4 hour of speeches.
You get the idea.
So in order to make your life easier and make sure you're happy, here's a simple 3 step process to finalizing your Indian wedding decorations.
Warning...some of you may not like what I say.
DECOR COST HACKS THAT ACTUALLY WORK
1. UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH INDIAN WEDDING DECOR COSTS FIRST.
During my brother's wedding over 3 days and 350 people, their decor bill was somewhere between $45K USD and $55K USD (He won't tell me but I'm smart enough to peek when his laptop his open).
Once you realize what a $6K USD mandap looks like versus a $1K one, and what you get for $7K in flowers, you start to figure out what's important to you.
There is no point sitting with a decorator spending 10 hours on mood boards, carnival themes, Instagrammable photo areas and $1K per table centerpieces only to get a $120K USD quote for decoration over four events.
You wasted their time and yours, and then worst of all you lowered your expectations.
Instead...SET the expectations from the start.
Top Down, not bottom up. Here's a budget I'm comfortable with..now how can I hack my way into getting it done.
Make sure you get ball park figures for Mandap, Floral, Stage (including DJ/Sound/Lighting) and then prioritize.