As Indian weddings continue to evolve into increasingly personalised, experience-led celebrations, the definition of luxury is undergoing a significant shift. Bigger guest lists, larger floral installations and extravagant productions are no longer the only measures of a premium celebration. Today’s couples, particularly Gen Z, are asking a different question: does the wedding feel like us?
From intentional minimalism and immersive technology to hyper-personalised hospitality, the modern Indian wedding is balancing scale with substance. While grandeur remains very much part of the landscape, it is being reimagined through experiences, emotion and individuality.
In an exclusive conversation with EVENTFAQS Media, Chitvan Jaipuria, Director, CJ’s Events, shares his perspective on how changing couple preferences, global visual influences and emerging technologies are shaping the next chapter of luxury weddings in India.
1. Having witnessed the Indian wedding industry evolve over the years, what is the biggest change you are seeing in how couples define luxury today? Is the industry truly moving from “more” to “more meaningful”, or is grandeur simply taking a new form?
The biggest shift I’m seeing is that luxury is no longer being measured by how much you put into a wedding, but by how much of the couple you can put into it.
Couples today are far more conscious about personalisation, intimacy and experience. They still want grandeur—but grandeur has become more intentional. It could be a 500-person wedding with a spectacular production, but if the details don’t feel personal, it doesn’t feel luxurious anymore.
I think the industry is moving from “more” to “more meaningful”, but I wouldn’t say grandeur is disappearing. It’s evolving. Luxury today is having the freedom to say, “This is exactly us,” and having the creativity and resources to bring that to life. Luxury is hand crafted and not copy paste.
2. Recent weddings suggest that Gen Z is becoming more selective about guest lists, traditions and where they spend, while still wanting highly curated experiences. What are younger couples choosing to spend on today, and what are they increasingly willing to do without?
I’d say Gen Z is not necessarily spending less—they’re spending more selectively. They’re willing to invest heavily in the things their guests will actually experience: great food, music, hospitality, photography, highly personalised details and moments that feel unique to them with immersive experiences.
What they’re increasingly willing to do without is tradition for tradition’s sake—or décor and rituals that exist simply because “that’s how it’s always been done.” They’d rather have one incredible, thoughtfully designed experience than five events that feel repetitive.
For me, the shift is from “What will look impressive?” to “What will actually feel like us?” And that is where the real value is moving.
3. Minimalism is moving beyond aesthetics, with couples favouring restrained décor, stronger ambience and fewer but more intentional elements. Do you see this as a design trend, or as a fundamental redefinition of luxury in Indian weddings?
I don’t think it’s just a design trend. I think the way people look at luxury has genuinely changed.
Earlier, luxury was often about having more — more flowers, more décor, bigger setups, more of everything. Today, couples are more comfortable saying, “We don’t need all of that.” They want the space to breathe, they want the right lighting, great food, good music, and details that actually mean something to them.
And honestly, minimalism is probably harder to execute than grandeur. When you have fewer elements, every single one has to be right.
So for me, luxury today is less about how much you can put in a space and more about how well you can make people feel in it.
4. At the same time, weddings are becoming more immersive through lighting, spatial design, interactive entertainment and technology. How can these innovations deepen the guest experience while keeping the emotional and cultural essence of the celebration intact?
I think technology works best at a wedding when you don’t necessarily notice the technology — you notice how it made you feel.
Lighting, projections, sound, interactive experiences, even AI can make a celebration much more immersive, but they have to have a purpose. If a couple has a particular story, family tradition or cultural element that means something to them, we should use technology to bring that story alive, not overshadow it.
For us, the starting point is always the emotion and the couple. Technology is just another tool in the toolbox. The real job is to use it in a way that makes guests feel more connected to the celebration, rather than simply giving them something impressive to look at.
5. With Instagram and Pinterest giving couples access to the same global visual vocabulary, is it becoming harder to create something genuinely original? How do you ensure a wedding feels contemporary without looking like a version of something couples have already seen online?
I think Pinterest and Instagram have actually made our job more interesting, but definitely harder. Couples now come to us with very strong references, and sometimes they’ve already seen ten versions of the same idea.
So we try not to copy the reference — we try to understand why they liked it in the first place. Is it the colour, the mood, the scale, the lighting, the feeling? Once you understand that, you can take the idea somewhere completely different.
For me, originality doesn’t always mean inventing something nobody has ever seen. It’s about making something feel so specific to the couple that it couldn’t belong to anyone else. That’s where the real creativity comes in.
6. If Gen Z continues to shape the industry in this direction, what do you think will become the new markers of luxury in Indian weddings over the next five years: intimacy, personalisation, technology, hospitality, or something else entirely?
I think the next five years will make personalisation and hospitality the real markers of luxury. Technology will definitely play a role, but I don’t think technology itself will be the luxury.
For Gen Z, luxury is increasingly about being seen and understood — a wedding that feels like it was created for them, rather than taken from a template. It could be something as simple as remembering what a guest likes to drink, creating an experience around how the couple met, or designing an event where people genuinely interact rather than just sit and watch.
And I think time will become a luxury too — fewer, better events, more meaningful guest lists and experiences that don’t feel rushed.
So if I had to put it simply: the new luxury will be thoughtfulness. The amount of thought you put into someone’s experience will matter more than the amount of money you put into the wedding.
As the Indian wedding industry looks ahead, Jaipuria’s perspective reflects a wider shift taking place across the industry. Luxury is not necessarily becoming less extravagant; rather, it is becoming more intentional. Scale, technology and spectacular production will continue to have their place, but they will increasingly be judged by how meaningfully they contribute to the experience.
In an era of endless visual inspiration and weddings that can easily begin to look alike, the greatest luxury may be creating a celebration that could belong to no one else. From thoughtful hospitality and personal stories to carefully considered design and unhurried experiences, the future of Indian weddings appears set to place one thing above all else: the thought behind every detail.
