The start-up with a one-stop shop for the perfect big fat Indian wedding

With some 25,000 nuptials under its belt, Weddingz.in claims to be India's largest 'wedding company', offering a fully-managed, one-stop platform to deliver the perfect wedding experience

Having the perfect photo-finish wedding is a lot of work and Sandeep Lodha, CEO, Weddingz.in knows that. He did not realise this when he got married back in 2000. It was at a relative’s wedding fifteen years later that he saw what chaos organising a big fat Indian wedding can be.

Lodha witnessed everything that can go wrong -- Unfulfilled promises by decorators, caterers bungling the menu, venue being changed at the last moment and so on. While the bride-groom and their families were stressing over it all, Lodha had his ‘eureka’ moment.

“I observed that it was still very fragmented and disorganised due to the involvement of several vendors and lack of delivery on promises of quality of products and services, resulting in a lot of stress for the to-be-weds and their families. Among all services, venues were the largest investment and the biggest cause of stress during the wedding, owing to poorly managed catering, sound, decor, among other elements,” he said.

Almost 25,000 successful nuptials later, Weddingz.in claims to be India’s largest ‘wedding company’. It offers customers a fully-managed, one-stop platform for all their needs to organise a wedding experience including providing venues, managing themed decor, end to end catering, in-house photographers and makeup artists all guided by a dedicated wedding planner.

Weddingz.in offers a range of self-managed venues and a team of trusted and curated vendors for services such as rentals, pandit or priests, decor, choreography, transport, entertainment, anchor, catering, gifting, DJ, invites, band-baja ghodiwala.

Weddings are an elaborate affair in India. Inflation, recession, or other economic factors mostly do not affect the grandeur of a wedding in the country. They have only got bigger with time, due to global exposure, social media, digitisation and increase in standard of living.

However, the market for weddings isn't very technologically advanced. “Triggered by this thought, we started Weddingz.in to cater to the rising need for professional and organised wedding-related venue and non-venue requirements of the new-age, tech-savvy consumer. The USP was simple - a one-stop-shop to facilitate a great event at guaranteed best prices, with complete transparency. The company provides end-to-end solutions for easy discovery of a wide range of services and information on availability, budgeting and transaction facility, at the click of a button, in the comfort of one’s own space,” Lodha said.

Simply put, the idea was to make wedding planning a seamless, hassle-free and convenient experience for all as well as to streamline the tedious and lengthy process that goes into orchestrating the elaborate affair.

The company has ever since changed manifold and has successfully established a strong presence in over 30 cities, and a list of more than 800 curated venues that allow easier accessibility to various demographics across the country.  

Last August, the company managed to grab the attention of OYO Hotels & Homes, which bought it in a cash-and-stock deal for an undisclosed amount. Ever since, the company has been on a rapid expansion drive.

Following its acquisition by OYO, Weddingz.in claims to have grown by close to five-fold in revenue and over six-fold in bookings. “We have had dramatic growth in supply, one of our key drivers. The wedding market in India is primarily unorganised and is valued at $50 billion. Of this, the venue segment alone is about half, that is about $25 billion and growing at about 20 per cent annually. We have been growing at a very strong pace and are confident of continuing this growth momentum over the next few years,” Lodha added.

Currently, Weddingz.in claims to be managing over 3,500 events a month, end to end. It aims to sustain the momentum and expand to 36 cities by this December. Additionally, the company is looking at ramping up its headcount from around 2,000 to over 3,000 by the end of December.

Weddingz.in recently opened offline retail stores. But why go the traditional brick-and-mortar way? Simply to ensure that the promises of a dream wedding are real, to showcase and give a real glimpse of what to expect, the company says.  

“A brick-and-mortar store will play a vital role in bringing the brand proposition to life and allow consumers to visualise their weddings, right from the initial stages of planning itself. Translating the interaction with customers into a real-life setting, the retail showroom will bridge the gap between the brand and consumers by allowing real-time interaction and add to great customer experience. This will pose as an extension of our services and will also help us tap into a more mature consumer base who are conventional in their approach and make decisions influenced by the look and feel factor,” Lodha added.

In the first phase, the company has launched retail stores in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and Karol Bagh in the Capital. It plans to open 200 stores spread across 30 cities by the end of next year.