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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
Information
Project Name: Wedding in India
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
Requirements
The hotel will be required to accommodate approximately 100
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
Exclusions
The wedding is to take place in Trichy, India and the cost of the
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
Activity Bride Groom Bride's Mom
Bride's Dad
Bride's Sister
Groom's Dad
Groom's 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
Information Audien
ce Time Method of
Communication Provid
er
Milestone report
Bride, Groom
Completion of milestones Meeting
Project team
Project status reports
Bride, Groom Weekly Telephone/email
Project team
Changes in scope
Bride, Groom
As required Meeting
Project team
Team status reports
Bride, Groom Weekly Telephone/email
Project team
Deliverables issues
Bride, Groom
As required Team meeting
Project team
Action items Bride, Groom
As required Telephone/email
Project team
Table 4: Project Communication Plan
Wedding in India 23
WBS Activity Direct Cost INR
Low Average High
1 Plan a wedding in India
1.1 Plan wedding ceremony
1.1.1 Determine wedding date
1.1.2 Select wedding venue $25,000.
00 $30,000.
00 $35,000.
00
1.1.3 Determine wedding party
1.1.4 Purchase wedding outfits
$41,412.00
$44,897.00
$48,382.00
1.1.5 Order flowers $14,700.
00 $16,100.
00 $17,500.
00
1.1.6 Order wedding cake $6,000.0
0 $6,000.0
0 $6,000.0
0
1.1.7 Select priest $3,500.0
0 $3,500.0
0 $3,500.0
0
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 the invitation
1.3.3 Order invitations $20,000.
00 $21,000.
00 $22,000.
00
1.3.4 Wait for invitations to arrive
1.3.5 Send out invitations N/A N/A
1.4 Plan reception
1.4.1 Select reception venue $25,000.
00 $30,000.
00 $35,000.
00
1.4.2 Purchase reception outfit
$25,740.00
$30,615.00
$35,490.00
1.4.3 Book photographer $14,000.
00 $16,000.
00 $18,000.
00
1.4.4 Book DJ $12,000.
00 $16,000.
00 $20,000.
00
1.4.5 Select MC
1.4.6 Book caterer $25,000.
00 $27,500.
00 $30,000.
00
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 N/A N/A N/A
Wedding in India 24
1.6.2 Reserve hotel $44,800.
00 $67,900.
00 $91,000.
00
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
$257,15
2.00 $309,51
2.00 $361,87
2.00
Table 5: Cost estimate of work packages in Indian Rupees
(INR)
WBS Activity Direct Cost USD
Low Averag
e High
1 Plan a wedding in India
1.1 Plan wedding ceremony
1.1.1 Determine wedding date
1.1.2 Select wedding venue
$514.67
$617.52
$720.36
1.1.3 Determine wedding party
1.1.4 Purchase wedding outfits
$852.33
$923.83
$995.32
1.1.5 Order flowers $302.5
4 $331.3
5 $360.1
6
1.1.6 Order wedding cake
$123.48
$123.48
$123.48
1.1.7 Select priest $72.03 $72.03 $72.03
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 the invitation
1.3.3 Order invitations $411.6 $432.1 $452.7
Wedding in India 25
1 9 7
1.3.4 Wait for invitations to arrive
1.3.5 Send out invitations $272.0
0 $272.0
0 $272.0
0
1.4 Plan reception
1.4.1 Select reception venue
$514.67
$617.52
$720.36
1.4.2 Purchase reception outfit
$528.70
$628.84
$728.97
1.4.3 Book photographer $287.5
6 $330.0
1 $372.4
5
1.4.4 Book DJ $248.3
0 $331.0
7 $413.8
3
1.4.5 Select MC
1.4.6 Book caterer $504.5
9 $555.0
5 $605.5
1
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
$4,652.00
$4,836.00
$5,020.00
1.6.2 Reserve hotel $929.6
0 $1,409
.13 $1,888
.65
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
$10,21
4.08 $11,47
9.99 $12,74
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