Wedding in India 1

Plan a Wedding in India

Priya Sarveswaran

MET AD 642

Professor Warburton

February 24, 2009

 Wedding in India 2

Table of Contents

Abstract 3
Project Rationale 4
Project Specification 4
Project Scope 5,6
Work Breakdown Structure 6
Schedule 6,7
Resources 7,8
Cost 8,9
Recommendations
Project Scope 9,10
Work Breakdown Structure 10
Schedule 10,11
Resources 11,12
Cost 12, 13
Project Management 13
Appendix 1: References 14
Appendix 2: Tables and Figures 15-25
 Wedding in India 3

Abstract

Weddings are joyous occasions that allow the bride and groom to proclaim their love for

each other in front of family and friends, but with the growth of the wedding industry the

main purpose of the ceremony can be lost between elaborate centerpieces and over the

top wedding cakes. The bride and groom envision a simple wedding with only close

friends and family, and to avoid some of the material aspects of the wedding celebration

the bridge and groom plan to be married in a small city in India. The budget has been

determined to be a maximum of $20,000USD based on available investment. The bride

and groom expect the budget to include travel plans as well as the wedding plans based

on the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Indian Rupee. It is important to the couple

they not overspend their budget and due to the simplicity of the wedding the bride and

groom expect to plan the wedding between May 22, 2009 and August 3, 2009 with the

assistance of their parents and the bride’s sister. To ensure the wedding occurs per the

specification, budget and schedule the bride and groom used project management tools

such as defining the project scope, creating a project network and identifying the critical

path, and using the bottom-up method to estimate cost. The bridge and groom are

anticipating through use of project management techniques their wedding will occur on

time, on budget and according to their vision.

 Wedding in India 4

Plan a Wedding in India

Project Rationale

A wedding is a celebration of love and commitment to one another in front of

family and friends. With the booming wedding industry it can be easy to lose sight of the

core reason of the wedding ceremony midst the selection of center pieces and elaborate

wedding and reception venues. According to the Kiplinger Letter the average wedding

not including the honeymoon costs $27, 000. A recently engaged couple plan to avoid

the high cost of a wedding by planning a destination wedding in a small city in India. The

couple’s vision is to plan a simple wedding ceremony and reception and be surrounded

by their close family and friends on their special day. Trichy, India is chosen as the

wedding location as this is one of the groom’s favorite cities in India. To ensure the

wedding occurs to specification, budget and schedule the bride and groom intend to use

project management tools to plan their wedding.

Project Specification

The project goal is to plan an August 2009 wedding in Trichy, India at a

maximum cost of $20,000USD, and the planning is to commence March 22, 2009 and be

completed prior to August 3, 2009.

 Wedding in India 5

Project Scope

General Project Name: Wedding in India

Information Project Manager : Bride
Goals Plan an August 2009 wedding in Trichy, India.
The maximum cost of $20,000USD.
The planning is to commence March 22, 2009 and to be completed
prior to August 3, 2009.
Deliverables Plan the wedding ceremony
Invite guests
Plan the wedding reception
Plan the trip to India
Milestones Complete planning of the wedding ceremony
Complete planning of the reception
Complete travel plans to India
Technical The hotel will be required to accommodate approximately 100
Requirements guests, include amenities such as a pool and restaurant to entertain
the guests, and be within close proximity to the chosen wedding
and reception venues.
Limits and The wedding is to take place in Trichy, India and the cost of the
Exclusions wedding is to be contained to under $20, 000USD including travel
of the bride and groom to India.
The hotel has to accommodate approximately 100 guests.
Customer Review Bride and Groom
 Wedding in India 6

Work Breakdown Structure

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) provides a hierarchical outline of the

project. All activities required to complete the project are listed within the WBS. Figure 1

outlines the individual work packages involved in planning the wedding in India.

Completion of the individual work packages lead to the deliverables of planning the

wedding ceremony, planning the reception, inviting guests and planning the trip to India.

Individuals within the project team are assigned to the work packages for completion

within set timelines as shown in the Gantt Chart (Figure 2). To set clear priorities within

the project and to ensure the wedding is planned according to their vision a project

priority matrix (Table 3) was developed by the bride and groom. The couple will accept

scope and performance changes of the project, and the priority is to complete the project

within the fixed budget and to minimize the time to completion of the wedding plans.

The budget is fixed based on the funds available for the wedding. The bride and groom

would like to finish planning the wedding earlier to avoid a last minute rush and to leave

for India as planned on August 1, 2009.

Schedule

The project network (Figure 2) was developed to illustrate the sequence of

activities to plan the wedding in India. The activities on the path are linked start to finish

and the timeline is based on a 24hr schedule as the project team plans to work seven days

a week. The project start date of March 22, 2009 was identified as this is when the family

of the bride and groom are available to start planning the wedding and the completion

date of August 3, 2009 was selected, because the bride and groom plan to arrive in India
 Wedding in India 7

on that date and expect the wedding to be planned upon arrival. The critical path of the

project network is identified in the red (Figure 2). The critical path is the deliverable of

inviting guests to the wedding (determine wedding date/determine guest list/select the

invitation/order the invitation/wait for invitations to arrive/send out the invitations/pay

vendors/attend family meeting/fly to India). All activities on the critical path have zero

slack and a delay occurring in any of these activities will cause a delay to the completion

of the project by the number of days the activity was delayed by (pg. 158). There is only

one critical path, but since all the activities on this path have zero slack this is a sensitive

network and will need to be monitored by the bride to ensure the original critical path

does not change. The key milestones of completion of wedding plans, completion of

reception plans, and completion of trip plans to India are also highlighted within the

network.

Resources

The project team will consist of the bride, groom, bride’s mom and dad, groom’s

mom and dad and the bride’s sister. The bride is chosen to be the project manager as she

has the traits of an effective project manager. Someone who sees the bigger picture, has

personal integrity, is proactive, able to work well with others, has a general knowledge of

wedding planning, and also her positive attitude (pg. 336). The team members are

assigned to work packages as shown in Table 1 based on their past experiences, skill base

(pg. 252) and to prevent resource over allocation. The groom’s parents will be travelling

to Trichy, India during the planning of the wedding and are assigned the activities of
 Wedding in India 8

selecting the wedding and reception venues, reserving the hotel, selecting the caterer and

selecting the priest.

Cost

Bottom up estimate using detailed estimates for the WBS work packages is used

because final cost and details of the cost (pg. 121) are important to the couple. The top-

down approach was not chosen; because past data for similar projects and an experienced

estimator were not available (pg. 121). The bride and groom determined the budget of

$20,000USD based on investment available for the project based on savings of the bride,

groom and their parents. To obtain the cost estimate two estimates of the direct cost of

each activity are obtained and averaged. Table 5 lists the direct cost of each activity in

Indian Rupees and Table 6 lists the direct cost of each activity in US dollars. The two

estimates were obtained from management at Hotel Sangam and Breeze Residency in

Trichy, India. The average direct cost estimate of the two estimates was used in

calculating the total direct cost. A direct overhead cost of twenty percent was set to

include additional costs associated with direct labor (project team). The direct overhead

would be anticipated to cover expenses such as meals and transportation costs of the

project team. A general and administrative overhead cost of twenty percent was set.

Based on these calculations the estimated cost of planning a wedding in India is

$16, 531.19 (Table 7) and is within the maximum budget of $20 000USD set by the bride

and groom. The costs will be loaded near the end of the project as the vendors will have

to be paid prior to the bride and groom’s departure to India.

 Wedding in India 9

The bride and groom are also concerned about the time it will take to recover their

savings after incurring all the wedding expenses. The payback method is used to

determine the time for the couple to recover the cost of the initial investment of

$20 000USD (pg. 33) and is calculated take approximately 2 years (Table 2).

Recommendations

Project Scope

Scope creep is the change of the project over time (Heldman, 2005). To prevent

scope creep a project scope management plan and a communications plan (Table 4)

should be created during the defining stage of the project. The project scope management

plan should include how the project scope was defined, how the WBS was defined, and

the process for deliverable verification (Heldman, 2005). The project priority matrix

(Table 3) will ensure the important aspects of the project will be maintained. The only

constrained element for this project is cost and hence the project manager must ensure in

the event of changes to the scope the set cost of the wedding is adhered to. If changes to

the scope are required the changes should be discussed between the bride and groom and

the impact on cost and schedule will need to be evaluated. Having a communications plan

can aid in resolving problems as they occur and to prevent issues before they develop.

The communication plan as described in Table 4 should provide information regarding

project status reports, changes in scope, gating decisions, action items, deliverable issues,

team status meetings, accepted request changes and milestone reports (pg. 109). The

communication plan also states who the audience of the report is, the frequency the
 Wedding in India 10

information is to be provided, the method of communication and the provider of the

information.

Work Breakdown Structure

The Work Breakdown Structure can be used as a monitoring system to ensure the

project is on schedule and to track cost and performance (pg. 98). Individual work

packages to planning the wedding are identified and resources and costs are assigned to

each work package (Cooke & Tate, 2005). Completion of the work packages listed in

Figure 1 by the project team can then be monitored by the bride. Performance can be

tracked by supervision of the major deliverables by the upper management (Bride and

Groom) and supervision at the sub-deliverable level by the project manager. A delay

occurring in one of the work packages can provide the project manager with information

as to subsequent delay to the network path the work package belonged to. The project

manager can then be proactive to reducing the delay for the remainder of the activities in

the network path.

Schedule

Flexible start and completion dates of the project and the availability of additional

resources can decrease the sensitivity of the wedding planning project. As this is a time-

constrained project an earlier start date of planning the wedding will allow for greater

slack on the critical path and will decrease the sensitivity of the network. The project

manager should consider negotiating an earlier start date with the project team or

outsource resources for the time the project team is unavailable. An activity on the
 Wedding in India 11

current critical path could then be delayed by the amount of slack available without

delaying the entire project. Currently there is zero slack available to activities within the

critical path and any delay to activities within the critical path will delay the project. As

per the project priority matrix (Table 3) an earlier completion of the project is favorable

as the bride and groom want to leave for India as planned and avoid a last minute panic

before their flight. The time to complete the project could also be decreased through the

use of additional resources for time critical activities. If a greater number of resources are

available for activities within the critical path of inviting guests, the activities within the

critical path can be completed within a shorter duration.

Resources

The time to complete each activity can be decreased by recruiting friends to assist

with wedding plans, or to recruit a greater number of resources and conduct a larger

number of activities in parallel. Resource leveling may also be used to delay non-critical

activities and reduce demand for resources for peak demand activities (pg. 238). The

addition of resources to activities within the critical path will shorten the duration of

activity completion as well as change the critical path within the network. The project

manager will need to monitor changes to the network as a result of resource addition.

Another method of resource utilization to facilitate the completion of the project is to

outsource segments of the project. Time and cost is a priority of this project and if the

bride were able to contract a wedding planner in India under the fixed budget of

$20, 000USD the time to plan the wedding could be decreased. To monitor the

performance of the project team Scheduling Performance Index (SPI) can be calculated
 Wedding in India 12

on a weekly basis. SPI can be calculated by dividing the earned value of the activity by

the planned value of the activity. A smaller fraction (eg. 0.4) will indicate the project

team is not performing at 100% and greater effort will be required by the team for the

remainder of the project to meet the target deadline. Schedule variance (SV) should also

be used on a weekly basis to illustrate if the project is behind schedule. SV is the

difference between the earned value (percent complete x original budget) and planned

value of the activity (pg. 425). A positive value will indicate if the project is on or ahead

of schedule. A negative value will indicate if the planning of the wedding is behind the

target schedule date. Performance evaluation will enable the bride to assess any problems

and enable her to get the project back on schedule.

Cost

Cost variance (CV) should be utilized on a weekly basis to ensure the cost of each

work package is per the baseline estimate. CV is the difference between the earned value

(percent complete x original budget) and the actual cost of the work completed (pg. 425).

A positive value will indicate the budget is per schedule or under budget, and a negative

value will indicate the project is over budget. As the cost is constrained this evaluation

tool will allow the bride to view the cost of the wedding as the planning progresses and

be aware of any budget issues as they occur. If the project is deemed to be over budget

shown by a negative CV the bride and groom may decrease the budget allocated to future

work packages to ensure the overall budget of the wedding is met. At the start of the

wedding planning a budgeted cost at completion comprising of the total baseline cost
 Wedding in India 13

accounts should be calculated (Table 6). Using this baseline value the project manager

can determine the cost variance at the completion of the project.

Project Management

A project control plan should be implemented to monitor the time and cost of planning of

the wedding. At each milestone team members should provide actual activity time,

resource usage and actual cost of work packages completed. The data collected can be

compared with baseline data from the WBS and through the tracking Gantt chart indicate

the wedding planning progress at the end of each milestone. The progress should then be

communicated to all project team members. Use of an outside consultant with experience

in wedding planning can also improve management procedures by evaluating progress

throughout the project.

 Wedding in India 14

Appendix 1

References

Bharatplaza (2006-2008). Retrieved February 9, 2009 from

http://www.bharatplaza.com/index.php

Breeze residency. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from

http://www.breezehotel.com/tfacilities.htm

Cooke, H.S., and Tate, K. (2005). Project Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Expedia. (2009). Retrieved February 9, 2009 from

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll

Gray, C.F., & Larson, E.W. (2008). Project management: The managerial process (4th

ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Heldman, K. (2005). Project management jump start. (2nd ed.). Alameda, CA: Sybex Inc.

Hotel sangam. (2003). Retrieved February 9, 2009 from

http://www.hotelsangam.com/home.html

No problems for booming wedding industry. (2008, March). The Kiplinger Letter, 85(13)

Parekh cards. (2004). Retrieved February 9, 2009 from

http://www.parekhcards.com/weddingcards.asp?ct=10&cards=Hindu+Wedding+
Cards

USPS. (2009). Send International Mail. Retrieved on February 2, 2009,

http://www.usps.com/international/sendmail.htm

XE. (2008). Retrieved February 3, 2009, from http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

Appendix 2
 Wedding in India 15

Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure of planning a wedding in India

1.0 Plan a wedding in Trichy, India

1.1 Plan the wedding ceremony

1.1.1. Determine the wedding date
1.1.2 Select a venue for the ceremony
1.1.3 Determine wedding party
1.1.4 Purchase wedding outfits
1.1.5 Order flowers
1.1.6 Order wedding cake
1.1.7 Select priest
1.1.8 Select music (wedding)

1.2 Review completed ceremony plans

1.3 Invite guests

1.3.1 Determine guest list
1.3.2 Select invitation
1.3.3 Order invitations
1.3.4 Wait for invitations to arrive
1.3.5 Send out invitations

1.4 Plan reception

1.4.1 Select reception venue
1.4.2 Purchase reception outfit
1.4.3 Book photographer
1.4.4 Book DJ
1.4.5 Select MC
1.4.6 Book caterer
1.4.7 Plan the dinner menu

1.5 Review completed reception plans

1.6 Plan trip to India

1.6.1 Purchase plane tickets
1.6.2 Reserve hotel
1.6.3 Fly to India

1.7 Review completed plan for trip to India

1.8 Manage wedding planning

1.8.1 Pay vendors
1.8.2 Attend family meeting
 Wedding in India 16

Figure 2: Gantt Chart of planning a wedding in India

Wedding in India 17
Wedding in India 18
Wedding in India 19
Wedding in India 20
 Wedding in India 21

Bride's Bride's Bride's Groom's Groom's

Activity Bride Groom Mom Dad Sister Dad Mom
Determine wedding
party 336 hrs
Purchase wedding
outfits 84 hrs
Order flowers 120 hrs
Order wedding cake 120 hrs
Purchase reception
outfit 84 hrs
Select MC 48 hrs
Fly to India 48 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Select the invitation 504 hrs
Order invitations 24 hrs
Purchase plane tickets 720 hrs
Fly to India 48 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Determine guest list 720 hrs
Send out invitations 504 hrs
Plan the dinner menu 72 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Determine wedding
date 336 hrs
Book photographer 504 hrs
Pay vendors 336 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Select music (wedding) 720 hrs
Book DJ 336 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Select wedding venue 720 hrs
Select reception venue 720 hrs
Reserve hotel 720 hrs
Pay vendors 336 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Select priest 24 hrs
Book caterer 72 hrs
Attend family meeting 24 hrs
Total hours 864 1320 1320 1200 1080 2520 120 hrs
Table 1: Resource Usage
 Wedding in India 22

Investment 20,000.00
Annual savings 12,000.00

Payback period 1.67

Rate of return 60.0%

Table 2: Payback method

Time Performance Cost

Constrain X
Enhance X
Accept X

Table 3: Project Priority Matrix

Audien Method of Provid

Information ce Time Communication er
Compl
etion of
Milestone Bride, milesto Project
report Groom nes Meeting team
Project
status Bride, Project
reports Groom Weekly Telephone/email team
As
Changes in Bride, require Project
scope Groom d Meeting team
Team status Bride, Project
reports Groom Weekly Telephone/email team
As
Deliverables Bride, require Project
issues Groom d Team meeting team
As
Bride, require Project
Action items Groom d Telephone/email team
Table 4: Project Communication Plan
 Wedding in India 23

WBS Activity Direct Cost INR

Low Average High
Plan a wedding in
1 India
Plan wedding
1.1 ceremony
Determine wedding
1.1.1 date
$25,000. $30,000. $35,000.
1.1.2 Select wedding venue 00 00 00
Determine wedding
1.1.3 party
Purchase wedding $41,412. $44,897. $48,382.
1.1.4 outfits 00 00 00
$14,700. $16,100. $17,500.
1.1.5 Order flowers 00 00 00
$6,000.0 $6,000.0 $6,000.0
1.1.6 Order wedding cake 0 0 0
$3,500.0 $3,500.0 $3,500.0
1.1.7 Select priest 0 0 0
Select music
1.1.8 (wedding)
Review completed ceremony
1.2 plans
1.3 Invite guests
1.3.1 Determine guest list
1.3.2 Select the invitation
$20,000. $21,000. $22,000.
1.3.3 Order invitations 00 00 00
Wait for invitations to
1.3.4 arrive
1.3.5 Send out invitations N/A N/A
1.4 Plan reception
$25,000. $30,000. $35,000.
1.4.1 Select reception venue 00 00 00
Purchase reception $25,740. $30,615. $35,490.
1.4.2 outfit 00 00 00
$14,000. $16,000. $18,000.
1.4.3 Book photographer 00 00 00
$12,000. $16,000. $20,000.
1.4.4 Book DJ 00 00 00
1.4.5 Select MC
$25,000. $27,500. $30,000.
1.4.6 Book caterer 00 00 00
1.4.7 Plan the dinner menu
Review completed
1.5 reception plans
1.6 Plan trip to India
1.6.1 Purchase plane tickets N/A N/A N/A
 Wedding in India 24

$44,800. $67,900. $91,000.

1.6.2 Reserve hotel 00 00 00
1.6.3 Fly to India
Review completed plan for trip to
1.7 India
Manage wedding
1.8 planning
1.8.1 Pay vendors
1.8.2 Attend family meeting
$257,15 $309,51 $361,87
2.00 2.00 2.00

Table 5: Cost estimate of work packages in Indian Rupees

(INR)

WB
S Activity Direct Cost USD
Averag
Low e High
Plan a wedding in
1 India
Plan wedding
1.1 ceremony
Determine wedding
1.1.1 date
Select wedding $514.6 $617.5 $720.3
1.1.2 venue 7 2 6
Determine wedding
1.1.3 party
Purchase wedding $852.3 $923.8 $995.3
1.1.4 outfits 3 3 2
$302.5 $331.3 $360.1
1.1.5 Order flowers 4 5 6
Order wedding $123.4 $123.4 $123.4
1.1.6 cake 8 8 8
1.1.7 Select priest $72.03 $72.03 $72.03
Select music
1.1.8 (wedding)
1.2 Review completed ceremony plans
1.3 Invite guests
Determine guest
1.3.1 list
1.3.2 Select the invitation
1.3.3 Order invitations $411.6 $432.1 $452.7
 Wedding in India 25

1 9 7
Wait for invitations
1.3.4 to arrive
$272.0 $272.0 $272.0
1.3.5 Send out invitations 0 0 0
1.4 Plan reception
Select reception $514.6 $617.5 $720.3
1.4.1 venue 7 2 6
Purchase reception $528.7 $628.8 $728.9
1.4.2 outfit 0 4 7
$287.5 $330.0 $372.4
1.4.3 Book photographer 6 1 5
$248.3 $331.0 $413.8
1.4.4 Book DJ 0 7 3
1.4.5 Select MC
$504.5 $555.0 $605.5
1.4.6 Book caterer 9 5 1
Plan the dinner
1.4.7 menu
Review completed
1.5 reception plans
1.6 Plan trip to India
Purchase plane $4,652 $4,836 $5,020
1.6.1 tickets .00 .00 .00
$929.6 $1,409 $1,888
1.6.2 Reserve hotel 0 .13 .65
1.6.3 Fly to India
1.7 Review completed plan for trip to India
Manage wedding
1.8 planning
1.8.1 Pay vendors
Attend family
1.8.2 meeting
$10,21 $11,47 $12,74
4.08 9.99 5.89

Table 6: Cost estimate of work packages in US dollars

Direct Cost (USD Avg) $11,479.99

Direct overhead (20%) $2,296.00
Total direct costs $13,775.99
G&A overhead (20%) $2,755.20
Total costs $16,531.19
Table 7: Estimated cost to plan a wedding in India using
bottom-up approach
Wedding in India 26