Here are our top South Asian wedding planning predictions for 2023 and 2024 to make your celebration special! Whether it's an intimate weekday gathering or a weekend affair, incorporating vibrant colours and sustainability will always be in style. Explore these everlasting trends and more for a memorable wedding experience.
Whether it’s the start of your wedding planning journey, or you’re just narrowing down the finer details, keep reading to know exactly what you can expect from your guests & suppliers.
Wedding Date Trends
It's no surprise that mid-week weddings are a post-pandemic trend that's here to stay. Traditionally, South Asian families follow one of two trends: either pre-wedding events occurring on 2-3 consecutive weekends prior to their weekend wedding, or pre-wedding events starting on the Thursday or Friday evening followed by their weekend wedding.
More so, we have seen a surge in weekday weddings, with Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays proving to be popular picks. This surge is due to a number of factors including lower price points, greater supplier availability, and greater venue availability.
Pre-pandemic, couples struggled to plan their weddings with all their sought after suppliers aligning on calendar dates, whereas, weekday weddings make this a lot more do-able for those couples planning their wedding 8-12 months in advance, relative to 12+ months in advance.
The Guides For Brides 2022 survey identified an increase in last-minute planning, which will remain prevalent moving into 2024 with most South Asian suppliers. Couples are opting to search and book their suppliers closer to the eleventh hour than ever before.
Wedding Venue Trends
Within the South Asian wedding scene, a large number of weddings ultimately took place in prime Central London hotels, Natural History Museum, Grosvenor House, and Waldorf Hilton to name a few. This year, we have seen a decrease in couples' desires to opt for central locations for all their events, for a number of reasons.
For starters, intimate weddings are on the rise. Gone are the days of 500+ average wedding sizes for South Asian families; through a combination of the bride & groom planning & funding more of the wedding, being stricter on who they do & don't have at the wedding, and ultimately taking the lead of mainstream weddings in the UK, wedding guest lists have become smaller than before. Culturally, weddings are always planned as a family, and so there's always a separate guest list (& a larger guest allocation), to a couples' parents' guests. The general trend shows families being more accepting of letting this belief go, to ensure the couples ultimately have (almost) everyone they know present on their wedding day; hence, greater possibilities of getting married at venues with smaller capacities, which simply would not have been possible in previous years.
In addition to this, the increase in Central London restrictions, namely ULEZ & congestion charges, have increased the costs on suppliers and ultimately the price they charge couples; alongside increased costs for the wedding families & guests to travel. For this reason, a number of couples are opting for wedding venues along the M25, greater London & the Midlands.
There has been an increase in manor house wedding enquiries, specifically those with the option of an added marquee, with convenience on capacity, pricing, parking, accessibility & much more.
That being said, some suppliers in the South Asian wedding industry have traditionally worked on exclusive venue contracts, hence most couples booking their caterer before or alongside their wedding venue. This trend is still prevalent, with the majority of couples booking both in tandem, as opposed to the venue a few months before the caterer, and we don't see this one going away anytime soon.
Spending Habits
The commonly known figure for South Asian wedding budgets often ranges between the £50,000 - £100,000 mark, and this appears to still be an accurate figure for most. With a decrease in guest list sizes, some couples are opting to pay a higher price-per-head and focus on the high quality details for their wedding, as opposed to the previous high quantity approach when there would be 500-1,000 guests.
The number of events surrounding the wedding have also increased, as well as, their respective budgets. More and more South Asian couples are opting for extravagant engagement parties, alongside the Roka ceremony, hens and bridal showers, and longer honeymoons. All of these events have been more prominent in modern-day couples who are combining their traditional roots with their mainstream upbringing.
Needless to say, the current economic climate and cost of living crisis has contributed to an increase in raw materials for suppliers, which are ultimately being propelled onto clients in all aspects: whether it be increased decorator costs, catering costs, honeymoon flights & more.
In a recent Eternity UK survey, 46% of couples stated their wedding budget to be between £50k - £100k, followed by 42% between £0k - £50k, a smaller 8% between £100k - £150k, and the smallest proportion of 4% working with a wedding budget of £150k+.
Sustainable Weddings
Conscious couples have been on the rise, a trend which was prominent pre-Covid. Due to their personal beliefs and lifestyles, there has been an increase in couples opting to work with suppliers who have ESG principles in place. It's no secret that all weddings have wastage, but couples have been more keen to understand and reduce this as much as possible in a number of ways.
For starters, there have been more & more South Asian couples opting to work with small & local businesses, to reduce the transportation costs & not further promote mass production implications.
Secondary to this, tons of couples have opted for e-invites and a decrease in physical invitation boxes. Traditionally, a South Asian wedding invite consisted of many layers of paper, mithai (sweet) and bulkier boxes which families hand-delivered to their guests; this has reduced drastically with many couples opting for e-invites and a handful of physical invites for some guests.
Lastly, more couples & wedding guests are opting for pre-loved & rented clothing. The cost of a South Asian bridal wedding outfit can be anywhere between £1,000 - £10,000, multiplied by 4-5 events. Couples are now choosing to either wear pre-loved to their own events, or place their outfits up on pre-loved rental & resale platforms post their own wedding events.
Wedding Theme Trends
The biggest trend in South Asian wedding themes has been the increase in different & unique colour palettes. Traditionally, weddings were filled with yellow & orange marigold, and deep red reception decor; then, we saw a trend of the pastels, and now, it's a huge range of colours & globally inspired themes.
Whilst some are opting for an Italian riviera vibe, others opt for pretty in Palm trees, allowing decorators & outfit designers a greater chance to be creative. On the other hand, there has also been an increase in dried flower minimal decor, this is particularly the case of the manor house weddings where couples are leveraging and complementing the existing vibe of the venue.
What does this mean for 2023 couples?
Overall, South Asian couples are definitely opting for more fusion weddings, taking the best of their heritage and mainstream communities and combining it into a wonderful quality celebration of their love. With similar budgets in their pockets, couples are definitely choosing to be more conscious with who they book & the relationship they build with each supplier.
Couples are definitely working alongside their families & suppliers much more, and leading the way with their decisions. Due to the current economic climate, couples should be aware of the overall increases in costs, as this is only expected to rise in the short term, and be stricter than ever on their priorities & non-negotiables for their wedding.
It's easy to get consumed in comparing weddings to others or comparing prices of suppliers, but it's more important to focus on bringing the wedding you want to life, and working with the right quality of suppliers; as well as, being on the lookout for the best value deals.