Authentic Kerala Wedding Debuts In Thailand

Destination Weddings have a flavour of their own! They are bigger, more opulent and are awe inspiring in every fashion! Such is the case of Sasikala and Britto. Mr. T S Kaladharan was pretty sure where he wanted to host the wedding of his Darling Daughter. Phuket. It had always been his sole choice. Thus began the Epic Celebration that was their wedding. In the words of the Wedding Planners – Rainmaker Events and Weddings, please read on and get amazed!Sasikala, daughter of Mr. T S Kaladharan  & Mrs. Devika Kaladharan, was born and brought up in Dubai. After completing her graduation from Raffles Design Institute – Singapore, she joined the family business and currently heads the marketing division in Dubai. Britto, the eldest son of the South Indian movie producer Mr. Satheesh Kuttiyil and renowned advocate Mrs. Syra Sathesh, was born and brought up in Kerala. After completing his bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from Nottingham University, he stepped up to become a noted research scientist at Montan University, Austria.The marriage was arranged and fixed by both families way back in November 2015. Their engagement was an authentic Kerala celebration at Mr. Kaladharan’s residence, Devas Farm House, on the backwaters of Thrikkunapuzha. While the new king of Indian classical music, Ambi Subramaniam, engrossed the guests with his laudable violin performance; the piping hot Masala Coffee enthralled them with funky rhythms and eclectic blend of songs.

Around 1000 guests including celebrities and dignitaries attended the ceremony successfully managed and run by the Rainmaker Wedding Planners. Themes and the dress codes for all events were designed to suit the big fat Malayalee wedding to be held on the second week of July. A North Indian and Thai fused Mehendi ceremony named Daawat-E-Mehendi. The South Indian themed Sangeet – Why This Kolaveri Nite. The conventional Hindu Kerala wedding and Sadhya termed as the Maangalyam Sadhya. And, the finale, traditional Thai wedding called Thai Vows followed by Cherry Blossom themed western reception named as Sakura Ball.Mars Arts from the heart of Mumbai were selected to assemble a choice design of a wedding box invite. In shades of ivory and pink, the classic styled invite box was complete with an invite card diary and an agenda card. A compartment was also created in the box to keep a colourful Sri Lankan lungi (Sarung) and specially customized sunshades from Dubai that was gifted to the invitees to be worn at the Sangeet.  A quirky and informative wedding website (www.sasikalabritto.com) was created to provide all info regarding the wedding. Such a website was first of its kind in Kerala weddings, since it provided a scope for the guests to interact with the wedding team way before the wedding. By early June, a total of 500 guests had confirmed to attend the wedding.  The guests started pouring in from the first week of July. Guests flew in from all across, namely, Dubai, Kenya, USA, Austria, Hongkong, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, China, India and South Africa. This was the first time such an ethnic blend of guests attended a wedding. Special vehicles on the likes of Limousines and BMWs were used to transfer VIP guests to their resorts. For large group and individual arrivals, Toyota Commuters and Toyota Fortuners were used.  Welcome Dinner The first evening of the wedding celebrations, bore witness to a welcome dinner at both hotels that favoured an austere meet and greet for the family and friends. It was a formal sit down dinner that served mouth-watering authentic Thai food.  Daawat-e-Mehendi The next day, the lawns at Dusit Thani set stage to the North Indian and Thai fusion Mehendi ceremony. Guests, especially those from other countries, dressed in sherwanis, bandgalas, lehengas and designer sarees, following the North Indian dress code, added to the magnificence of the Mehendi ceremony. Sasikala and Britto were brought to the venue amidst Serng Kratip Khoa performers – North Eastern Thai long drum musicians and dancers. While the bride was showered with love by her family and friends through the Mehendi ceremony, the groom was teased by smearing Haldi all over him. The event wound off with vivacious dance moves by the guests to perky Bollywood music by Kerala’s very own DJ Ryan & DJ Shamil.  

Why This Kolaveri Nite That evening, the pool side of Hyatt Regency hosted the South Indian – dappankuthu Sangeet night. The blinders, alphabeams along with a graphical LED wall set in motion a spectacular display of lights and awesomeness. The guests were dressed in specially imported Sri Lankan lungis, sunshades and half sarees and they let themselves loose to the dappankuthu music. A Thai tuk-tuk brought the couple to the stage welcomed by guests waving colored long balloons through the venue. The showstoppers of the night, the ever entertaining and invigorating Thaikkudam Bridge, swept the crowd off their feet with power packed performances of their evergreen and original chartbusters. The menu for this event was creatively designed to suit all taste buds, the first of its kind of any Kerala wedding.  After Party Sangeet was just a start to an unforgettable after party that went on till 4 AM. A special performance was staged by Sooraj Santhosh & Varun Sunil of Masala Coffee, Siddarth Menon and Viaan of Thaikkudam Bridge along with Mr. Kaladharan who sang and danced to some nostalgic numbers. The DJs replicated the tempo and set the floor on fire.  Traditional Kerala Wedding A wedding mandap decorated with banana leaves and a floral Ganesha was set up inside the Hyatt Regency Ballroom for the traditional Kerala wedding. Family and friends dressed in the traditional Kerala mundu and sarees sat together to witness the traditional thaalikettu ceremony. Sasikala was gorgeously bedecked in platinum jewellery from TBZ. A first time in Phuket, Kerala’s biggest chef, Noushad, was roped in to create the traditional sadhya on the wedding day. Many foreign guests, intrigued by this kind of food experience, enjoyed the course and taste of the authentic Kerala wedding sadhya. Subsequent to 2 rounds of sadhya, a highly competitive vadamvali was held between the couple’s friends.  Thai Vows The beautiful white beach of Dusit Thani vouched to be the perfect venue to host the Thai Water Ceremony – the traditional Thai wedding. Britto dressed in a tuxedo flown in from Austria and Sasikala in a designer gown with crystal embellishments, looked gorgeous as a couple. They were guided to the wedding venue by Lanna Parade with Sabad Chai Drum performers, a celebratory dance in Thailand. A monk blessing ceremony, by 5 monks was conducted with the couple adhering to the traditional Thai rituals. After the blessing ceremony, the couple’s parents initiated the water ceremony by garlanding the couple, binding the couple through a sacred thread and by pouring the sacred water from the conch shell over their hands.

Sakura Ball An ethereal themed contemporary ambience was set for the reception that radiated the essence of romance with profusion of orchids and hydrangeas. The officially wed couple made a grand entrance to their wedding reception with their bridesmaids and groomsmen dancing to the tunes of Sooraj ki baahon mein. The dress code for this evening was western suits, gowns and national attire.The national attire worn by many foreign guests were intriguing. The perfect finale to the wedding celebrations was the specially orchestrated ensemble by the celebrated musician’s from our Industry. BBQ was the specially designed menu for this event.Every compassionate moment, every intimate memoryand precious instants at this grand wedding were beautifully captured by Serendipitous Smiles, Wedding Cinemas and Paperboat; wedding photographers from Ahmedabad and Kerala. Their candid, narrative and story-telling captures have already kindled excitement on social media.   Pallavi Devika, the renowned bridal makeup artist and her team of make-up experts were flown in from Delhi to cater to the beauty needs of the bride and her family. And ofcourse, the bride looked absolutely gorgeous at each of her wedding events.  Celebrities on the likes of Actor Naren, Actor Jojo, Writer, Director and Producer Martin Prakkat, Producer Liberty Basheer, Director Renjith Paul and the likes joined the shindig to enjoy every bit of the celebration.

  It was one of a kind experience to be a part of this massive celebration. There were many firsts to this wedding. The first ever Keralite destination wedding to be held in a foreign country. The first ever attempt at coordinating and arranging to serve traditional Kerala Sadhya in Thailand for 500 guests. The first time that such a massive effort was taken to create an international experience for a Malayalee wedding. Having set a benchmark, this wedding is going to be a magnanimous game changer for weddings from Kerala. The team at Rainmaker Weddings worked to experience, stretch the limits and go beyond the comfort zone to make this fairytale wedding a dramatic reality!