2023 Indian Wedding Trends
Updated: Sep 3, 2022
Ajay Manaktala is one the leaders of planing, organizing and DJ'ing Big Fat Indian weddings across the world. His Quora answers alone have helped hundreds of thousands of brides on their big day.
Great Indian Weddings Balance Trends and Tradition
Indian weddings continue to set the stage for lavishness across the globe.
Akon recently performed at this wedding in Phuket (along with some other familiar looking guy named Salman) and everyone is trying to do things differently.
However, for most of us even if you have a million dollar house or both of you are doctors and engineers, you don't want to spend half your savings on an insanely luxurious wedding, because, well...all of us are still middle-class deep down.
I see a lot of articles on magazine sites talking about the hottest designers and the best organic sushi for your wedding...but like, come on na?
Sushi is awesome but get me the GARLIC NAAN BRO!
We want our good Indian food, we want Bollywood music despite however cool the young kids push for Drake, and we want our moms and dads to be smiling as we rock that Sari or Kurta.
For Indian weddings in America, you can easily do the hottest trends and also make it all come together for the entire family.
What Makes a Good Indian Wedding?
Being in this business, the number one thing I notice is that many people correlate spending more with better wedding.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Yes a beautiful venue helps.
Yes a Hawaii is awesome.
Yes fireworks are cool.
But have you ever been to a wedding and heard a guest say "Wow she should have worn Manish Malhotra instead of that simple $2,000 lehenga?
Probably not right?
In all my years of doing this, I can tell you, aside from hiring John Legend to play (for $400,000) or having a groom helicopter into his baraat (which again, isn't even really enjoying your Baraat), the number one thing that makes a good Indian is stuff that makes your guests feel welcome.
And that you had time for them aside from just a selfie.
Ok? So....
What are the best Indian wedding trends for 2020?
From belly dancers to magicians, stand up comedians and singers, these are some the latest trends we're seeing in the Indian wedding across the world:
1. Bridal Fashion Styles | INDIA is KILLING IT
Now that Sabyasachi and others have become household names, the style choices for the gorgeous Indian bride have exploded.
Indian dresses for men are becoming very chic and the ladies are redefining the word elegant. The average designer lengha can run about $10,000 but you can of course find any option to suit your needs, or design yourself.
Regardless, it's a very exciting time for Indian fashion. Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, you name it.
As I talked about here if a Sabyasachi is really worth it, if you can EASILY afford it or really want to, heck yes, go for it.
If you don't go designer bridal (which are about 75% of us who do big fat Indian weddings), you can EASILY find designers on Instagram for a fraction of the cost who will give you a much more luxurious outfit with finer fabrics, quicker responses and overall just easier peace of mind.
Plus you'll likely be the only one in your circle wearing it!
If you know where to look, you will be spoiled for bridal choice!
2. Live Bands are increasingly Normal at Indian Weddings
Bands like Bryden and Parth are making live music at Indian weddings the norm.
They pick up the energy, freestyle, let your own singer in the family jump on, and much more.
A band can cost much more than a DJ (ahem, I'm a DJ!) but add something different for the first hour or two of your party.
Most bands who are worth it will run you between $10,000 and $30,000, but you're better of spending on them for your Sangeet or Reception rather than another $14,000 on centerpieces that may be overkill.
3. Violin/Saxophone/Live Instrument Mashups
Vidya Vox made a name for herself mashing up famous western songs with Indian influences.
Another cool style has been folks like this guy below, who play Bollywood saxophone on top of the backing music live for your guests.
It's very cool and sets a fun tone for the evening. And it doesn't break the bank (as of this writing).
Imagine the doors opening to your reception and a wireless saxophone is mic'd up playing really nice Bollywood numbers. CLASSY!
This guy is Thailand based but would charge between $1500 and $3000 USD to play at a wedding anywhere in the world (for a few hours).
A very classy touch that you can look at doing before everybody does!
4. Acrobatic Dancers
Get some Cirque de solei up in the mix!
I see them all the time for receptions to entertain the guests for about 20-30 minutes.
One Free Trick that can make your entire Wedding (and most forget)
5. Paperless Invites are Preferred
We're finally at a place where it isn't rude to NOT send a fancy paper invite, and thank goodness for that.
In fact these days most guests under 40 prefer the convenience of an easily searchable digital wedding invite.
Most of the Indian weddings we do for couples under 40 have a website, nicely designed soft-copy invites, and a whatsapp group that has the invites go out again a week before the wedding just as a reminder of all the events.
