The Economics of Indian Wedding Photography

Indian weddings are so overwhelming with decorative lenghas, suits, sarees, perfectly shining wedding jewelry, the bride and the groom, and their families, and so many ceremonies ( mehndi, shagun, sangeet, baraat arrival, etc),  that within a span of 3 days ( on an average) there are thousands of precious moments to be captured.  Roughly, 52% of the Indians are willing to spend more than 30,000 INR on hiring a professional wedding photographer today. On the higher end of the graph, people in the metros are willing to spend anywhere up to 5 lacs, and on the lowers side, 15,000 INR seems to suffice the ones with lower budgets.

Flatpebble Infographic - Big Spenders
Flatpebble Infographic – Big Spenders

According to a study conducted by Flatpebble Data Sciences Lab, 6 metropolitan areas in India alone account for 85% of all demand for wedding photography sourced online. Among the big cities, Chennai and Mumbai come first. Chennai alone exceeds the national average of total wedding budget of 22% by spending somewhere around 48,000 INR on hiring wedding photographers online. Although Hyderabad spends more than Bangalore and Mumbai, but people here are not much reliant on online hiring as the latter.

The Flatpebble report also shows signs of seasonality in expenditure on hiring a wedding photographer. For instance, last year October, November and December and this year February and March were determining the wedding season and hence, maximum corresponding demand for photographers was reported during these months. These statistics are quiet likely to vary over time, for the Hindu calendar bring new auspicious dates every year.

Trends also reveal that candid photography is going mainstream, cinematic videography is picking up, but due to high production costs the demand still remains low. Printed Photo Books for obvious economy, still remain wedding favorites. An estimated 80.61% at the Flatpebble customers have opted for it in the past one year. The demand for pre-and-post wedding shoots has also shot up, about 53.64% couples have availed this service during the past one year.

Flatpebble Infographic - Demand Variant
Flatpebble Infographic – Demand Variant

Despite the busy schedules of couples in the metros, their hunt for a photographer at least 84 days before the wedding. Over the past few years, the expenditure on photography has risen at least by 25%.  Online players are greatly benefiting from this escalated demand; couples in tier 2 cities are also browsing the internet for better and more economical photographers.

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3 Comments

  1. says: Rajesh Pande

    Being a wedding photographer myself, I can completely relate and understand. I have written an article on why wedding Photography is considered Expensive. Do check it out and let me know how did you like it.

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