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How I Saved More Than $10,000 on My Indian Wedding
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Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
I’m an Indian Gujarati content creator who got married in a mixed-culture wedding in Ontario in August 2021.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
My husband is Tamil Sri Lankan, so we had a bit of a mixed-culture wedding with some Gujarati traditions and Tamil Sri Lankan traditions.
In South Asian culture, there’s a lot of emphasis on the wedding being the most important moment in your life. But from the beginning, I felt that while it was important, it wasn’t going to be the most important thing in my life. I wanted to celebrate our love, more than anything.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
I knew what my non-negotiables were, like having good food, wearing both a lehenga and a sari, and having our outfits flow with the decor. Other than that, I found that if you have too many non-negotiables, things can add up pretty quickly.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
In Sri Lankan culture, they wear a sari throughout the ceremony. But I also wanted to wear a lehenga because that’s part of Indian wedding culture.
We ended up having a nice compromise of me entering in a lehenga, and when I did an outfit change that’s part of Sri Lankan tradition, I changed into a Tamil silk sari.
Our wedding came out to be $28,000 in total, which was just under our budget of $30,000.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
Our wedding was originally supposed to be in April 2020, but we rescheduled it to the year after because of the pandemic. We were able to save more than $60,000 by downsizing our wedding.
The good thing about Indian weddings is that you make back a good chunk of the money through gifts, because we traditionally receive cash gifts instead of items on a registry.
There are also a lot of pre-wedding events in South Asian weddings, but I cut down on the events I didn’t feel were super necessary, like the garba night. I also kept all the pre-wedding events at home.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
The garba night is a Gujarati party where you just dance and drink and have a good time. I focused instead on the pre-wedding events that had real cultural significance to us.
I did my own makeup, which can be super expensive especially within the Indian wedding industry, which could cost around $500 to 600 for one day.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
I know not everyone can do their own makeup, but this is what I mean by using your own resources. For instance, some other people might be good at DIY and can make their own centerpieces.
We used fake florals for all the wedding decor. They were silk flowers so didn’t look super fake, but were a fraction of the cost of real flowers.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
We got a simple cake made for the cake-cutting where the top two tiers were fake, and bought a sheet cake to serve guests.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
For transportation, my sister drove me to the wedding hall in her Subaru, which saved us around $400. No one really saw me come into the wedding, though we did drive off in a nice car afterwards.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
I kept my bridal party small: just my two sisters. I find that bridal parties can be expensive because you have to buy their outfits, jewelry, hair, and makeup. I saved in costs and, probably, drama.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
I find that in our culture, especially in South Asian culture in North America, weddings can almost become a competition. I just want people to get out of that mindset, and remember to put yourself first.
Courtesy of Hemali Mistry
A wedding should be about the union between two people rather than a focus on having a grand wedding. I have seen lots of people go into debt to have these grand Indian weddings, and, personally, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Put yourself first. Put your financial situation first so that you can set yourself up for a better future and step into marriage with the right foot.