Weddings from key markets of Asia Pacific particularly from South East Asia are synonymous with opulent, exorbitant multiple-day celebrations with a large crowd and lavish spend. Weddings in Asia are not just a celebration of tying the knot, but also an occasion for the two sets of families to unite and show their social-economic status within the community. Asia pacific wedding industry is the second-largest contributor to the global wedding market valuation of US $ 300 billion with China as the front runner contributing almost $130 billion annually followed by India where the wedding industry is worth an estimated $40-50 billion a year. With everyone waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine to come in to get back to the lavish affairs and multiday celebrations, we dive deeper into the current
Asia Pacific Region
What is happening?
Small weddings in China
We can see the excitement building up as wedding planning as things are looking to get normal in China. Cyrielle Mohara from Spectrum Agency, China mentions “We have started weddings and smaller events in Shanghai for about 2 months now. Weddings out of China are still not possible mainly due to quarantine restrictions and borders still being closed in some countries. Within mainland China, we have noticed an increase in demands with some couples changing their overseas wedding to a destination in China.”
Intimate Settings
“The wedding season in India is heaviest between October to March. By the time COVID-19 became a serious global pandemic, we were in the lean season for Indian weddings. So it didn’t have a huge impact on last season’s business. After a strict nationwide lockdown, the Indian authorities are slowly allowing weddings that are happening according to safety & logistical protocols. However, this is heavily dependent on rules set by the particular state within the country. Currently, people can apply for permission for weddings of up to 50 people in attendance and following all social distancing and hygiene rules. There are some brides & grooms who are getting married at this time – these weddings are happening within the home or selected intimate property. A lot of brides & grooms wanting more celebratory weddings have decided to wait and watch, and figure out their next steps based on what happens over the next few months. Without a pharmaceutical intervention in terms of a vaccine solution, we fear that the coming wedding season will be heavily impacted when it comes to large weddings. The pandemic has made brides & grooms re-look at their assumptions when it comes to the size of a wedding, and it remains to be seen how this will manifest in their wedding planning post normalization.” Beautifully iterates Sam Walzade from Sam & Ekta, India
Wait and Watch mode
“Government is allowing weddings with a maximum of 50 guests which is not a favorable number for luxury and destination weddings. Most of the wedding has been postponed. Clients are perplexed and everyone is on ‘wait and watch’ mode.” Adds Vivek Sharma from Altitude Events.
“We are still waiting for the government to allow events as they have planned 3 phases of opening and now we are in phase 2 but we honestly don’t know how long it will take phase 3 to come in.” Says Satish Punjabi from Impressario Inc Pte Ltd, Singapore
Limited Capacity
“Sri Lankan government approved weddings to be held under strict guidelines for a max of 300 guests or 50% of the capacity of the venue whichever is lower.” Shares Charm De Silva from Magical Moments Wedding & Event Planners from Sri Lanka
Postponed to 2021!
“We have postponed all our destination weddings to 2021 and our local weddings have been postponed till the end of the year, however, we have been hit with the 2nd wave of COVID and are currently moving all our weddings into 2021, starting in March. We have had several cancellations with clients, vendors, and ourselves losing a lot of revenue. There is so much uncertainty as we are currently guessing when we will be back to plan weddings. At this stage, Australia is only allowed 5 people at a wedding. It did progress to 20 guests for 2 weeks before going back into lockdown. It will be gradual to get more people at gatherings. 2020 has been such a major hit in the Wedding Industry.” Points Karen Tancin from Classique Event, Australia
“We are recommending postponing and 90% our clients also choose postponed rather than cancel. But some choose to do a ceremony in their city, not in a destination wedding. With most weddings postponed to 2021, we need operational costs to maintain our staff, our office bills (electricity, water), etc.” Adds Hartawan Iman Santoso from Riviera Events Organizer, Indonesia
Innayat Khubchandani from Innaz Communique, Indonesia tells “Nothing has been open yet for destination weddings into Bali. The airport is still closed to visitors and tourists. Local weddings can be held with only 30 guests attending.”
And finally, Cyrielle Mohara from Spectrum Agency, China shares positive vibes with her thoughts on the Chinese destination wedding market “We know overseas weddings and travel, in general, will start again. Chinese travelers love to go overseas to new destinations and I’m confident they will start traveling again when the worldwide situation is more stable and safer.”
What can be done?
Limited Reopening
In India where safety protocols are taken lightly at times, Socorro Francis Serrao from Crosscraft Pvt, India points out the importance of hygiene standards as he says “Allow Hotels and Resorts to have 100 to 200 Paxs weddings as Hotels and Resorts maintain standards of safety than any other industry.”
Soft Loans
“Governments should pay more attention to wedding industries whenever it is, as weddings will support hotels, caterings, florists, freelancers, entertainers, talents, etc. Provide some soft loans for the industry and verified companies to help operational costs and other expenses.” Suggests Hartawan Iman Santoso from Riviera Events Organizer, Indonesia. Similar sentiments were shared by Magdalena Lolita from By Faith Event & Wedding Planner from Indonesia.“To government please consider us the worker on the wedding industry because we’re still not allowed to hold any event more than 30 people in fact here most wedding for hundreds or even a thousand people. We do our best to downsizing up to 50% of the capacity. Many people in this industry became jobless and lost their income.”
Tax Exemption and visa benefits post COVID
“Taxes should be reduced for wedding industries. One window Visa facilities for wedding guests in bulk should be implemented,” suggests Vivek Sharma from Altitude Events.
Clear Guidelines to help us get back on our feet!
“They should pay more attention to the event industry as we are one of the most affected due to this pandemic. We in Singapore have been suffering since Chinese New Year which was the end of January 2020 and people had already taken precautions as the pandemic hit straight after that. So basically we have been without biz for the first half of the year and now we hope of things moving to the new normal they should have some incentives placed for the events industry. Help us get back on our feet.” Adds Satish Punjabi from Impresario Inc Pte Ltd
“Make sure that the government guidelines are strictly followed not only by the premier wedding planners in the country but all, so our business is not hindered due to a few who are irresponsible. Work out competitive offers/more digital media advertisements to make Sri Lanka more attractive as a destination for Destination Weddings.” Tells Charm De Silva from Magical Moments Wedding & Event Planners from Sri Lanka
“We need to find a way to screen guests and staff and ensure we do not disturb the plans of the family by restricting the numbers and celebrations.” Suggests Shehzarin Udwadia from Wizcraft
“The message would be to give the industry a guide and likely timeline of dates so we can be prepared and manage a postponed wedding as not to choose a date that may be too early. We are currently guessing and estimating with no facts, guide, and help.
Every wedding has an estimate of 16 suppliers that we need to manage and once we change a date just for one wedding, we need to coincide and manage each supplier on availability. We try to take the burden of rescheduling from a client as they are emotional and stressed. It does not help that venues or destinations will charge a postponement/change fee. We should not be profiting from COVID, but have empathy and compassion to work together.” Beautifully sums up Karen Tancin from Classique Event, Australia
Feature Image Credit: @paran_singh_photography
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