From Alps backdrops to underwater vows, weddings turn extravagant & unique

Estimated to be around $130 billion, according to brokerage Jefferies, India's wedding industry is the world's second largest, next only to China

When US-based childhood sweethearts Urvashi Kumar, 29, and Uttkarsh Dixit, 30, planned their wedding, they envisioned a royal heritage celebration in India. After their engagement in 2022, they spent seven days exploring places in Rajasthan before choosing Raffles Udaipur, one of India’s largest island properties. 

Despite securing the venue 18 months in advance, Kumar, an artificial intelligence specialist at Snapchat, made three more trips to India to finalise the wedding details — hiring a planner, choreographer, photographer, and selecting décor and attire. The couple also had a wedding proposal in the Maldives, and a pre-wedding photoshoot that captured them on