A beautiful narrative from an enthusiastic mom who meticulously planned her charming daughter's wedding! Graced by a host of celebrities, the wedding was a grand affair which was highlighted by the huge family circle and outstanding outfits!
I am Kumari, the mother-of-the-bride reliving the most memorable occasion in my life- my eldest daughter Sivani's wedding. Sivani has been the apple of our eye and our happiness knew no bounds when we found a wonderful groom in Abhishek.
Sivani, the first engineering graduate in the family made us extremely proud when she finished her masters at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Our long awaited day had finally arrived! It was a dream come true and in retrospect, life seemed to be on fast forward ever since the wedding was finalised after Abhishek, the first groom for the family walked into the house.
Abhishek instantly won all our hearts with his polite demeanour and charm. After their grand engagement in November, we had under 3 months to plan the wedding. It was a race against time.
Sivani always had her benchmarks in each and every aspect of the planning. She wouldn't settle for anything but the best. When it came to sarees, her choice was Tulsi silks. Her preference included different pastel shades for each of the rituals. She meticulously sifted through the colours and arrived at these :-
1. Pellikuthuru function (bridal ceremony)- She chose a yellow silk with bright hues of pink and green from Tulsi silks. The colour was consistent with the piety of the ceremony - the colour of turmeric. The blouse was designed with beautiful peacock motifs by Priya of Sankalp sarees.
2. Sangeet- We had a customised lehenga designed by Mrunalini Rao from Hyderabad. It was an immaculate coral peach colour with a mint green skirt. The work was impeccably done with kota and tissue work. She had a shaded peach dupatta to go with this perfect ensemble. It fitted to perfection.
3. Mehendi- For this event, Sivani wore a designer lehenga which was also from Hyderabad. It as an orange and pink one with beautiful golden embellishments.
4. Gowri Puja- For this, she wore a peacock blue with a blend of magenta and pink shaded border on a kancheepuram silk saree. She got the blouse designed by Geetu who customised it beautifully with intricate yet dazzling stone work.
5. Muhurtham- This was her big occasion and after a lot of deliberation, she zeroed in on an elegant pink with golden leaf motifs from Tulsi silks. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a perfect contrast green blouse again designed by Geetu. It had laser cut inlay work done in white and pink stones.
Her muhurtham saree blouse which was a traditional off - white with red was done by Priya of Sankalp sarees.
Our first event was the Sangeet. It was a multitasking ensemble by the Marriage Colours team - Venkat and Pradeep, who put together a lot of aspects like lighting, music, pyrotechnics, decor etc. We gave the bride and groom a grand entry featuring Rajasthani Dholak band.
A big shout out to celebrity zumba trainer and choreographer, Senthil and his team for working tirelessly with the family and friends in putting together quite an entertainment with the dance numbers. Radisson Blu served out a mouth watering spread of buffet with wide ranging delicacies from the south and north.
Our second event was the making of the bride 'Pellikuthiuru' ceremony which was held in our home. It was an absolutely traditional affair with vedic chants and blessings of the elders. Traditional Andhra food was served. It was indeed euphoric with a full bench of relatives and friends alike treating themselves to frolics of laughter besides the delicacies.
As a departure from our Telugu convention, we decided to give a North Indian colour with hindustani music on the Dholak and a chaat spread on the menu for the Mehendi. The wedding was held at the grand venue of Taj Coromandel. It was attended by the who's who of Tamil Nadu including the Governor Sri Rosaiah.
We had the photography teams of both Studio A and Rakesh Prakash Photography to capture all our kodak moments of the various events. Studio A did a wonderful job of getting to know the rituals and the events in line to have an idea as to how to go about taking the pictures.
Rakesh Prakash Photography team did a splendid job of taking some amazing pictures with each frame telling a story! We are indeed grateful for the work they've done and to have given us such beautiful memories to look back on in the future.
We had wanted a thoroughly different look and design for each of the different events and therefore chose a particular theme for each of them. For the Sangeet we had an all roses and lilies theme with a Photo Booth for the guests to take away pictures of themselves with the couple and of the event.
For the pellikuthuru function, we went entirely traditional with marigold flowers decor and a grand arch at the entrance as the pandhal. For the Mehendi, to give a different north indian design, we had it decorated with bright hues of pink and orange and umbrellas. It was done by the marriage colours team and we are incredibly happy with their work.
1. Wedding planners- Marriage Colors 2. Photography & Videography- @rakesh-prakash# Photography & @studio-a# by Amar Ramesh 3. Makeup artists- Prakruthi Ananth for wedding and sangeet & Samantha Jagan for Making of the bride ceremony and Mehendi 4. Mehendi artist- Manisha Modi 5. Choreography for Sangeet- Senthil & Group 6. Nadaswaram- MPM Nadaswaram 7. Wedding venues- Taj Ballroom for wedding & Radisson Blu for Sangeet 8. Designers- Sangeet Lehenga by Mrunalini Rao & Blouses by Priya of Sankalp sarees and Geetu of Geetu Haute Couture designs 9. Gift hampers for mehendi and pellikuthuru ceremony- Kotanz group We couldn't be happier sharing our memories from the wedding.
