Symphonies To Dream Dresses: Brides Tell Us Their Biggest Wedding Spends

Romcoms have montages of giggly brides effortlessly picking their dream dresses, couples sailing through decor decisions conflict-free and giddy grins while their credit cards go 'ka-ching' ahead of the big day. Reality has a lot more confusion and conflicts when it comes to mind and money.

In between wedding dress shopping, return gifts and more, there are some big spends that come with making the dream day happen. Despite most decisions being made keeping the money in mind, we asked brides-to-be what are the spends where they let their hearts decide.

While trying to settle for a dress with modest prices, a bride-to-be's eyes are bound to stroll to dreamier dresses with prices that suffocate the budget. Torn between practicality and dreaminess of the purchase, brides admit that they let their heart take the reigns.

"We do lose a little control. Premium boutiques are expensive and we do want to look pretty," said *Riya, whose getting married early next year. With different outfits needed for the multiple events part of the 'great Indian wedding', brides admit that the money spent on apparel have crossed Rs 50,000.

Make-up is also an area where brides refuse to compromise on, as this elements pulls the whole look together. And this wedding season, the base price for these services is seen at around Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.

"You have to look fresh from morning till evening while running on little sleep too. I had to spend more than I planned because you have these pictures to look at for life," said Hannah, a Bengaluru-based consultant who got married a few months ago. Mistakes as simple as a mismatched foundation shade becomes an issue, she said.

Customisation comes with a premium, and most brides end up having to bump up their allocations for expenses to accommodate these detailed add-ons.

"It's like building a house, it will go over budget for sure," said Pooja Menon, an architect getting married next year. She explains that wedding planners' base prices often includes the most basic options. Essentially, there will be a leap in the budget when building a wedding that they envisioned.

"Revised payments to event planners will see a sudden jump as we customise," said Pooja. Right from theme decor to the wedding card and other tasteful touches, these add-on details really makes or breaks the experience. This was one area where brides were happy to splurge.

Now, there's one last honourable mention in the list of things that brides revealed they spent on. The bridal march and the grand entrance that one imagines automatically comes with sombre music playing in the background. Now, this part may be slightly more pricier than one would expect.

"The charges are usually on the higher side as you pay per person in the band. We can't have one person as they come as a team and we have to pay more than what we are prepared for," said Hannah.

With various options like live bands, choirs and instrumental artists, the cost of the lingering notes and symphony is something that couples are happily spending big bucks on.

*Name changed on request