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I saved more than $10,000 on my Indian wedding by skipping some traditions and using fake flowers

I saved more than $10,000 on my Indian wedding by skipping some traditions and using fake flowers

Yoonji Han

Hemali Mistry and her husband Vickrah at their wedding in 2021.Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

Hemali Mistry and her husband got married in a mixed-culture South Asian wedding in 2021.
The couple spent around $28,000 in total on their wedding, which didn't have a reception.

I'm an Indian Gujarati content creator who got married in a mixed-culture wedding in Ontario in August 2021.

Hemali Mistry and her husband. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

My husband is Tamil Sri Lankan, so we had a bit of a mixed-culture wedding with some Gujarati traditions and Tamil Sri Lankan traditions.

In South Asian culture, there's a lot of emphasis on the wedding being the most important moment in your life. But from the beginning, I felt that while it was important, it wasn't going to be the most important thing in my life. I wanted to celebrate our love, more than anything.

Mistry and her husband at their wedding ceremony. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

I knew what my non-negotiables were, like having good food, wearing both a lehenga and a sari, and having our outfits flow with the decor. Other than that, I found that if you have too many non-negotiables, things can add up pretty quickly.

Mistry walking down the aisle. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

In Sri Lankan culture, they wear a sari throughout the ceremony. But I also wanted to wear a lehenga because that's part of Indian wedding culture.

We ended up having a nice compromise of me entering in a lehenga, and when I did an outfit change that's part of Sri Lankan tradition, I changed into a Tamil silk sari.

Our wedding came out to be $28,000 in total, which was just under our budget of $30,000.

Mistry and her husband rescheduled their wedding because of the pandemic. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

Our wedding was originally supposed to be in April 2020, but we rescheduled it to the year after because of the pandemic. We were able to save more than $60,000 by downsizing our wedding.

The good thing about Indian weddings is that you make back a good chunk of the money through gifts, because we traditionally receive cash gifts instead of items on a registry.

One major cost-saver was canceling our reception entirely. We just had our ceremony, and an after-party at my husband's parents' house.

Mistry had many of her other wedding events outside of the ceremony, like the pithi, where family members apply turmeric paste to enhance beauty, at their home. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

We had a lot of trouble with our reception venue that we booked prior to Covid. They really screwed us over, so we ended up canceling it entirely and decided to take that money and use it towards the honeymoon and furnishing our house instead.

We also had to cut our guest list from more than 500 people to just 175 guests, which I'm secretly grateful for.

Mistry's husband Vickrah with his family and loved ones. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

Because of Covid, we had that restriction. But it was mainly our parents that wanted the 500 to 600 guest count. If it were up to us, we would've just had 175 of our closest friends and family, which is how it worked out.

We also saved costs by using what we already had. For example, instead of buying new designer shoes that could cost $500 or more, I wore a pair of sandals I already had. No one saw my feet anyway.

Everyone is barefoot on the mandap, the wedding stage. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

With an Indian wedding, you're not going to see the bride's shoes. When you go on the mandap, which is the wedding stage, you take off your shoes anyway.

There are also a lot of pre-wedding events in South Asian weddings, but I cut down on the events I didn't feel were super necessary, like the garba night. I also kept all the pre-wedding events at home.

Mistry chose to do her pre-wedding events at home to save costs. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

The garba night is a Gujarati party where you just dance and drink and have a good time. I focused instead on the pre-wedding events that had real cultural significance to us.

I did my own makeup, which can be super expensive especially within the Indian wedding industry, which could cost around $500 to 600 for one day.

Mistry in her wedding look. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

I know not everyone can do their own makeup, but this is what I mean by using your own resources. For instance, some other people might be good at DIY and can make their own centerpieces.

We used fake florals for all the wedding decor. They were silk flowers so didn't look super fake, but were a fraction of the cost of real flowers.

Mistry used fake silk flowers at her wedding ceremony. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

We got a simple cake made for the cake-cutting where the top two tiers were fake, and bought a sheet cake to serve guests.

Only half of the wedding cake was real. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

For transportation, my sister drove me to the wedding hall in her Subaru, which saved us around $400. No one really saw me come into the wedding, though we did drive off in a nice car afterwards.

Hemali's husband Vickrah in a car on their wedding day. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

I kept my bridal party small: just my two sisters. I find that bridal parties can be expensive because you have to buy their outfits, jewelry, hair, and makeup. I saved in costs and, probably, drama.

Mistry's two sisters were her bridesmaids. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

We also made some swaps, like a photo backdrop instead of a photo booth, exchanging sentimental gifts over expensive ones, and picking a less pricey photographer for our pre-wedding events.

Mistry and her husband exchanged handmade memory boxes as gifts before the wedding began. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

Normally, you see the bride and groom exchange an expensive gift with a card before the wedding, like an expensive purse or gaming system. Instead of doing that, we decide to make each other memory boxes and write each other a love letter. It definitely saved us money and felt so much more meaningful.

I went with a different photographer than I did for my actual wedding event. I also saved some costs by emphasizing photo over video, because photos are something I think I'm going to use all the time versus video, which maybe you'll watch just once or twice.

I find that in our culture, especially in South Asian culture in North America, weddings can almost become a competition. I just want people to get out of that mindset, and remember to put yourself first.

Mistry and her husband putting flower garlands on each other. Courtesy of Hemali Mistry

A wedding should be about the union between two people rather than a focus on having a grand wedding. I have seen lots of people go into debt to have these grand Indian weddings, and, personally, I don't think it's worth it.

Put yourself first. Put your financial situation first so that you can set yourself up for a better future and step into marriage with the right foot.

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