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Yes, most young Indians in today’s time understand the importance of being financially independent before marriage. And that’s why this has become one of their topmost priorities. But how do we come to this point?
Well, this finding has come as one of the results from a joint survey done by IndiaLends and Betterhalf. According to this survey, 68% of young Indians—aged between 21-35 years—believe in financial stability and independence before marriage and this is one of their top priorities apart from achieving other personal goals. One of the other highlights of the survey was the fact that self-funded weddings are becoming quite popular among young Indians. In the survey, more than 70% of millennials and GenZ said they would like to plan and finance their own wedding instead of doing it with the help of their parents.
There were a total of 2,100 respondents to this post-pandemic survey which focused mainly on weddings. Here are some of the most interesting findings from the survey.
- Both Millennials and Gen Z, irrespective of the fact whether they are salaried or non-salaried, are more interested in taking a wedding loan to finance their wedding.
- Among all the respondents, 54% said that they would opt for mid-sized wedding loans of INR 1-5 lakh, while 40% of them want to invest up to INR 10 lakh in their wedding-related expenses. 35% of the respondents said that they won’t mind spending anything between INR 5-10 lakhs on their wedding.
- The most fascinating part is 57% of people among the ones who took the survey like to consider digital-lending platforms over traditional banks to get wedding loans.
Intimate Weddings Over Fat Indian Weddings
During the times when the pandemic hit us, people realized the importance of small-scale, intimate and meaningful gatherings over large, unnecessary and meaningless gatherings. Because of the Covid restrictions, people were doing small, intimate weddings and this has become the preferred choice even after the restriction was lifted in the post-pandemic era.
According to the survey results, 53% of the millennials prefer a micro wedding with less than 100 guests, 31% chose a mini wedding with anything between 100-250 guests, whereas, only 16% people shockingly chose a grand ceremony where they would want a wedding with more than 250 guests.
So, what is the reason behind this change in behavior? Well, we guess people now understand well that including only family and close friends in the guest list allows them to focus more on creating a one-of-a-kind premium experience. This way, they can personalize their wedding, choose foreign locations and even do multiple ceremonies.
Nowadays, People Want Traditional Weddings
One of the most interesting things which come out of the survey is that 76% of people living in Tier 1 and Tier 2 Indian cities have shown their interest in having a traditional wedding. Talking about the survey results, Gaurav Chopra, Founder and CEO of IndiaLends, said,
“Tradition and culture have always been an intrinsic part of India and Indian families, as evident from our wedding-spend survey, which shows how the youth of today still want to celebrate their big day with family and close friends in traditional style with pomp and splendor, yet keeping it intimate. It is heartening to see that a majority of the respondents in the 21–35 age bracket are focusing on financial stability before they decide to tie the knot and settle down. To me, this is a reflection of their core values, as they do not wish to impose a financial burden on their families.”
Pawan Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf, also shared his views about the awareness of millennials regarding financial independence before a wedding. He said,
“Any wedding ceremony, big or small, involves careful decision-making, planning, budgeting, and execution. Millennials are not just aware of what a wedding entails, but they are also willing to take financial responsibility for the nuptials. Our survey findings also indicate that the youth still dream of having a traditional, albeit self-funded, wedding. This will pave the way for new financial products and services tailored to wedding needs.”
