Growing up in India, Shubhangi Seth had always imagined her dream wedding on the mesmerizing shores of Italy’s Lake Como, ringed by stunning alpine peaks and piercing blue water.
It’s where celebrities like George and Amal Clooney as well as John Legend and Chrissy Teigen exchanged vows.
But as the years passed, the Mumbai resident watered down her Lake Como fantasy, prioritizing traditions and culture instead.
“I just want a very traditional, rooted wedding,” the 29-year-old told CNN. “We want to keep it in India.”
These words might be music to Indian leader Narendra Modi who has renewed calls for citizens to take one for the team and avoid holding weddings abroad in the interest of culture – and the economy.
“This trend of destination weddings abroad is growing rapidly,” Modi said at a recent rally. “But consider the fact that this entails a significant expenditure of foreign currency.”
“When it comes to weddings, I do not believe there could be any place more beautiful or sacred for us than our own India.”
Modi wants to conserve foreign exchange reserves to protect the rupee and act as a buffer from further economic shocks.
Shubhangi Seth and her fiance will tie the knot in a ceremony in India’s Jaipur later this year.Shubhangi Seth
Modi’s appeal is not new, but it has taken on greater priority as he confronts the economic strain triggered by the Iran war.
India imports about 90% of its oil and gas requirements, much of it from the Middle East. Tensions surrounding the vital energy chokepoint Strait of Hormuz have heightened concerns about supply disruptions and rising import costs, adding pressure on an already weakened rupee.
Modi is now asking India’s 1.4 billion citizens to conserve fuel, embrace remote work and choose domestic holidays.
He also wants Indians – one of the world’s largest consumers of gold – to limit their gold purchases for a year. The country imports much of the precious metal, which holds tremendous significance for the South Asian country and is viewed as something that can bring good fortune and build generational wealth.
All this comes at a time when the rupee has slid more than 5% since the war began, currently making it the weakest-performing major Asian currency.
Epic weddings overseas… and at home
India’s wedding industry has transformed drastically the past decade, fueled by Bollywood opulence, celebrity culture and social media spectacle.
Today, weddings are often sprawling, multiday affairs that power an industry valued around $130 billion, according to a report by United States investment bank Jefferies. This makes it India’s second-largest consumer sector after food and groceries — and nearly twice the size of the wedding market in the US, the report said.
Blending sacred rituals and cultural heritage with theatrical pageantry, Indian weddings can serve as a vibrant showcase of the country’s soft power.
Some have even spawned global headlines.
The 2024 wedding of Anant Ambani, the son of India’s richest man was a larger-than-life affair with events spanning the western cities of Jamnagar and Mumbai. The star-studded guest list included Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Modi himself, and a performance by Rihanna.
A few years before that, Priyanka Chopra married Nick Jonas in a lavish wedding at the immense Umaid Bhawan Palace in the northwestern city of Jodhpur.
Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani (center) with family at the wedding ceremony of his son Anant and Radhika Merchant in Mumbai on July 12, 2024.Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty Images
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband singer Nick Jonas at their wedding reception in New Delhi, India December 4, 2018.Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Glittering nuptial celebrations are growing domestically, those in the industry say.
Luxury wedding planner Vikramjeet Sharma told CNN he has many clients preferring to keep it real at home, maintaining all the pizzazz, of course.
India holds between 8-10 million weddings annually, according to the Jeffries report. Sharma, who has been in the industry for nearly 20 years, said his team planned about 28 weddings last year. Just three of them were held overseas.
“The number of weddings happening in India, the magnitude of weddings happening in India, the average cost per wedding happening in India have all gone up to quite some extent,” Sharma told CNN.
Monil Shah, another planner, told CNN there “has been a noticeable shift” in couples choosing to get married in India.
‘Make in India’ to ‘Wed in India’
Modi, a right-wing populist, built his political brand around promises of economic development, self-reliance and national pride, coupling Hindu nationalist rhetoric with an ambitious modernization drive.
In 2014, his flagship “Make in India” initiative aimed to reduce dependence on imports and strengthen domestic manufacturing. About a decade later, he repackaged that same message for the wedding industry with a new slogan: “Wed in India.”
Umaid Bhawan Palace, where Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas got married.Andrey Khrobostov/Alamy
Now, seemingly under pressure from the economic fallout from the war with Iran, Modi has framed ordinary consumer choices, such as buying less petrol and choosing work-from-home, as acts of patriotism.
This has sparked criticism from the opposition who say that calls for sacrifice now do little to address India’s deeper economic vulnerabilities.
“Mr. Modi asked the public for sacrifices – don’t buy gold, don’t go abroad, use less petrol, cut down on fertilizer and cooking oil, take the metro, work from home. These aren’t sermons – they’re proof of failure,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on social media.
For bride-to-be Seth, however, the decision to tie the knot in her motherland is not a political one.
She and her fiancé have spent months planning a ceremony that blends her Hindu traditions with his Sikh heritage, and do not want to be saddled with massive bills that come with extravagant foreign weddings.
Later this year, the couple will exchange vows in the beautiful city of Jaipur, also known as the “Pink City,” where several historic buildings are considered to project the pastel aesthetics of a Wes Anderson film.
Jaipur is also one of India’s premier wedding destinations where ornate palaces and historical forts provide the backdrop for days-long traditional and modern festivities.
“There’s just so much comfort in India,” Seth said, “which is difficult to get abroad.”
Iran war injects fresh urgency into Modi’s ‘Wed in India’ campaign Egypt Independent.
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