Get ready to experience the visual treat and exciting story of Veena and Vinayak. To begin with, both the bride and the groom are a uniquely different combination. The bride being into real estate and the groom being a doctor. Their families knew each other for quite some time, but the bride and the groom never met each other. It was a proper arranged marriage!
They started hanging out and try to know each other well and as the saying goes opposites poles attract, it eventually happened. They fell in love and told the parents to go ahead with the match. So it was a proper arranged-cum-love marriage.
Then began the pampering phase ( which is still on till date! ).
The guy Vinayak, is a romantic (every girls dream man kinds ;) He planned an amazing proposal for his adorable fiancee Veena with a complete Paris ambience setup and went down on his knees and asked her to marry him. How can anyone say no to that? The bride was literally floored by him and hadn't expected an arranged marriage to bring in all such surprises.
Coming to the shopping part, most of the groom’s outfits were from Shravan Kumar for traditional ceremonies. Other oufits were from Ashish Soni, Armani label and Raghavendra Rathore.
As for the bride, she went in for Shantanu and Nikhil for her Sangeet and Tarun Tahliani for the pre wedding reception. Other events included international designer labels like Karen Millen, Rene Ruiz and Chanel. Locally she preferred Golden Threads. Sarees were done by Gaurang and Kavitha Gutta.
Footwear was by Donald J Piner and Christian Louboutin.
When it came to Golden Threads, it was a relief since she happened to be a very close friend’s mom. She knew her taste and comfort level and designed something which she loved to wear for hours together. Kavitha Gutta designed Pattu lehengas for her, for the Pelli Kuthuru function, which was just out of the world!
The entire jewellery was done by Satyanarayana and Sons who went into detailed customization to go with the outfits.
About the decor, she had a very clear picture of what she wanted her dream wedding to be like. They went into indepth detailing to make the ambience look as per their taste. Both families were very supportive and gave a heads up for everything the bride and groom wanted the wedding to be like. Friends are like a blessing in disguise and they were the backbone and major pillar of support for the wedding. From small little chores to taking up responsibilities, they were always ready.
For all the photography and videography work, a team of young talents were hired from Zero Gravity and Jayachandra who has been associated with the family since a long time.
The Wedding planner Kanchan Chadda, had a huge role to play in their wedding. It was she who gave us all the details. She is more like a family for them now and that's been the biggest strength of all. In bride's own words: ‘From planning of little things like stress free massages to meditation to keep me relaxed, to all the running around and coordination, Kanchan handled it all!
Now, what does Kanchan have to say about planning Veena’s wedding?
As a planner it was very important to understand the bride’s choice of taste. And after meeting Veena, I could sum her up as a simple yet sophisticated bride. Two opposites right? That’s what makes her an interesting personality. And I love her for that.
She has a unique taste in everything and has an extremely clear picture of what she wants.
My first advice to her as a bride was to remain stress free. I had arranged for relaxing massages at her place everyday for about 15 days before the wedding. Also made sure she heard meditation tracks before going to bed or first thing after getting up in the morning to have a great start of the day.
All our discussions were about what she was looking for in her the wedding.
We hired Sandy as the makeup artist for all her events and he made her look glamorous and pretty.
For the bridal mehendi we hired Noorjahan Mehendi artist and she did a fabulous job as well.
All her outfits were ready for the events except the reception one. She had plans of going to Delhi to pick one. But we randomly landed at Tarun Tahliani one day and I made her try numerous outfits after which she gave up. I had to push her for the one last thing and she landed up picking that one. That made her look like a princess.
We had planned a pre wedding shoot and video for both the brides and grooms family and a special shoot for the bride along with her Bridesmaids and Bridesmen. Yes you heard that right. She didn't want to leave the men behind. Everyone’s outfits were coordinated and a fun filled photo shoot with amazing props was done.
We had planned beautiful bridesmaids boxes for all her close friends and the maid of honour. It was a customized wooden box filled with branded lipsticks, manicure kits, photoframes, chocolates, forest essential hampers, Victoria secret goodies etc.
We hired a villa for the Sangeet practices and that became the party hub for 3 weeks.
I had organised theme parties almost every alternate day. We had the Hawaiian theme party, Bollywood night, Arabian night, Karaoke and Bonfire party, Game night, Masquerade party etc.
We made sure everyone who participated in the Sangeet had good fun. Our parties were appreciated by many of them. The entire decor and props and even the menu was as per the theme. Entertainment was also arranged according to the theme. We had a live band for the Hawaiian, Arabic music for Arabian night etc.
The biggest highlight was the Sangeet after-party at Golconda Resorts which went on till 6 in the morning. We had arranged for Dancing shoes (flat slip ons) for the pretty ladies to kick off their heels and get dancing on the floor, and Hangover kits for the party people.
Other parties were organised at Radisson Hitech city at their roof-top restaurant Chama Gaucha, which was for all the outstation guests who had flown from Nepal, US, and all across India. A karaoke night was planned with masseurs for foot massage for the guests. A relaxing lounge setup was kept in mind because of the early morning wedding the next day.
A surprise proposal was planned by the bride a day before the wedding and it was the most beautiful part of the evening. All her close friends were a part of it.
We had made sure the branding was not compromised on anything. Right from luggage tags of the guests, to the cabs, snack boxes etc, the wedding logo was everywhere. We even had printed balloons with the logo put up in all the guest rooms. Itineraries, gift cards, kiosks, everything had the logo on them.
Logistics was given utmost priority and we made sure the guests had a wonderful experience since the time they landed in Hyderabad till they reached the hotel with the manpower welcoming them, assisting them with luggage to the cabs and a snack box with a Thank You card from the bride and groom.
We had Help desks and Kiosks at the Hotel for the wedding guests. Hospitality management was taken care of well.
We had closely worked with the bride’s mother too for all the work related to the events at home and giveaways for the Mehendi and organizing other Pujas at home.
For their Honeymoon, Veena and Vinayak had planned a 5 day trip to Bali on 29th of December. They had stayed at W hotel and Royal Pitamaha at Ubud and semininyak.
Both being adventure freaks, they decided to cover a 10 dayprogram in just 4 days. Hence it was more of an adventure trip than a relaxing honeymoon.
Their main big trip to South Africa is in process and that they would hopefully spend relaxing and travelling.
I was the sole coordinator for all the vendors related to this wedding. Right from follow ups to the payments, we had it all sorted.
All in all, I made a friend for life in this wedding. She is one of the most humble and down to earth persons I have come across. I wish her all the happiness she deserves.
Coming back to the wedding, there were many memories made. All the Sangeet practices were fun. The last few days brought in a lot of excitement and panic attacks as well but people around made is easy for the couple.
Every second spent preparing for the wedding will be etched in their minds forever.
Advice for future brides to be: Just go with the flow and enjoy the journey more than the implementation day. Because you will always remember the preparation times with all your loved ones than anything else!
Venues:
Sangeet - Golconda Resorts
Pre wedding reception - Boulder hills golf club
Wedding - JRC convention Centre
