Guides for Venue Executives

Venue Amenities That Consumers Love for Indian Weddings

Venue Amenities That Consumers Love for Indian Weddings addresses the areas where venues can negotiate with couples on a case-by-case basis to close more Indian weddings.

Most venues have pretty standard outside catering packages:

  • standard banquet chairs
  • house linens
  • wood, parquet dance floor
  • glassware, flatware, china
  • staging
  • bar setup
  • banquet Captain, bartenders and servers
  • champagne/cider toast
  • one night in a suite or upgraded room for the couple, on the night of the wedding

{Amenities Indian Wedding Consumers Love}

  • 2 night stay for the couple – the night before the wedding and the night of
  • 2 night stay for both sets of parents
  • non-alcoholic beverages included in the per person fees
  • 2 changing rooms on the wedding day
  • waived hospitality room rental fees

{Two Night Stay For The Couple}

Brides and grooms want to just be at the venue the entire wedding day – meaning they want to wake up there (assuming we’re talking about hotel and resort venues; for golf clubs and other venues they stay as close to the venue as possible).

Waking up at the venue is particularly important for Indian weddings that are the full day – morning ceremony + lunch <break> cocktail hour + reception. It takes about 3-3.5 hours for the bride to get ready so she really wants to wake up at the venue, relaxed without worrying about getting to the venue early in the morning.

{Two Night Stay For Both Sets of Parents}

A more behind-the-scenes aspect of Indian weddings is that the parents are very very involved in the entire wedding and planning process. Most of the time the parents pay for it and they are integral throughout the decision making processes.

Moreover Indian and all South Asian cultures are very family oriented. As such venues that offer room nights for the parents are favored as well. There are different ways to do this. And we have seen one venue significantly increase the number of Indian weddings they’ve closed by incorporating this into their package.

{Non- Alcoholic Beverages Included
In the Per Person Fee}

We worked with one venue that offered this amenity; and they were doing at least two Indian weddings per month. We closed 10 for them in their first year on ShaadiShop. After getting sold they rolled back this amenity and while they are still closing Indian weddings at that property – not nearly as many.

{Two Changing Rooms on the Wedding Day}

This is valuable for Indian weddings as there are always lots of people who arrive from abroad or throughout the country.

A few months ago I took a morning flight on a Saturday to attend my friend’s wedding which started late afternoon that same day. However there was potential that I wouldn’t be able to check into my hotel room until after the ceremony start time.

Luckily the room became available with enough time beforehand, but in case it hadn’t, finding a place to get ready would have been a bit challenging.

The changing rooms are also valuable for Indian weddings with the time gap in-between the wedding ceremony and reception. If you didn’t know, guests change from their wedding ceremony clothes to something more formal for the reception. You rarely see men wear suits to the ceremony – usually they’re in Indian clothes. The women wear Indian clothes for both but two different outfits.

Local-long distance guests don’t have time to go back to their homes, change, and return for the reception, nor is that practical. And that is where having those changing rooms is helpful.

{Waived Hospitality Room Rental Fee}

The hospitality room is important at Indian weddings. Part of our culture is being very hospitable to our guests. This is why you may have seen the families host the room block. The main purpose of the hospitality room is to have a place to serve breakfast to all of the guests staying at the hotel/resort.

Venues generate revenue on the beverages. And we have seen that when they waive the room rental fee, it keeps them in the consideration set, when it comes down to comparing/contrasting venues.

{Take Aways}

In this article, Venue Amenities That Consumers Love for Indian Weddings, we shared the meaningful amenities that Catering Executives can keep-in-mind while negotiating with prospective clients for Indian weddings.

{Venue Manager Tips}

Shaadi = Marriage/wedding in Hindi/Urdu, which are two major languages spoken in South Asia

South Asian refers to people from: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives

South Asian is not to be confused with Southeast Asian which is a completely different region of the world.

South Asian is a more encompassing term as it refers to everyone in that region vs. Indian.

cover image: The Wedding Salad

Leave a Reply