An Affair to Remember

Divya Gurwara,CEO of Bridal Asia,one of the first bridal exhibitions in the country,says,this year,the average price for lavish decorations at a wedding could be as much as Rs 30 lakhs. “Couples want to make it a memorable experience for themselves as well as the guests. There have been requests for a chopper to drop the couple at the mandap; one bride even wanted gold coins encrusted into her lehnga,” she says.

Bangalore based mother-daughter designer duo Seema and Jamila Malhotra,who were recently in the Capital to preview their new collection,say that anarkali-style lehngas and sarees are now equally popular at weddings in north and south India. Colours like burnished golds,vermilion reds and fuchsia pinks with handwoven sequins and semi-precious stones are the rage this season.

Delhi designer Manav Gangwani is focusing on the opulence of wedding gowns this season. “I’m using sequin sheeted nets,silk satins,French lame and various other intricate laces for bridal gowns this year,” he says. Brides have a clear brief these days and Gangwani says it reflects in his work. “My designs have been especially crafted for women unbound by prudence or propriety,” he says.

Invites play a crucial role in representing the grandeur and scale of the upcoming wedding. People no longer use the same boring template from the printer that the family has been employing for previous weddings. Invites are now colour-coordinated and matched to the themes of the venue,and the dress code of the couple. They are invariably accompanied by a small gift box,which can contain sweets,chocolates,dry fruit,and more recently,customised silverware. Men,too,have increased their interest in the planning stages. “Earlier,the parents,or the future bride at most,would decide,” says Neha Singh Bhatia,who crafts invites for weddings. “Now,grooms too send in their suggestions,” she says. Bhatia’s invites range from Rs 200 per card,and go up to Rs 2000,depending on the customised accompaniments. “There is a huge gap between the quality provided by the local vendors and the demands of the customers. Even people from outside Delhi make special trips for such customised invites,” says Bhatia,whose Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge themed wedding invites are one of the fastest movers.

In fact,invites and themes inspired by movies are the rage this year. A bride from Mumbai,inspired by the 2007 film Saawariya,recently requested Singh to create a makeshift moon from which she could come down to the mandap. Singh constructed an eighty feet ladder with a rotating lift for the entry. Now Singh is currently engaged in planning a star cruise wedding for a Delhi industrialist based in the US,who met his future wife at sea. “We’re going to re-create the magic of their first meeting. Around eighty guests will be flown in and taken along for the three day ceremony on board the cruise,” says Singh.