Innovation coupled with specialization has become a common feature of public lifestyles and Saudi weddings are not behind in terms of the latest innovations and offerings in the bridal world.

Saudi Arabia’s wedding sector is a multi-billion riyal industry growing at 20 percent per annum.

It is one of the most affluent markets in the world where traditional weddings are of great importance and where no expense is spared.

The Saudi bridal market was marked by over two million marriages during 2012, with the Makkah Region alone recording around 450,000 marriage contracts.

According to world wedding guide research, the Gulf bridal market is estimated to be worth over $750 million a year in jewelry, with as much as $30,000 on an average spent by the couple and guests on jewels for wedding celebrations.

The bridal market contributes significantly to the beauty and grooming sector, which is also undergoing unprecedented growth in the Middle East.

Statistics related to the beauty and grooming sector in the region reveal a growth of 15 percent annually with a market value of $ 1.7 billion, according to official reports.

Consumption of fragrances and cosmetics in the Gulf states is one of the highest per capita in the world.

Iman Adel Abdul Shakur, chairman of the organizing committee of the Wedding Festival 2015 and a wedding market expert, said that Saudis spend more than SR2 billion on their marriages annually, where jewelry and decorations cost more than 50 percent of the marriage budget.

She said that weddings in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf effectively contribute to the growth of the market and the development of sectors of beauty and related items.

She also said the Saudi weddings market is considered very rich in the world where people follow the traditional wedding style, which is really important for families and they spend a lot on the jewelry, designers’ clothes and cosmetics.

She said that the weddings market growth in the region is directly reflected in the evolution of the gold markets and jewelry, with an estimated weddings market in the Gulf at over $700 million annually from the jewelry.

The average expenditure on the purchase of jewelry by the couple and their family exceeds $25,000 for the occasion and, according to current statistics, the market of beauty and related items recorded the highest increase of up to 15 percent per annum in 2014 valued at $1.7 billion, according to official reports.

The per capita consumption of perfumes and cosmetics and care in the Gulf is one of the highest in the world.

Quoting economists and specialists, she said the cost of marriage parties and arrangements reached upward of SR5 million annually in Jeddah and annual investments in this sector reached totaled over SR4 billion, due to the large expansion of national and international companies in the development of its latest fashion clothes, jewelry and home, and on various forms of decoration, perfumes, toiletries and high fashion.