The Bridal Bouquet

In a country where weddings are big money-spinners,the designer couple’s new role is expected. “A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion and a family leaves no stone unturned to celebrate it with much grandeur. This translates into a lot of scope for luxury weddings,” says couturier JJ Valaya,who recently launched JJ Valaya Luxury Weddings. This bespoke wedding service covers all ceremonies — pre and post-wedding celebrations,besides the main ceremony. Other big names who offer similar luxury bridal solutions include Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla,Tarun Tahiliani and Raghavendra Rathore.

“Based in Rajasthan,I enjoy a tremendous advantage,right from the logistics of hotel stay and travel to cultural aspects. My best memory is of a wedding in a haveli in Rajasthan,where my team and I were in charge of the complete conceptualisation and implementation,” Rathore says. The abundance of such services notwithstanding,a custom-made experience — boasting of a sophisticated design aesthetic — is what the couturiers bring to the table. Be it nature,art or Indian history and heritage,they delve into a variety of subjects for inspiration. Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio,for one,comes up with a wedding theme after a series of consultations with the bride and the groom. “When we are doing the set design for the wedding,we are also commissioned to make clothes for the entire family. So we ensure that the colours chosen for the bride and groom stand out within the elaborate decor,” explains Tahiliani,adding that he veers towards themes that are India inspired with a modern twist.

Given that other aspects — invitation cards,trousseau and décor — have to be looked into,designers have dedicated teams to assist them. Rathore feels that it’s “almost like a fashion show”. “Different teams work independently in their own assigned areas but the designer is responsible for stitching everything together,” he says. Another factor crucial for the success of such an enterprise is time. Elaborate preparations and smooth execution — especially for destination weddings — need planning,which sometimes takes up seven to eight months. A minimum of three to six months is a must for Valaya to take on a client,the other criterion being a generous budget. “Our weddings are luxury events so it’s all about the scale. I put together a wedding at a 30 acre farmhouse in Delhi in February. The guests were ushered inside a snowed-in forest and the path then led them to an Amazonian forest which was created by over 40 artistes from Kolkata,” says Valaya.

Exclusivity and scale also mean that designers have to limit the number of weddings they take on in a year. “Two or three projects make good business sense,” says Rathore.