Wedding costs are likely to rise by 20-25 % due to availability of fewer auspicious marriage dates this season. As per the Hindu calendar (Vikram Samvant), the November-February marriage season has only 24 auspicious days, down from last years 50.

The available days, shrunk by 50%, is expected to put pressure on venues , marriage materials, caterers, decorators-florists , trousseau, jewellry and logistics et al, leading to a rise in the input costs for the great Indian weddings . Last year, slump in the economy saw the business drop by 25%.

Companies in the business of managing plush weddings in India and abroad, an organised business worth Rs 5,000 crore about a fourth of the total Rs 20,000-crore Indian wedding market, are already witnessing rush from the clients. So much so that bigger planners are outsourcing part of their work to smaller agencies. A Mumbai-based event management company has hired an Indore-based wedding planner for a destination wedding in Goa.

Says Percept DMarks wedding section head Aditya Motwani: Wedding planners will have to deliver more on fewer days. There is a rush of clients as more marriages are being held on the same day.

Delhi will see 5,000 weddings on November 28. The bookings now face a 20-25 % rise in costs as supplies are under pressure for the November-December-January peak season.

While planners have charged normal rates for weddings already booked, for those who finalised the dates late, the professional help will come at a premium.

Says Ahmedabad-based Red Events director Saurabh Agrawal: Families hosting a wedding this season will have to cough up more. The weddings business is seasonal and with more number of families placing orders on the same day, marriage hall owners, caterers, florists, decorators, videographers, fashion designers, publishers of wedding cards etc will make the most of this rush by jacking up prices. Last season, wedding organisers witnessed a 25% slump in the business due to economic slowdown. But this season it is expected to make amends, Mr Agrawal added.

The main constituents that will see a marked rise in prices will be venues, flowers, and decorators. Flower prices are twice higher than what we paid last season. A few marriages have now being scheduled on civic body grounds as there are no venues available, said Abhinav Hemjain, director of Indore-based V 4 Plus Media Events and Entertainment.