At Coleen McKay our team have planned, designed and delivered countless luxury Indian weddings over the years, from small affairs to large lavish celebrations. We certainly know what it takes to host the perfect Hindu wedding. Whether you choose the English countryside or the French Riviera, our team are experts in curating the perfect wedding.
We often receive enquiries from couples who are unsure of where to begin with their wedding planning, what budget they are required to have and the general process they should expect from a wedding planner. Want to find out more?
In this article we are going to explain the process of Indian wedding planning, how it all works, and the starting budget required, regardless of the destination.
INITIAL ENQUIRY
After the initial enquiry and online call, our team will send across a detailed quotation outlining the services provided from your wedding planner and the associated costs. Generally, our pricing model is 10% of the budget spend + travel and accommodation. We love to discuss with new couples their wedding plans, ideal venue types and preferred destination. We do have a detailed list of venues on our website that couples can view for some inspiration if they are unsure of where they would like to get married https://coleenmckay.com/preferred-venues/
YOUR ON BOARD
Great! You’re on board! We couldn’t be more excited to work together and start planning what will be an amazing and wonderful wedding experience. What comes next?
Once our new couples have decided to partner with us, we send across a wedding contract and deposit invoice, for signature and payment. Once the paperwork is complete, our team will build your bespoke Aisle Planner account and issue your invitation to log in. Aisle Planner is the super great online tool we utilise for all our couples as it allows couples to view their budget, checklist, guest list, supplier contact information and much more. We like to keep all our planning and correspondence in one central place, and Aisle Planner is perfect for that.
You’ve scheduled your on-boarding call with the team, they’ve ran through Aisle Planner and dived straight into your venue consultation. Phew!!! We can now begin the venue search!
The team will get to work on your venue search, considering all of the information you provided during the venue consultation with a view to reverting back with a short list of potential venues that would work for your budget and wedding experience.
LET’S TALK BUDGET
The venue search stage is the very first stage of planning, and by the time we have reached this point our team will have already discussed potential budgets with new couples and indicated on Aisle Planner a budget breakdown.
Hindu weddings generally follow a similar pattern of events and are usually spread over 2 days with Sangeet / Mehndi on the first evening, and the baraat, wedding ceremony, lunch and evening reception on the following day. There can be other religious, smaller ceremonies held prior to the morning ceremony.
Budgeting can be tricky as budgets and final spends will depend on various deciding factors, such as, destination, location, venue type, catering, extravagance, and number of guests. Couples would usually have a minimum budget of 100,000 GBP or EUR and be flexible for that budget to increase as we progress through the planning process. Realistically, with a guest list of 100-150 guests we would expect the final budget spend to be in the region of 150,000 give or take 10% -20%.
When we are discussing budgets, our team like to identify the key areas of spend that are important to each couple, such as authentic Indian catering, open bar, entertainment. Not all couples lavish on flowers, decoration or mandap design.
Budgeting comes down to compromise and it’s important to have those conversations early in the planning process, to identify the areas of spend that are key and cannot be eliminated.
Compromise is key, unless the budget is open ended. We would always recommend couples to speak with their families, create a wish list and work from there to understand what is important within the budget and what can be eliminated or reduced.
For example, some couples choose to prioritise photography over videography, whilst others choose to make their own table stationery such as menu cards, name settings.
When choosing the venue its important to include a minimum of 1 venue meeting into your budget. Not all couples will visit the venue multiple times ahead of the wedding, but in our experience couples do like to visit at least once, so therefore we would always recommend budgeting for a 2-3 day trip with flights and accommodations,
TIMELINE
Below is a little snapshot of what to expect schedule wise, when you book with us for your wedding planning. We like to keep to deadlines, and keep on track with planning allowing our team to have all planning complete at least 3-4 months in advance of the wedding! Yes!!! What?! I hear you say! Not all couples allow us this timeline but we do try! It is really important to ensure all suppliers are booked and secured at least 3 months ahead of time.
Throughout the planning process our team schedule a recurring monthly meeting which allows us to discuss the level of progress, check in with our couples and set our tasks and deadlines for the coming weeks ahead. We always allow unlimited email communication in between times, ensuring couples feel connected to us at all times. Once our suppliers (vendors) are all booked and secured our focus turns to finalising our logistics plan and on the day schedules.
WORK WITH US
We would be delighted to work with you and give you some more information around what your planning for your wedding celebrations. Our 2025 diary is almost full, with 2026 filling up fast! To find out more or simply get in touch with us email Coleen at coleen@coleenmckay.com and we would be delighted to schedule a welcome call.
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