Wedding Business: Extravagant Indian Weddings lead to expansion of the Sector in Canada

• The business of weddings has not even been affected by recession and the average cost remains a whopping $100,000
• Everyone wants a piece of the industry and there have been many budding startups and one such notable venture, by Dave Singh, taps into by providing wedding attire
• There are also hotels who have tapped into the business by holding crash courses for staff on South Asian wedding traditions

Indian weddings are a huge industry in Canada. A documentary "Little India Big Business" was aired on July 23, exploring the booming business sector in Vancouver. The documentary, by CBC journalist Bal Brach, takes into account how extravagant the affair has become.

"I was stunned to hear the average cost of an Indian wedding is $100,000 and most of the time, its hard working immigrant parents footing the bill for week-long celebrations," Brach was quoted as saying before the documentary aired.

The business of weddings have not even been affected by the recession and the average cost remains a whopping $100,000. "Most of the time, it's hard-working immigrant parents footing the bill for week-long celebrations," Brach added.

Everyone wants a piece of the industry and there have been many budding startups. One such notable venture, by Dave Singh, taps into by providing wedding attire. Dave, who immigrated to Canada sometime in 2008, started with 12 clients in a business run in his basement, mentioned indiandiaspora.com.

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Now, 8 years later, he has 400 brides from all over the world who are set to buy his clothes. He has even opened stores in California and Toronto to keep up with his global clientele. His success has earned him the title of 'Sabyasachi of Surrey', Brach says, in reference to the renowned Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

According to by indiandiaspora.com, even hotels have tapped into the business by holding crash courses for staff on South Asian wedding traditions. Kevin Siegrest, director of catering at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, told media sources, "We're working hand in hand with these event planners to really understand the traditions and intricacies."

The Vice President for Multi-Cultural Markets and Alliances for Marriott International, Apoorva Gandhi too said, "As we see the rise in that population and the spending power, it's something you can't ignore."

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Social media has also added to the buzz and has allowed the wedding vendors to make a global impact. Most hair and make-up studios are booked up to 3 years in advance and the artists travel around the globe to provide their services to brides. Brach was quoted as saying, "It's an incredibly lucrative business if you have the energy to compete."

– prepared by Varsha Gupta of NewsGram. Twitter: @VarshaGupta94

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