The pomp and splendor displayed last month in London convinced millions around the world to not only watch the wedding ceremony of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but also to dub the extravaganza the “Wedding of the Century”. But in India, where the typical upper-class wedding is expected to be an ostentatious spectacle, many well-heeled prospective brides and grooms might be tempted to point out that the century has only just begun.
“In India, they are like royal weddings everyday, particularly at the high end,” says Anita Patel, Managing Director of Tania-Tapel Events, a Mumbai-based international event-management company specializing in weddings. For the wealthiest Indian couples, the cache of the royal seal may be out of reach, but very little else is. “In India it’s more about glamour and glitz, there’s more one-upmanship,” says Patel. “People want something bigger and better than the last wedding they went to. They want something different every time.”
