Have a holiday wedding
NONA WALIA
27 September 2009, 12:00am IST
Welcome to the world of unconventional, made-to-order celebrity weddings. If you’re not a celebrity, just break the convention, as wedding planners woo India’s young couples with adventure-packed, glitzy, showbiz or destination weddings.
Tying the knot has never before taken such an unconventional twist. Young couples in love are thinking of creative ways to get married, simply because a wedding may still be your best chance to act out your fantasy. Here are some current themes: Bohemian, eco, barefoot, royal, Moroccan, Winter Moon.
If you’re a celebrity, hold your heart and open your purse strings, as weddings become big attention-seeking Page 3 events. And if you’re not, beat the predictable. Like Bangalore-based Tushar Kanwar, all of 30, who is planning his wedding with bride-to-be Kunthavi, in Goa.
Their wedding planner, Mehr Sarid, is creating the sets for their big day. “They actually don’t want a pundit. Imagine that,” says Mehr. But why? “Maybe we’ll have him for symbolism,” says Tushar, “But I don’t want to have the pheras. We’re having a Bohemian wedding on the beaches of Goa. We’ve restricted the wedding ceremony to 20 minutes. We’ve tried to give our own interpretation to symbolisms of a wedding,” adds Tushar.
The lavish ornateness of Indian weddings has been replaced by the romanticism of destination weddings. Take Priti Paul’s lavish wedding at Udaipur, with a ‘peacock-theme’ sangeet night, Vikram Chatwal’s Pakeezah night also in Udaipur, Seema Lohia’s daughter’s wedding in Bali, where Akshay Kumar danced with 13 Bollywood heroines and the much-hyped wedding of Abhishek and Aishwarya. Samit Garg of Efactor Entertainment, who organised these mega-celebrity weddings, believes couples want an unforgettable experience. “It’s about creating mega memories, experiences that will stay for a lifetime.” Malini Murjani, New-York based designer agrees, “I wanted to get married far from New York, but Udaipur was just so romantic.’’
Take this: the Indian wedding industry is worth an estimated Rs 14,000 crore and, depending on the size and grandeur, a wedding can cost between Rs 10 lakh-50 crore. But if you have a destination wedding, you can cut down the costs. There’s a rise of ‘weddingmoon’ as couples combine wedding and honeymoon into one big getaway - usually with friends and relatives. Wedding planner Vandana Mohan agrees, “I think destination weddings grant control of the event to the couples. The savings come from having to entertain fewer people.”
It seems Hollywood also wants ‘made-in-India’ weddings with a difference. Los Angeles-based actor Ione Skye and Ben Lee, Australian singer-songwriter came to Vellore to get married. In fact, Skye, the star of hit film Say Anything chose a South Indian traditional wedding. Similarly, Conrad Roesky and Michelle Alexander of South Louisiana chose to get married in Agra’s Mughal Sheraton overlooking the Taj Mahal. “We had the pundit, along with a translator, who interpreted the rituals. Our wedding dinner was on the rooftop overlooking the Taj on a moonlit night,” says Conrad.
Though India has been a hotspot for weddings for a while for foreigners, now couples are choosing off-beat destinations, like Ambi Valley, Leh and Mussorie to get married. Says Geeta Samuel, wedding planner, who is currently conceptualising Shikhar Malhotra’s wedding to Shiv Nadar’s daughter Roshni, “Couples now believe in doing things from their heart.”
This year is about simplicity and elegance. We’ve had enough of elaborate themes. Destination weddings are popular. The hotspots are Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Goa. At the UdaiVilas in Udaipur, Vikram and Priya Chatwal, Priti Paul and Vanisha Mittal had their pre-wedding celebrations. “Couples are spurning the family to get married in far-flung destinations. The lavishness of an Indian wedding has just been scaled down, but it hasn’t lost its grandeur,” says Samuel, who has also designed the wedding reception of Swaraj Paul’s son, Ayaan Ali Khan’s Sufi reception and Vandana Luthra’s daughter’s wedding, where Mallika Sarabhai performed with her troupe to the theme of Shakti.
Even though weddings still flaunt showbiz, power and money, some couples are consciously trying hard to ‘keep it simple’. Like Taruna, daughter-in-law of Sterre and Captain Satish Sharma, whose wedding last year was attented by the Gandhis, “We wanted our wedding to be a simple affair. Our engagement had a Moroccon theme, while the wedding was a riot of colour, followed by a Winter Moon party just before the reception,” says Taruna.
Even Bollywood set designers are being involved in big weddings. Bijon Dasgupta, Bollywood set designer and the man behind the extravagant Devdas sets, created a Punjabi village or Dadayaan da Pind for Adish Oswal’s wedding in Ludhiana; while Umang, who created the sets of Black and Saawariya, worked with Efactor for the Bachchan and Lohia wedding. Sonali Thakore, vice-president of Efactor says, “Wedding concepts have never been so professionally managed. We’ve moved to a new level of managing weddings.”
There was a time when Bollywood entertainment was big. That’s passé. “Now, it’s about ‘real’ home entertainment. The décor is inspired from crafts like Benarasi or recreating the opulence of a Madhubani painting,” adds Vandana Mohan.
Yet, ornate bridal wear is something the bride and groom don’t want to compromise on. Says designer Namrata Joshipura, “The bride still wants an elaborate but modern trousseau.” But the secret for a perfect wedding, they say, lies in the detail. That’s why Kapil and Sandy Khurana, of The Entertainment Design Company, are experts at designing invitations, “We’ve done out-of-ordinary invites for the Mittals, Abhishek-Aishwarya, Princess of Bhutan, Fardeen and Natasha. We’re doing invites for Roshni Nadar’s wedding. It’s not just an invitation, it’s a piece of art. With the cards, the Mittals gave ladoos, Vaderas gave mithai. For us, every card is important, we work out an invite especially for you.’’
A wedding with your signature style, is just made-to-order for you!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Have-a-holiday-wedding-/articleshow/5054848.cms
NONA WALIA
27 September 2009, 12:00am IST
Welcome to the world of unconventional, made-to-order celebrity weddings. If you’re not a celebrity, just break the convention, as wedding planners woo India’s young couples with adventure-packed, glitzy, showbiz or destination weddings.
Tying the knot has never before taken such an unconventional twist. Young couples in love are thinking of creative ways to get married, simply because a wedding may still be your best chance to act out your fantasy. Here are some current themes: Bohemian, eco, barefoot, royal, Moroccan, Winter Moon.
If you’re a celebrity, hold your heart and open your purse strings, as weddings become big attention-seeking Page 3 events. And if you’re not, beat the predictable. Like Bangalore-based Tushar Kanwar, all of 30, who is planning his wedding with bride-to-be Kunthavi, in Goa.
Their wedding planner, Mehr Sarid, is creating the sets for their big day. “They actually don’t want a pundit. Imagine that,” says Mehr. But why? “Maybe we’ll have him for symbolism,” says Tushar, “But I don’t want to have the pheras. We’re having a Bohemian wedding on the beaches of Goa. We’ve restricted the wedding ceremony to 20 minutes. We’ve tried to give our own interpretation to symbolisms of a wedding,” adds Tushar.
The lavish ornateness of Indian weddings has been replaced by the romanticism of destination weddings. Take Priti Paul’s lavish wedding at Udaipur, with a ‘peacock-theme’ sangeet night, Vikram Chatwal’s Pakeezah night also in Udaipur, Seema Lohia’s daughter’s wedding in Bali, where Akshay Kumar danced with 13 Bollywood heroines and the much-hyped wedding of Abhishek and Aishwarya. Samit Garg of Efactor Entertainment, who organised these mega-celebrity weddings, believes couples want an unforgettable experience. “It’s about creating mega memories, experiences that will stay for a lifetime.” Malini Murjani, New-York based designer agrees, “I wanted to get married far from New York, but Udaipur was just so romantic.’’
Take this: the Indian wedding industry is worth an estimated Rs 14,000 crore and, depending on the size and grandeur, a wedding can cost between Rs 10 lakh-50 crore. But if you have a destination wedding, you can cut down the costs. There’s a rise of ‘weddingmoon’ as couples combine wedding and honeymoon into one big getaway - usually with friends and relatives. Wedding planner Vandana Mohan agrees, “I think destination weddings grant control of the event to the couples. The savings come from having to entertain fewer people.”
It seems Hollywood also wants ‘made-in-India’ weddings with a difference. Los Angeles-based actor Ione Skye and Ben Lee, Australian singer-songwriter came to Vellore to get married. In fact, Skye, the star of hit film Say Anything chose a South Indian traditional wedding. Similarly, Conrad Roesky and Michelle Alexander of South Louisiana chose to get married in Agra’s Mughal Sheraton overlooking the Taj Mahal. “We had the pundit, along with a translator, who interpreted the rituals. Our wedding dinner was on the rooftop overlooking the Taj on a moonlit night,” says Conrad.
Though India has been a hotspot for weddings for a while for foreigners, now couples are choosing off-beat destinations, like Ambi Valley, Leh and Mussorie to get married. Says Geeta Samuel, wedding planner, who is currently conceptualising Shikhar Malhotra’s wedding to Shiv Nadar’s daughter Roshni, “Couples now believe in doing things from their heart.”
This year is about simplicity and elegance. We’ve had enough of elaborate themes. Destination weddings are popular. The hotspots are Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Goa. At the UdaiVilas in Udaipur, Vikram and Priya Chatwal, Priti Paul and Vanisha Mittal had their pre-wedding celebrations. “Couples are spurning the family to get married in far-flung destinations. The lavishness of an Indian wedding has just been scaled down, but it hasn’t lost its grandeur,” says Samuel, who has also designed the wedding reception of Swaraj Paul’s son, Ayaan Ali Khan’s Sufi reception and Vandana Luthra’s daughter’s wedding, where Mallika Sarabhai performed with her troupe to the theme of Shakti.
Even though weddings still flaunt showbiz, power and money, some couples are consciously trying hard to ‘keep it simple’. Like Taruna, daughter-in-law of Sterre and Captain Satish Sharma, whose wedding last year was attented by the Gandhis, “We wanted our wedding to be a simple affair. Our engagement had a Moroccon theme, while the wedding was a riot of colour, followed by a Winter Moon party just before the reception,” says Taruna.
Even Bollywood set designers are being involved in big weddings. Bijon Dasgupta, Bollywood set designer and the man behind the extravagant Devdas sets, created a Punjabi village or Dadayaan da Pind for Adish Oswal’s wedding in Ludhiana; while Umang, who created the sets of Black and Saawariya, worked with Efactor for the Bachchan and Lohia wedding. Sonali Thakore, vice-president of Efactor says, “Wedding concepts have never been so professionally managed. We’ve moved to a new level of managing weddings.”
There was a time when Bollywood entertainment was big. That’s passé. “Now, it’s about ‘real’ home entertainment. The décor is inspired from crafts like Benarasi or recreating the opulence of a Madhubani painting,” adds Vandana Mohan.
Yet, ornate bridal wear is something the bride and groom don’t want to compromise on. Says designer Namrata Joshipura, “The bride still wants an elaborate but modern trousseau.” But the secret for a perfect wedding, they say, lies in the detail. That’s why Kapil and Sandy Khurana, of The Entertainment Design Company, are experts at designing invitations, “We’ve done out-of-ordinary invites for the Mittals, Abhishek-Aishwarya, Princess of Bhutan, Fardeen and Natasha. We’re doing invites for Roshni Nadar’s wedding. It’s not just an invitation, it’s a piece of art. With the cards, the Mittals gave ladoos, Vaderas gave mithai. For us, every card is important, we work out an invite especially for you.’’
A wedding with your signature style, is just made-to-order for you!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Have-a-holiday-wedding-/articleshow/5054848.cms
