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Wedding season: today’s ₹20 lakh wedding could cost ₹47.9 lakh in 15 years

By the My Shubh Nivesh team · 5 min read · 16 November 2026

₹47.9 Lwhat a ₹20 lakh wedding may cost in 15 years (illustrative)

Dev Uthani Ekadashi falls on 20 November this year (21 November in some traditions), and with Tulsi Vivah around it, many families see it as the start of the wedding season. Invitations arrive, banquet halls fill up, and somewhere between the sangeet and the reception, many parents quietly ask themselves: what will our own child’s wedding cost, and will we be ready?

A wedding has a date, so it can have a plan

Most big family costs arrive without warning. A wedding is different. You may not know the exact day, but you usually know the rough year. That makes it one of the easiest goals to plan for, and one of the most expensive to leave to the last few years.

Take a family whose child is 10 today. They expect the wedding in about 15 years, and they feel a wedding like the ones they attend this season would cost about ₹20 lakh in today’s money: the venue, food, clothes, jewellery, travel and gifts together.

What ₹20 lakh becomes in 15 years

Prices do not stay still. If wedding costs rise by an assumed 6% a year, the same wedding could cost about ₹47.9 lakh in 15 years. That is more than double, without adding anything new.

Illustrative, not guaranteed. Assumes a cost of ₹20 lakh in today’s money, 6% a year inflation, a 12% a year return and a SIP paid at the start of each month until year 15. Mutual fund returns vary and may be lower.

Starting now, about ₹9,499 a month could build the full amount. Wait five years and the same goal needs about ₹15,416 a month. Wait ten years and it needs about ₹32,447 a month, more than three times as much, at a stage of life when many families are also paying for college.

The return assumption matters too. At an assumed 10% a year, the SIP needed from today would be about ₹11,469 a month; at 8%, about ₹13,760. A lower assumption is the safer way to plan.

Why the last five years are the hardest

Many parents start saving for a wedding only once the child is grown and the date feels real. By then the time for growth is short, so almost the whole amount has to come from monthly savings. Families who reach that point short often fill the gap with a loan, by breaking a retirement fund, or by selling gold or land in a hurry. None of these is a happy way to begin a celebration.

Starting early spreads the load. It also leaves room to slow down, pause or adjust if something changes, without putting the whole goal at risk.

Five simple steps for this wedding season

1. Put a number on it. Think of the kind of wedding you would like to give, in today’s prices, and write it down. A rough figure is far better than none.
2. Pick the year. Estimate when it might happen. You can always change it later.
3. Work out the monthly amount. Use the Goal planner with your own cost, years and a careful return assumption.
4. Keep it separate. Give this goal its own SIP, so it is not mixed with education or retirement money.
5. Lower the risk as the date comes closer. In the last two or three years, many families move the money step by step to steadier options, so a market fall just before the wedding does not upset the plan.

Keep the other goals safe

A wedding is one goal among many. Your child’s education, your own retirement, a health cover for parents and an emergency fund all need room too. A wedding fund should not be built by stopping your retirement savings, because a wedding can be scaled down if needed, and retirement cannot be postponed. If the numbers feel tight, a smaller wedding budget, a few more years, or a yearly increase in the SIP can all help.

Try your own numbers

Open the Goal planner, choose “Child’s marriage”, and enter your own cost, years and assumptions. If you would like help putting it next to your other goals, take our Quick Scan or send us a message on WhatsApp. Wishing every family a joyful wedding season.

This article is general information for education, not a recommendation to buy or sell any product. Figures are illustrative and not guaranteed; they depend on the assumptions shown. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Past performance is not indicative of future returns.