Summing up: Global wedding industry

The total turnover of the wedding industry in the world is estimated to be more than $ 300 000 billion and has steadily grown over the years. Other businesses have gone through a certain decline due to the global economic situation of the last decade, and their consumer spending has shrunk. However, the wedding industry did not at all suffer any significant decline during the economic crisis. A reason for this can be attributed to the diversity of people involved in this business; indeed,  this type of event management gives good prospects to a wide variety of professionals, ranging from wedding consultants to photographers, from bridal wear designers and beauty salons to jewellers, from florists to honeymoon organisers.

Wedding planners and their suppliers have been penetrating markets all around the globe, such as those of India, China, Spain and USA and have been witnessing a worldwide positive trend.

Let us look at some figures. In the United States couples spend about 60 billion dollars every year in order to utter the magic words “Till Death Do Us Part". According to "The Knot 2015 Real Weddings" survey, since 2010 the average cost for a wedding has been around 5,500 dollars, with a tendency to grow over time.  

In India, in 15 big cities and in the Goa and Kerala states, couples spent from 30,000 dollars to 300,000 dollars for a three- or five-day celebration.

The average budget for couples in Spain increased by more than 30% in 2014 and reached 18,500 dollars, making newlyweds believe in the economic recovery of their country, according to a IESE Business School report.

The China Wedding Industry Report provides a figure of 80 billion dollars per year for the overall wedding industry; it is now a flourishing period for "The Heavenly Republic" and such number is expеcted to incrеаse. On average a wedding in China amounts to 12,000 dollars, with a total number of weddings per year that exceeds 10 million.

How much does the bridal dress cost?

The IESE report points out that the US is the first wedding dress supplier all over the world. For a production of more than 1.8 million bridal dresses, the turnover is roughly 2.8 billion dollars. A bride who wants to buy an American dress should be ready to spend 1,500 dollars on average. Other countries that are present in the market of wedding gоwns are Spain, China and India. In Spain, a dоmеstic turnover of 845 million dollars is reported, while exports account for 568 million dollars. The cost for a dress from Spain ranges from less than 1000 euros up to 3000 euros. Paradoxically, in China one can get a dress for minimum 1,200 dollars and a maximum of 6,200 dollars. India's 80% of wedding business belongs to bridal designers, as the bridal gown is heavily decorated with jewellery. This makes the upper end of the budget jump up to as much as 375,000 dollars.

Brands never lose

International and luxury brands as well as local manufacturers and designers try to make profits in emerging markets.  Dior, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, Harrods, Salvatore Ferragamo and other labels are now making the first step in the Indian markеt. Chinese couples also turn to the Western luxury style of wedding. An expensive white dress for her, an impeccаble black suit for him, a solid ring for both are a possibility for known brands to develop their business in China.

Spain became one of the favourite destinations for weddings, bringing around 11.2 billion dollars. The country is preferred by international couples thanks to its climate, beauty and traditions. 

E-commerce and social media

Nowadays, when organizing a wedding, a key role is played by social media and e-commerce. Young couples look at their friends' wedding pictures, visit websites showing trends and download applications guiding through the whole planning and organization proсеss.

        The first three applications I found:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fotavo.todolist.ladymarry&hl=en ,

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xogrp.planner&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.irishwedding.irishweddingplanner

Looking for a way to make the wedding unique and posting photos on social medias, a couple can completely change the image of their wedding. According to "The Knot" survеy, couples choose foreign music, dance performances, Chinese traditional tea breaks, wine tasting, cigar rolling or signature cocktails or different traditional customs they are little familiar with.

The survey showed that, being interested in personalization, the young use a lot their smartphones to stay always in touch with their vendors, manage their wedding website and make corrections to the planning.  89% of couples use smartphones or tablet PCs during the preparation process.

To conclude, I would like to emphasize that the ceremony and the party has been modernized, adapted to new trends. But the wedding is still an inalienable part of life, becoming a considеrable opportunity to develop a good business on.

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