Region 
 

Karachi

Crash of a Season

Even if social distancing restrictions ease up in the coming
months, gatherings like wedding functions will be limited by
head count and may face other exacting requirements.

By Khawaja Amer | August 2020

Weddings are being canceled left and right due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but what’s been missing from the headlines is the crash of the $300 billion wedding industry worldwide.

Pakistan is no exception. According to a report recently published in the Daily Times, “The rapid spread of COVID-19 — and the travel bans and warnings about social distancing that have come with it — is wreaking havoc on the $78 billion wedding industry.” According to a seminar ‘Wedding industry, its growth, potential and recognition’ held at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) about a decade back --- the Pakistan wedding industry was worth Rs900 billion per annum, of which Karachi alone contributed Rs168 billion and yet the industry’s optimum potential had not been fully utilized. No statistics on wedding industry were released by the KCCI or FPCCI after this seminar. By the way, India’s wedding industry is worth Rs119 billion.

Presenting a breakdown of the wedding expenditures, the seminar was informed, “Beauty parlours get 2 per cent of the total expenditure, and decorators get 4 per cent, while caterers get 16 per cent. The venue costs 6 per cent of the total expenditures to the bride and groom while furniture, boutique and jewellers take 7 per cent, 13 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively whereas, other small expenditures mount to 35 per cent of the total expenses. In short, the average wedding expenditure for a family comes to around Rs1.3million.”

A presentation on this seminar further added that as the per capita income of an individual has increased manifolds, as such people are more willing to spend on luxurious weddings. Pre-Covid, an estimated 125,000 wedding ceremonies took place in Karachi alone, of which, on an average, the overall wedding expenditure on the bride’s side was estimated to be Rs832,500 while the groom spent about Rs513,500.

Wedding planners, photographers and event designers gearing up for a big spring wedding season in 2020 have no option but to watch their whole world fall apart and stare blankly. According to the 2020 Wedding Wire Newlywed Report, couples hire an average of 15 wedding professionals — like a venue, caterer, florist, band or DJ, photographer, cake baker, etc. --- and all of them are sitting on the edge. Many couples in the US who were planning to get married this year had no choice but to call off their weddings—slowly, and then all at once. The wedding planners also fear that with clients delaying the wedding, there is no assurance that they will get back to them, or if the payment will remain the same. It will be like starting from scratch.

Covid-19 has also hit people involved individually in the wedding business, such as florists, caterers, shamiana suppliers, pakwan wallas, cake bakers, video-makers, photographers, etc.

Meanwhile, in the broader perspective, destination weddings have been on the rise — especially in the luxury sector in which couples spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the celebration. According to Statista, the wedding tourism turnover across India was projected to be valued at about Rs 458 billion in 2020, up from Rs 234 billion in 2017. An Instagram celebrity says, “My husband and I made several trips to Phuket with the planners and envisioned all the ceremonies. We planned our themes and outfits, and kept hoping that the situation would get better. But with every passing day, it only worsened and we were left with no choice. It was a heartbreaking decision but we would not put our guests at risk.” Destination wedding have yet to become popular in Pakistan though some couples go to Singapore, Bangkok and other places.

Apart from big wedding planners, Covid-19 has hit people involved individually in the wedding business, such as florists, caterers, shamiana suppliers, pakwan wallas, cake bakers, video-makers, photographers, etc. They love what they do, but they aren’t running corporations. They run neighbourhood shops or maybe even work from their homes. Many are “solo-preneurs” who may have quit the 9-to-5 job for the dream of their creative pursuits. For them the stakes are high. They are extremely worried and hope that they would be able to get help from the Government’s programme to support small business houses. The government has recently approved a relief package of 75 billion rupees to provide financial assistance to labourers and daily wagers, who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A wedding planner commenting on the crisis, said, “Weddings have historically been recession-proof. Though budgets, trends and aesthetics may change ... weddings will always go on. While this (the pandemic) is devastating for the hospitality and event industry, those who remain solvent and steadfast will come out stronger on the other side. I have a feeling that celebrations will be appreciated more than ever. But then, for now, vendors will essentially have to figure out a way to be solvent without any business for the foreseeable future. But there is hope that the pandemic will give way to a tidal wave of weddings that will be pushed to later in 2020 and into 2021.”

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