Indian couples drawn to Antalya, Turkey to tie knot

By Leyla Ataman Koyuncuoglu

ANTALYA, Turkey (AA) - More and more Indian couples are looking to tie the knot in Turkey’s sunny coastal resort of Antalya, according to a wedding industry insider.

Of some 1 million weddings organized annually in India, about 10,000 were arranged to be held in foreign countries, said Bunyat Ozpak, co-owner of Inventum Global, an Indian wedding organization firm based in Antalya, on the Turkish Mediterranean.

“Around $40-45 billion is spent in India on weddings every year,” Ozpak told Anadolu Agency.

“This creates an international sector. Turkey has a serious potential with this. We’re working to boost our share of this market,” he added.

The resort city of Antalya has hosted 12 big, multi-day Indian weddings so far, Ozpak said, adding three more big weddings are set to be held there through the end of this year.

- $1.5M ceremony

Indian couple Arjun Arora and Sukriti Grover recently chose the sunny resort to host their wedding, an event spanning four days and four nights.

Around 600 guests from various countries attended the nuptials.

A 80-person kitchen team was flown into Turkey just for the wedding.

A 50-person team to do makeup, hairdressing, photos, and decoration was also sent. This was in addition to a 200-person Turkish team on duty during the wedding.

Around $1.5 million was spent on the wedding, which was hosted at a five-star hotel in Antalya’s Belek district.