Luxury weddings have long been defined by abundance. Elaborate décor, immersive entertainment, multiple celebrations, and meticulously curated experiences have become hallmarks of the destination wedding landscape. But as the industry continues to evolve, perhaps it’s time to ask a different question. Are we creating celebrations that are as enjoyable for the guests as they are spectacular to look at?
With the 17th edition of the DWP Congress heading to Udaipur, we turn our attention to a conversation that’s becoming increasingly relevant across the luxury wedding industry. Mahesh Shirodkar (also known as Bossy) from Tamarind Global Weddings, the Gala Dinner Event and DMC Partner, reflects on the changing meaning of luxury, the importance of guest experience, and why the most memorable celebrations may be the ones that leave room for the unexpected.
Catch a glimpse into this evolving conversation in our exclusive interview with Mahesh Shirodkar, as he shares his perspective on what luxury weddings could look like next.
Because luxury has never simply been about more; at its best, it’s about how something makes you feel.
Why Space, Spontaneity & Guest Energy Define Luxury
For years, luxury weddings have been defined by abundance. More experiences. More entertainment. More elaborate décor. More carefully programmed moments.
And somewhere along the way, we may also have created something else: the exhausted wedding guest.
I have spent many years planning and experiencing destination weddings across the world, and I believe it may be time to rethink what we mean by a truly luxurious celebration. Not because weddings should become smaller, quieter, or less spectacular. Far from it. But because luxury has never simply been about more.
At its best, luxury is about how something makes you feel.
A typical destination wedding today might span three days and five or six events. There are welcome lunches, sundowners, mehendis, sangeets, wedding ceremonies, receptions and after-parties. Each is beautifully conceived, and each deserves its moment.
But add in airport arrivals, elaborate dressing, hair and make-up, travel between venues and late nights, and suddenly the guest’s experience can begin to feel less like a celebration and more like an itinerary that needs to be conquered.
We spend months planning what happens at a wedding. Perhaps we need to spend a little more time planning what doesn’t.
Designing the Spaces Between the Events
One of the most underrated elements of a great destination wedding is space.
A morning with nothing planned can be a luxury. So can a leisurely breakfast after a late night. A few hours to sit by the pool, explore the destination, have lunch with old friends, or simply sleep.
These are not gaps in the wedding programme. They are part of the experience.
We like to think of this as planned spontaneity.
It sounds contradictory, but good planning often means deliberately creating room for things that cannot be planned. The conversation that stretches over coffee. Friends who haven’t met for ten years deciding to have lunch together. A family exploring the old city. Grandparents sitting together in the sunshine while grandchildren play nearby.
Very often, these become the moments guests remember most.
Every Guest is a Client
There is another shift we believe our industry needs to make.
Traditionally, we think of the couple and their families as our clients. And of course they are. But at a destination wedding, I would argue that we temporarily acquire another 200, 300, or 500 clients.
Every guest.
A 28-year-old friend looking forward to dancing until 3 a.m. and a 78-year-old grandmother are attending the same wedding, but they are not experiencing the same wedding.
Neither are the parents travelling with small children, the guest arriving after a ten-hour international flight, or the couple who have extended their stay because they want to discover the destination.
True hospitality lies in understanding those differences.
It means thinking not only about what guests will see, but about how they will move through the celebration and how they will feel while doing it.
Do they have enough time between functions? Are elderly guests comfortable? Can families with children step away when they need to? Is there an opportunity to experience the destination rather than simply moving between the hotel room and the next event?
Luxury, in this context, becomes personalization at scale.
Plan the Energy, Not Just the Events
Every great celebration has a rhythm.
There should be anticipation. There should be a crescendo. There should be extraordinary moments that surprise people and keep them talking long after they return home.
But a crescendo only works because something comes before it.
If every event is designed to be bigger, louder and more spectacular than the last, eventually everything begins to compete for attention.
The same is true of guests’ energy.
Perhaps we need to start thinking about guest-energy planning with the same seriousness with which we approach décor, entertainment or F&B.
If the sangeet finishes at 2 a.m., does the next day really need to begin at 9? If guests have travelled halfway across the world to attend a wedding in Udaipur, Tuscany or Phuket, should they have enough time to actually experience Udaipur, Tuscany or Phuket?
Sometimes restraint makes the spectacular moments more spectacular.
The Destination Should be part of the Celebration
This becomes even more important with destination weddings.
We choose remarkable places for a reason. Yet it is surprisingly easy to create such a packed programme that guests barely experience the destination at all.
Leaving space allows the destination to become part of the wedding.
Perhaps guests wander through a local market. Perhaps they take a boat ride, discover a small restaurant or simply spend an afternoon looking out at a landscape they may never see again.
Those experiences don’t compete with the wedding. They enrich it.
After decades in this business, I remain a great believer in celebration. Weddings should be joyous, generous and, when the occasion calls for it, wonderfully extravagant.
But generosity isn’t measured by how many things we can fit into 72 hours.
Sometimes generosity is giving people time.
Time to celebrate. Time to connect. Time to discover. Time to recover. And, importantly, time to look forward to what comes next.
Perhaps the next evolution of the luxury wedding isn’t another event added to the itinerary.
Perhaps it is the confidence to leave something off it.
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Mahesh Shirodkar’s perspective offers a refreshing take on where luxury weddings are headed. It is not about doing away with grandeur or making celebrations smaller. It is about being more intentional with the experience around it.
From creating breathing room between events and planning around guest energy to giving every guest a more personalised experience and allowing the destination itself to become part of the celebration, the focus is shifting from simply creating spectacular weddings to creating weddings that people genuinely enjoy.
Because the most memorable celebrations are not always the ones with the longest itineraries or the most elaborate productions. They are the ones where guests have time to connect, explore, celebrate, and simply be present.
As Mahesh puts it, perhaps the next evolution of luxury is not about what we add to the wedding, but what we choose to leave room for.