What It Takes to Win in India's $130B Wedding Industry | Shrey Bhagat | Volume VIII

Shrey Bhagat is an Indian wedding photographer and co-founder of Raabta Studios. With 14 years of experience and 450+ weddings across 30 countries, he shares his approach to Indian wedding photography, destination weddings, storytelling, and building a global creative business. From the palaces of Rajasthan to the coastlines of Greece, Shrey Bhagat has built a career around capturing weddings as stories rather than staged productions. Named one of *Vogue India's Top 5 Wedding Photographers* and **International Wedding Photographer of the Year (IWPOTY 2025), Shrey joins Karan and Shruti to discuss photography, creativity, advertising, entrepreneurship, and the rapidly evolving Indian wedding industry. Indian weddings are not just cultural celebrations. They are a $130 billion annual industry, with around 8 to 10 million weddings taking place in India every year. Research from Jefferies has estimated that wedding spending is second only to food and groceries among major consumer spending categories in India. Other industry sources rank weddings among India's largest economic sectors. #ShreyBhagat #IndianWeddingPhotography #WeddingPhotography #RaabtaStudios #IndianWeddings #DestinationWedding #WeddingPhotographer #Photography In this episode, we discuss: • What Indian weddings truly represent • Why pre-production is 60% of a successful wedding shoot • How wedding photography has evolved across generations • The origin story of Raabta Studios • Shrey’s approach to authentic emotion and visual storytelling • The Five Rs of reading a wedding • Portrait coaching, creative direction, and posing • Lessons from The Creative Act by Rick Rubin CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:33 What an Indian Wedding Really Is 00:05:58 From Our Parents’ Weddings to Our Own 00:06:55 The Evolution of Indian Weddings 00:09:30 Pre-Production: 60% of the Wedding 00:14:28 From Advertising to Photography 00:15:13 The Sister's Wedding That Started It All 00:15:52 The Grandfather's Camera 00:16:27 Learning From a Master: Jatin Kampani 00:19:34 Creating for Yourself 00:21:38 From Fashion to Wedding Photography 00:29:16 Building Raabta With Manveen (the mirror) 00:34:13 The Five Rs of Reading a Wedding 00:36:45 A Story to Be Honored (His philosophy) 00:39:27 Spill the Tea (rapid-fire) 00:42:07 Pushing Beyond the Comfort Zone 00:44:45 From Culture to Camera 00:49:13 Interactive: Coaching Julia's Poses 00:50:10 Aria Stands In for Julia (portraits) 00:50:15 The Quiet Work Behind Mastery Subscribe to Karan’s Substack: https://karandang.substack.com/ Connect with Karan: LinkedIn:   / dangkaran   Connect with Shruti: LinkedIn:   / shruti-dang   Explore The Learning Lounge Podcast: https://www.dangworld.com/thelearning... Read The Creative Act by Rick Rubin: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+creati... FOLLOW THE LEARNING LOUNGE: YouTube:    / @learninglounge.podcast   Instagram:   / learninglounge.podcast   TikTok:   / learninglounge.podcast   Threads: https://www.threads.com/@learningloun... X: https://x.com/learning41807 Check out Shrey’s book, THE CREATIVE ACT BY RICK RUBIN DISCLAIMER: The Learning Lounge content is for educational and informational purposes only. The opinions and experiences shared by hosts and guests are their own and are not medical, legal, financial, mental-health, tax, investment, or other professional advice. Consult a qualified professional regarding your individual circumstances. Results vary, and outcomes are not guaranteed. Guest views do not necessarily reflect those of The Learning Lounge, Dang World, its owners, employees, affiliates, sponsors, or partners. CONTENT CREDIT: Any imagery, footage, or references related to the Ambani and Kardashian events are used for editorial and illustrative purposes. Credit belongs to the respective copyright owners. A DANG World Studios Production OUR PEOPLE: Karan Dang — Co-Host & Chief Creative Officer Shruti Dang — Co-Host & Chief Operating Officer Utsav Dang — VP Strategic Operations Missy Hauser — Podcast Producer Muita Muthee — Podcast Producer Sydney Dutton — Community and Operations Manager Josh Lara — Executive Assistant Leny Balute — Chief of Staff Rahul Sharma — Long Form Editor Fahd Sukarno P. Mantukay — Short Form Editor Nadzmin Lackua — Social Media Graphic Designer Keith Tan — Shortform Creative Producer John Mark Galamay — Social Writer Noah Kugell — Lead AV Technician Will Mazzola — Original Lighting & Camera Design Trina Duarte — Hair and Makeup German Belkin — Original Soundtrack Jassi Aunty — Head Chef SPECIAL THANKS: Late Sidharth Raj Dang, Amrita Dang, Shashi Shukla, Praveen Shukla, Aria Dang, Blue Vir Dang, advisors, mentors, friends, and family. #IndianWeddingPhotography #WeddingPhotographer #CreativeEntrepreneur