Wedding Wonderland

The Great Indian Wedding is being remixed big time. Starting with a makeover of the bride8217;s been-there-and-done-all-that red and zardozi look, today8217;s wedding trousseau is guaranteed to bring on a head rush.

Bobby Seth, 25, is all set to tie the knot in January next year. Not willing to fall into the trad-trap, she8217;s got designer Azeem Khan to create a two-layered ghaghra in cappuccino, adorned with intricate embroidery. But the colour isn8217;t the only thing that8217;s going to be a shocker. She8217;s going to flaunt a corset with cap sleeves instead of a choli. Khan8217;s sexy corsets are one of the innovations he8217;s offering brides. And Seth, of course, can8217;t stop gushing. 8216;8216;The outfit retains a traditional feel, yet it8217;s very different. I8217;m going to look fabulous.8217;8217;

8220;There is no limit to colours for this season8217;s bridal look,8217;8217; says top couturier Rohit Bal. He advocates bright hues like turquoise, orange, ochre and peacock blue. Many of his clients are demanding a trousseau that could give these family affairs an A- rating. 8216;8216;Nothing conservative, but silhouettes which are young, sexy and modern. Embroidery using beads and crystal has taken over,8217;8217; he adds. Designer JJ Valaya agrees and votes for purples, plums, yellows and turquoise as this season8217;s hot hues.

Manish Malhotra8217;s flavour of the season when it comes to embroidery is gota. 8216;8216;The ribboned patti work of Rajasthan is coming back in a huge way. It8217;s dressy, yet not as heavy as zardozi,8217;8217; he says.

Mumbai-based trousseau veteran Pallavi Jaikishan is definitely dipping her brush into one colour more than all others8212;pink! 8216;8216;I have used a lot of fuchsia in my new bridal line. It8217;s not too garish and brings out the radiance of the bride very beautifully,8217;8217; she says.

But if you8217;re still sceptical, actress Karisma Kapoor8217;s wedding ensemble should banish all doubt. For her grand ceremony that captured headlines last month, designer pal Manish Malhotra decked Lolo in flashbulb-popping hot pink.

The bride8217;s younger sis Kareena8217;s pale green lehenga with a pink and lilac border was a show-stopper too. 8216;8216;So many of my clients are asking for the same thing,8221; says Malhotra.

And as threads get skimpier and baubles turn smarter, versatility is the new buzz word. Bangalore8217;s Ganjam Design Studio8217;s funky Bridal Shower Collection launched at the recent Milan Fashion Week, is a dazzling example in white gold and diamonds. The pivotal piece of the collection, the Bridal Scarf, winds sinuously round the neck, but designer Arunima Bhaumik says, 8216;8216;it can also be worn as a cravat or a tassled pendant by detaching a few pieces.8217;8217;

Mumbai-based jewellery designer Poonam Soni8217;s drawing board is also churning out clever pieces. A four and a half inch long bandh8212;a flexible bracelet in yellow gold, studded with white and black diamonds, aquamarine and topaz will be seen on January bride Monali8217;s wrist. 8216;8216;Instead of wearing innumerable chudas, I8217;ll be sporting this innovation,8217;8217; she smiles.

Then there are those who feel that making a statement with their appearance alone isn8217;t enough. Mumbai-based marketing consultant Nyasha Thani 23 and hubby Harshad Daswani 27 took the plunge earlier this year. Instead of having a conventional ceremony that would only be remembered by their wedding album, they pulled out the stops and had a three-day gala event in Goa.

8216;8216;We didn8217;t want the standard Mumbai wedding in a five-star hotel with 1,000 guests,8217;8217; states Nyasha. Two hundred close friends and family members took part in the fantasy wedding which included a 8216;Sarong and Sandals8217; theme party on the beach, pujas, brunches, a sangeet and a six-course black-tie dinner. 8216;8216;All this while floating in a pool or getting a massage,8217;8217; grins Nyasha.

And how did they make their way to the gauzy white-curtained mandap overlooking the sea? Not in a routine flower-covered set of swanky wheels, but in a cute little buggy!

And while the Goa wedding phenomenon is seeing many takers The Taj Group has seen a 60 per cent increase in out-of-city weddings in the past year, exclusivity is the mantra for the HRH Group of Hotels8217; Jagmandir a possible venue for the Liz Hurley-Arun Nayar wedding and The City Palace Complex, both in Udaipur8212;where Maharajas have tread for centuries.

These plush palaces are settings of unabashed opulence. A baraat of vintage cars, camels and elephants, ridden by Rajput lance-men, exotic Ghoomer and Langa dancers, a dazzling display of fireworks and helicopters strewing flower petals on the wedding party, are just a fraction of the OTT delights. So what if you weren8217;t born with blue blood? You can live the dream if you fork out close to Rs 10,000 per guest.

A new addition to the army of services available are the fairy godmothers who will manage your budget, hunt down the best deals and conjure up parties with casino, jungle and masquerade themes. Wedding planners are no longer an upper-crust luxury. Sneha Tejwani and Dipa Sheth of Occasionz Unlimited have been catering to middle-class families for over a year. 8216;8216;All you have to do is make sure you8217;re looking ravishing at the function,8217;8217; smiles Tejwani.

Meanwhile, Mumbai8217;s A-list wedding planner Gurlein Manchanda has quite a few gilt-edged soireacute;es coming up. Last year she put together a quaint bash on Madh Island, where a dilapidated church was transformed into a gold and lilac dream, with the reception spilling out onto the beach for a Brit-Indian wedding. 8216;8216;This sixteenth-century church was the perfect setting, and nobody had been married here before. After it was done up, it looked beautiful,8217;8217; says the bride who did not wish to be named.

This year, come December Manchanda will bathe the grounds of Mumbai8217;s Turf Club in the light of thousands of candles suspended in mid-air, while another winter wedding will see a forest of blue twigs covering the ceiling, adorned with fairy lights and candles.

Vandana Mohan, who does most of the wedding planning for Delhi8217;s chatterati, paints a colourful picture of change. 8216;8216;Today, weddings are a balance of exotica and fusion.8217;8217; Translated, the mandir panels remain, but the mogras and marigolds have given way to white lilies, tulips and lilacs. The shehnai still plays, but so do Buddhist chants. 8216;8216;Imagine having mirrors, crystals and hookahs at a wedding8212;it is happening, people love them and it8217;s so exotic,8217;8217; says Mohan.

Talking about exotic wedding menus these days are an eclectic orgy of cuisines8212;appam bars and spiced cheese fondues vie for favour. 8216;8216;Gone are the days of the three vegetarian and three non-vegetarian dishes,8217;8217; says Amrish Arora. His Fountain Caterers in Mumbai offers a special accent on live cooking, with several counters, where you can watch your lamb terriyaki or chicken satay being skewered at a live bar.

Mumbai-based Farrokh Khambata8217;s service Catering and Allied, looks to pleasure all palates8212;even those that yearn for Greek or Japanese cuisine. Flair bartenders shake up a chocolate or jalapeno margarita while fine china holds delicacies from distant lands.

So, what next? Bikini brides or grooms in Rohit Bal skirts? We can8217;t wait.

With inputs from the Delhi bureau