What we don’t know about the Indian market (and why it’s causing us to lose customers)

On July 8th, we dedicated the third webinar of our WIM Insights 2026 international markets series to the Indian wedding market, featuring Costanza Giaconi from Bianco Bouquet. Here are three insights worth sharing outside the community.

There is a widespread cliché in Italy about the Indian market: "they spend a lot, but they are complicated". Like all clichés, it contains a grain of truth and a layer of superficiality. The Indian market is indeed the wealthiest in the world when it comes to weddings — 50 billion dollars in India alone, and over 18 billion in the destination wedding segment, with a 15% annual growth rate. And yes, it features cultural rules that are very different from ours. But "complicated" is the wrong word. The right word is "other". It is another market, with other logics. Anyone who expects to work within it using the same workflow they apply to an Italian, American, or European wedding will present a quote that the client discards at first glance — and they won't understand why.

Together with Costanza Giaconi (Bianco Bouquet), who has dedicated over ten years to the high-end destination Indian wedding segment, we mapped out the market in its entirety. Numbers, rituals, regional differences, family dynamics, communication channels, media, and PR. The complete picture is available within our community, inside Insights Plus. Here, to give you a taste, are three insights that help explain why this theme deserves the strategic attention of anyone working in Italian destination weddings.

The Indian wedding does not exist

This is the phrase Costanza used to open the webinar. It sounds like a provocation — but it is actually the most important coordinate to start understanding the market. India is a continent: thirty-plus states, dozens of religions, forty-five different languages. A northern Punjabi Sikh wedding and a southern Tamil Hindu wedding share practically nothing in common. The ceremony, cuisine, music, schedules, and setups all change. Responding to two such distinct requests in the exact same way is the fastest mistake an Italian vendor can make. When an Indian lead arrives, the first serious question is not about the budget — it is: where do they come from, culturally and religiously?

The diaspora does not want "more Italian". It wants more Indian.

The most common misunderstanding among Italian vendors approaching this niche is thinking that an Indian couple born in London or raised in New York expects a "more Western" wedding, lighter on rituals and streamlined in its schedule. It is the exact opposite. Very often, a destination wedding is the perfect opportunity to celebrate one's cultural identity with even greater care, bringing forward traditions that find less expression in their country of residence. A couple coming from New York wants a more traditional wedding, not less. An Italian vendor who presents "Italian-style" proposals, thinking they are intercepting the diaspora, is misreading the client.

The true channel is WhatsApp. And the true decision-maker is not the couple.

Two workflow mechanisms that catch Italian businesses off guard. The first: just like in the Gulf, WhatsApp is not an optional channel in the Indian market — it is the primary workspace. Voice messages, photos, videos, and real-time updates are the norm. Anyone who insists on managing everything via email is perceived as slow and is replaced, as naturally as one changes contacts when things aren't working out. The second: you are not working with a couple, you are working with a family — often with multiple families together. The couple, parents, siblings, an Indian planner, a family office, or a personal assistant. The person approving the budget is not necessarily the one replying to messages. The first useful step, even before the quote, is to map out who decides what.

The other insights

During the webinar, we tackled much more. The five rituals that make up an Indian wedding — Mehndi, Sangeet, Haldi, ceremony, reception — and what each one requires from the location and vendors. The operational differences between Punjabi, Gujarati, and Tamil weddings. The operational risk of Schengen visas — which can ruin events that are already set up. The six concrete mistakes that make you lose Indian clients. The role of the muhurta and flexibility regarding schedules. The partnership between the Indian planner and the Italian planner. How to build a submission pipeline targeting Indian wedding media (WeddingSutra, South Asian Bride, Vogue India, KushMag). And the minimum budget — which nobody mentions — to execute an Indian wedding properly.

The full breakdown is inside Insights Plus, along with the complete in-depth article and the operational checklist of the 10 moves to make before your next lead arrives.

Upcoming appointments

On September 2nd, we start back up with the UK market. In the meantime, work continues on the WIM Event 2026 — Florence, November 18-20. Registration is also open to Bronze members; we are currently past 70% of available seats.

The Indian market is one of the largest you can target today. It has precise rules and real cultural barriers, but it offers volumes and values that reward the investment — both in money and, above all, in time. Costanza reminded us that in the Indian market, reputation builds exponentially: a couple of years of breaking in, and then growth accelerates. Families talk to each other. Planners make recommendations. The first well-executed wedding brings the second couple, which brings the third.

Now we know how to speak to the Indian market. It's up to you to do it.