WASHINGTON — Chevy Chase, Maryland-based WeddingWire is expanding its online marketplace for brides and grooms to India, where the wedding business is exploding.
India’s wedding market is growing at a pace of 25 to 30 percent per year, and is responsible for more than a quarter of all weddings globally each year.
It also is poised to be the youngest country in the world by 2020.
“We are committed to leveraging our company’s strengths into new international arenas, and we believe that India provides the quintessential opportunity to deliver innovative technology and transparent services to couples and creative professionals,” said WeddingWire CEO Timothy Chi.
WeddingWire’s first foray into India, the world’s second-most populous country, will be an initial focus on Delhi, with a headquarters in Gurgaon.
The company says it has aggressive plans to expand throughout India.
Wedding Wire, founded in 2007 as a local site dedicated to connecting engaged couples with wedding professionals, has more than 900 employees and operates in 15 countries now.
Its online offerings include vendor reviews (more than 4 million of them), professional wedding planner contacts, venue guides and other wedding-related services, with a database of more than 400,000 businesses.
It says it serves 10 million monthly unique users.
