Are you planning for a destination wedding, odds are the first question that pops up in your head is costing.
Most of the times we get queries wherein guest simply ask for wedding budget or cost of planning a destination wedding in India. Though we all have budget but may be what the prospective brides and grooms really wish to know is the value that they could get out in that budget.
You may think planning a wedding in India is cheap but that’s not really the case. Please don’t think that there will be a huge difference and you would get a 5 star hotel in price of a 4 star.
Anyway, we are here to spill the beans and give you an estimate for a destination wedding in India. And we will keep on updating this post from time to time as this is subject to cost fluctuations.
Cost of planning a Wedding in Udaipur
In this post we will talk about the cost of planning a wedding in Udaipur. The Lake city also known as Venice of East is an incredible destination for weddings, so let’s start with it.
When it comes to planning a destination wedding, there are three major heads. First is accommodation, second is food and the third wedding arrangements.
Cost of Accommodation or Wedding Hotels in Udaipur
Once you have finalized the city or destination, the first element will be accommodation.
Udaipur is a small city and banks of FatehSagar and Lake Pichola are most sought after. Hence the smaller hotels have only rooms but are not suitable wedding venues.
Udaipur mostly has 5 star luxury hotels or 5 star standard hotels. There aren’t much 4 or 3 star hotels which are suitable for wedding. This is one of the reasons cost of planning a wedding in Udaipur is on higher side as compared to Jaipur or Jodhpur.
While googling for a destination wedding in Udaipur, you must have come across wedding venues in Udaipur like Shiv Niwas Palace, Jagmandir Island, Fatehgarh, Taj Lake Palace, Radisson Udaipur, Chunda Palace, Lalit Laxmi Vilas, Leela Palace, The Oberoi Udaivillas etc.
Taj Lake Palace is a luxurious hotel with more than 80 rooms though it does not have much space for organizing wedding events. It is meant mainly for accommodation purposes.
The Oberoi Udaivilas is next and you have to do a buyout of at least 50 rooms in order to do wedding here. It has beautiful lawns for outdoor events.
Leela Palace Hotel is again a beautiful hotel with a banquet as well as small lawns which can accommodate up to 150 or 175 guests’ wedding.
RAAS Devigarh is fort with 37 suites with a banquet as well as spacious lawns. If you opt for this, rest of the guests an stay at other hotel as there lawns and banquets can easily hold upto 300 guests.
Above four are the most luxurious hotels in Udaipur.
Then comes Lalit Laxmi Vilas which is a hidden jewel and is a former royal palace hotel perched on a lakeside hilltop. Other beautiful hotel is Chunda Palace which has 46 rooms and beautiful courtyard and terrace venues for wedding events.
There are many other options too like Golden Tulip, Cambay Resort, Tree of Life, Trident etc.
Accommodation may fall in either of the following categories –
Scenario A – Paying for all guests – Well, it will be a big factor and quantum of your budget will be spent here, if you are paying for all your guests.
In Scenario A, you need to decide which category will suit your budget and which category will suit your guests. And then somewhere along these lines you opt for a 5 or 4 star or a boutique hotel. You may have some guests who may not be comfortable with anything less than luxury. So that needs to be considered too.
Scenario B – Paying only for your close family (read just parents’ of bride and groom and immediate relatives) then this shouldn’t be a huge one but still a major one. Here your guests will pay for themselves and you will just for your close family.
Also, in scenario B, your guests have option to choose a boutique hotel or a 5 star or a 4 star. So your guests have enough choice here.
Coming to numbers – Hotels will cost anywhere between 10,000 to 18,000 for a 5 star hotel per night. While a 4 star hotel may cost approx 8000 to 11000.
So, your budget should be anywhere from 8000 to 20000 for accommodation. And if you wish to stay in the incredibly luxurious Taj or Leela or Oberoi, sky is the limit and rates start from INR 25000 onwards.
Costing of Gala Dinners in Udaipur
Well, no wedding is complete without a heart full of a good meal. And honestly, when it comes to Indian Weddings, we guys splurge like anything. So yes, it is going to be the next most expensive component of while planning your destination wedding in India.
From our experience we have seen that the Food cost surpasses even that of the accommodation. Reason being rooms can be on triple occupancy too, saving you some bucks. But food especially when you will pay for all meals; it will become even a bigger component than stay.
For example: We got a room for you for INR 15000 which includes breakfast for two people. But for meals; lunch will cost 2000 and dinner may cost 3000 at a 5 star luxury hotel in Udaipur totaling to 6000 per person which means 12000 for two people. Plus the beverages and taxes. You are almost spending as much as the stay!
If you are considering 4 star hotels in Udaipur, it will be approx. 1500 for lunch and 2000 onwards for dinner.
That’s why sometimes to cut budget, you may opt to bifurcate your guest list in two hotels and then host functions accordingly which will hopefully average out the cost not just of rooms but of food too.
Coming to Meal Plans, almost all hotels provide rates inclusive of breakfast and taxes at double occupancy. All wedding planners work like this and if you have booked hotel directly, insist the hotel on giving CPAI rates which means all inclusive of taxes plus breakfast. Now when taxes are upto 18%, it makes more sense to opt for inclusive of taxes rate from the very beginning.
Tip – We advise our guests to put at least 30% rooms on triple occupancy, thereby saving quite an amount.
So, your budget should be anywhere from 1500 to 4000 per person per meal. Meals can cost from INR 4500 onwards if you organize for sit down dinner wherein your gathering is small and hotel agrees for sit down dinner!
A suggestion – If you have chosen Devigarh for your dream wedding in Udaipur, why not come to Taj Lake Palace or Leela Palace for a dinner or for drinks and have best of the both worlds provided your gathering is small. Yes, sometimes we manage to organize a sit down dinner for a small gathering at Taj Lake Palace or Leela Palace Udaipur or Oberoi Udaivilas.
Costing of Wedding Arrangements for Udaipur
One of the biggest contributors to costing is wedding arrangements which include every minute and major element from photographer to makeup artist to return gifts to itineraries and so on.
Here we would say we can divide these in following major elements –
Photographer – This is the foremost and most important element. And it takes quite a chunk of your budget. After all, it is the only tangible element left for your future generation to feel how it really was! A good photographer will cost from INR 80,000 per day onwards to INR 3,00,000 per day. Yes, the range is wide and so is the work of photographers!
Depending on number of events, you per day charge of photographer will come down, more number of days, comparatively lesser per day charge.
Chances are bleak that you get to find a local photographer so you would have to fly in someone from Delhi or Mumbai or any other metro and hence flight and stay of the photographer is to be considered too.
Makeup artist – If you are someone who wants picture perfect makeup, small city like Udaipur may not suffice your requirements. You will have to get your makeupartist from Delhi or Jaipur or Mumbai. So you will end up paying for the stay of MUA and its team as well as the flight charges.
Please don’t assume that a salon at 5 star hotel would suffice your requirements. Yes, they might have a spa and salon but bridal makeup is not their forte. And we honestly would advice against it.
Might sound rude, but please don’t expect photographer or makeup artist or DJ to come via train, lets value there and our time both.
Once above two major elements are covered, you may consider entertainment and under entertainment there would be lot of elements especially if you are planning a Hindu wedding ceremony or a fusion wedding.
- Entertainment for your events like DJ, Live Band, Indian Classical Instrumental etc.
- Entertainment for your procession like Shaadi Band, Kalbeliya Dancers, Elephant or Horse (no rajasthani destination wedding is complete without elephant and kalbeliya dancers!)
If multi wedding ceremonies then Priest, Kazi, Father, Master of Ceremony etc.
DJ and Live band can be sourced locally or from Jaipur or Ahmedabad or Delhi or Mumbai too. Though other suppliers can be sourced locally from Udaipur.
Although these look like small elements but depending on quality a DJ may cost from INR 30000 to 200000 and similarly for other elements which may start from INR 15000 and can go on.
You also need to consider sound set up cost and for every event you will need separate sound set up. So, in case you have an outdoor wedding and indoor reception, you will need two sound setups.
Now it is the time to consider the look and feel of the event. Yes, we are talking about wedding decorations. In wedding decorations consider three elements are major – tentage viz. any shamiyanas, linen, runners, chair sashes etc. Second is floral and the third ambience lighting.
- For tentage, mostly your hotel will provide for tables and chairs and your wedding planner will need to jazz them up with runners or sashes or overlays. Yes, you might need a few couches, sofas, coffee tables etc to go along with it, depending on how lavish you want the set up to be.
- For florals, it will and should include your wedding canopy, round table arrangements, bouquet, boutonniere, floral props, garlands etc.
- And lastly ambience lighting, now this will cost you depending upon whether your venue is indoors or outdoors. It includes all types of lighting like parcans, mirchi or rice lights (that we love the most wrapped around trees), genset powerback up etc..
Here the costing can be anywhere from 5 lakh to 30 lakhs depending on number of guests and the wish to splurge!
And then comes all the other elements like fireworks, wedding cake, any saafas etc for Baraatis, henna artist, any hostesses etc.
For all these wedding arrangement costs will vary depending on your expectations, budget, and requirements.
And lastly, your wedding planners charges. You would also need to take care of wedding planners stay and flight fare.
So it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pass on the to-do-list to us while you enjoy your most special day with your loved ones. The first step to that is submitting your query to us, and the rest we will happily take care of.
