FICCI FLO Lucknow organizes virtual event 'Re-imagining The Great Indian Wedding'

Lucknow: The Lucknow Chapter of FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), organized a virtual event, "Reimagining The Great Indian Wedding". This event was open to all FLO members, pan India and even to other guests invited for this much awaited talk.

Weddings are a major business in India. According to a report by KPMG, the Indian wedding industry is estimated to be around $40–50 billion in size, a close second globally only to USA.

It is also a major employment generator. Each such event has scores of vendors and service personnel involved, from clothes, jewellery, catering and decor to photography and makeup. This only adds to the logistical nightmare.

The worldwide coronavirus outbreak, has forced Indians to re-plan or cancel their weddings. Close to half of those planning to tie the knot in the coming quarter have postponed or cancelled their plans, according to an app-based survey of 2,500 couples by wedding planning website WedMeGood.com. This situation is projected to continue for the next 3-4 months, optimistically speaking.

Given this scenario, all the major players involved in this industry will have to rethink their strategies to survive. It is with this thought that FLO Lucknow Chapter, is planning for a webinar with industry stalwarts from all these verticals to come together on a common platform to discuss the impact of this pandemic on business for the coming year and more importantly to design a way forward. These leaders in their respective fields would provide insights to smaller players on ground level, on how to leverage existing tools in order to keep afloat and thrive in Corona times, which is the new normal.

The verticals associated with the wedding industry are as follows:

1. Fashion

2. Jewellery

3. Hotels and venues

4. Event planners

Representing the Fashion Industry was Mr. Amrish Kumar, MD Label, Ritu Kumar. Mr. Kumar, son of the celebrated Indian designer, Mrs. Ritu Kumar, is a management graduate and an entrepreneur and took over the pret line of the brand and took it to great heights.

MZ. Farah Ali Khan is a jewellery designer and gemologist of international repute. She talked at length about the problems faced by the gems and jewellery industry and also gave a few ideas about how Jewellers could adapt new ways of merchandising and advertising to tide over these tough times.

Mz. Ambika Gupta, the Founder and Creative Head of A-Cube Project and House of A-Cube, spoke at length about the future of Event Planning in India.

Mr. Thomas Abraham, Area Vice President, Hyatt Hotels gave a picture of the current challenges faced by the hospitality Industry and talked about measure to overcome the widespread economic aftermath of the pandemic.

Moderating the entire event was Mr. Parthip Thyagrajan, the Co-Founder and CEO of Wedding Sutra, India's largest wedding portal.

The event was a success with the stalwarts answering some pointed and direct by the moderator and later by the audience. It brought to fore all the major issues plaguing the wedding business. At the same time it pointed towards the silver linings in each industry and gave some longterm solutions for the members of FLO to ponder over.

Talking about the event, the Chairperson FLO Lucknow, said, "Like many of our members pan India, I too have a stake in the marriage industry and have been harbouring anxious thoughts about its future and contemplating the way forward. I am sure listening to our guest speakers will help me and our members, clear our doubts and and helped me see a little more clearly and confidently into the future."

This event was attended by several of FLO members from all the 17 FLO chapters pan India and saw several prominent guests associated with the industry.

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