From Instagram-perfect photo to far-flung destination vows and playful jewellery trends, 2025 proved to be a shining year for Indian weddings. Even as
gold and silver prices touched record highs, couples across the country showed no signs of tightening their purse strings, celebrating their big day with full dhoom-dhaam. The year was marked by some of the star-studded unions such as Aadar Jain–Alekha Advani, Netra Mantena–Vamsi Gadiraju, and Armaan Malik–Aashna Shroff. The appetite for lavish celebrations wasn’t limited to celebrities. Upper-middle-class and middle-class families increasingly opted for grand affairs. Data from the wedtech platform, WedMeGood shows that wedding spending rose 8 per cent in 2025, with the average budget touching nearly Rs 39.5 lakh, as per a PTI report. Industry insiders believe the momentum will only grow in 2026, powered by curated experiences, immersive decor, and social-media-first planning. Destination weddings, in particular, gained serious traction. “In fact, one in every four weddings in 2025 was a destination event,” WedMeGood co-founder Mehak Shahani told PTI. Among weddings with budgets exceeding Rs 1 crore, more than 60 per cent were destination celebrations. “Last year, the average destination wedding cost around Rs 51.1 lakh, but in 2025 it rose to about Rs 58 lakh,” Shahani said. Popular domestic locations included Jaipur, Goa, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, and Shimla, while Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia emerged as overseas favourites. Experience-Led Celebrations And Professional Planning According to corporate travel concierge CoTrav, higher wedding spends were driven more by experience-led planning than by an increase in the number of ceremonies, the report added. Drawing from around 60 luxury destination weddings, Vinod Kumar Sah, co-founder and CTO at Cotrav, said, “From CoTrav's on-ground experience with around 60 luxury destination weddings this year, a five-star destination wedding today typically carries a budget in the Rs 3 crore-plus range.” He added that budgets are now tightly structured, with significant allocations for venues, travel, artistes, and logistics, while decor, food, and planning take the lion’s share, claims the report. Photography Trends Shift As Numbers Dip Wedding photography saw a subtle shift in 2025, as per the report. While styles leaned towards candid, documentary-led storytelling and quick-turnaround, Instagram-ready content, overall spending dipped marginally. “Personalisation is at an all-time high, with custom details and bespoke decor offering more intimate storytelling moments. Candid, documentary-led narratives continue to dominate,” said Harsheen Jammu, co-founder of Ombre in the PTI report. The average spend per assignment fell 6.8 per cent from 2024 levels, though it remained well above 2023 figures. Ombre also noted a 30–50 per cent drop in the number of wedding shoots during the year, it added. Gold Prices Bite, Recycling Rises The jewellery segment faced a tough year as gold prices surged over 74 per cent in 2025, while silver prices more than doubled. Jewellers warned this could weigh on growth in FY26, even as recycling gained momentum. All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council Chairman Rajesh Rokde said, "On an average, 40-50 lakh marriages take place in India a year... There has been 30-40 per cent growth in sales in value terms in wedding jewellery in 2024-25 as compared to the previous year." He added that gold recycling has risen sharply over the past two years, projecting a Rs 2–3 lakh crore wedding jewellery market in FY26, claims the report. Hotels, Tech, And The Road Ahead Hotels, too, enjoyed a bumper year. As per the report, Supreet Roy, General Manager at Sheraton Grand Pune, said, “Industry estimates suggest that hotel-led wedding business has grown 10-12 per cent (in 2025), with a significant surge anticipated during the peak November-February period.” Roy highlighted rising demand for multi-day celebrations and deeper personalisation, trends expected to continue into 2026. WedMeGood’s Shahani noted that digital adoption, from payments to AI-powered planning, will play a bigger role going forward.
