We have been waiting to put this up for a long time. Our first interaction with the Dhuddu family was several months ago and somehow we hit it off so well. It is inspiring to speak to each one of them and listen to their story. A telugu- tamil wedding with a cultural confluence that sculpted a 3 day Big Fat South Indian Wedding.

We met Adhvith and Archana on our third meeting and one could tell that they just fit perfectly together like ying and yang 🙂 Adhvith runs a startup called AliveNow Inc and has been rated as one of India’s top entrepreneurs. I have seen their work online and it is fab. Archana is an actor with tamil cinema and television and also pursuing a degree in business. The duo is an all brainer.

We planned the wedding for over two months with the Dhuddu family and with every meeting we could tell how much the excitement was building up before the day arrived. The entire period of planning was beautifully scheduled with week one as venue and menu planning. Week two as wardrobe and accessories. Week three as invites, courier and timelines and obviously the decor was religiously planned with as much excitement from the entire family.

The Mehndi, Sangeeth, Cocktails, Varapuja, Baraat, Reception and the Wedding were all very elegant and subtle yet extravagant in its own way. All the events planned out at an out of town Egyptian Themed resort called Confident Amoon and was sort of a ‘Get Away Wedding’ as guests flew in from across the country for the 3-day extravaganza planned out for them. Dhol and percussion set the mood for the mehndi in colourfully tainted gazebos with diwans and feet resting on the lush green this was followed by a fun informal introduction to the couple and families and hi-tea.

The evening sunk into a fun Sangeeth and Cocktails with the entire family participating in karaoke led to a sing-song affair. Day 2 started with a simple varapuja, the set up was white and elegant with just close family and friends. The evening was much awaited and boy was it worth the wait! ….. the most fun baraat we have seen. Well, this is the thing with a wedding with cultural fusion it just gets more and more innovative and as much fun to be a part of. The baraat was initiated with a dhol and followed by a mobile DJ and the horse with of course the groom…. it all summed for a good two hours of dancing and finally ended with a long awaited rose shower on the couple. The evening ended with a nice reception with the couple meeting guests seated across the lawn and moving into dinner. The night was planned with a super fun family anatakshari – Groom’s VS Bride’s, good time to show off knowledge on Indian music and cinema and then we finally stepped out to release sky-lanterns into the night sky till they became an invisible star eventually.

Day 3 started with the serene yet thumping sound of the traditional kerela chendamelam ( directing these guys to the venue to make it on time was a whole new story as they spoke a language alien to us on phone but eventually spoke the most beautiful English to us once they reached – It was one of those “duh moments” to us) The bride made an entry into the wedding mandap on a gold palanquin complemented by the sounds of the chendamelam. The ceremonious rituals continued while the guests read printed booklets of what the ceremonies meant the couple. Day 3 ended with a voluptuous spread of the famous plantain leaf meal and a cute cuddly photo shoot of the couple. We wish you guys the best in life!!

Candid photography & Cinematography – Creative Couple

(https://www.facebook.com/creativecouple.in?fref=ts)

The first thing that comes to our minds when we think about this wedding and the family we worked with is the love, kindness and friendship we experienced. The warmth of this family inspired us to do and deliver our best. With every meeting we felt more and more at home and that’s the nice part of what we do as Wedding Planners, after all it is the biggest day of one’s life and the closest to the heart as well and to feel that feeling with as much intensity makes us understand that what we do goes beyond just a form of business and we sure felt that with this Kannadiga – Bengali wedding.

I remember our first meeting with Mrs Sarit Deshpande and Mr Pratap Deshpande, strangely it felt like we went a long way back and felt almost like home, we sat down on a mug of freshly brewed green tea and started chalking out a plan for the wedding to come. Mr Pratap Deshpande is an ace pilot and Mrs. Sarit Deshpande works in the social sector. The level headed, practical and kind hearted approach of both of them translated on to Pooja Deshpande Mitra. Another key person involved in the planning process was Pooja’s grandma (ajji), who gave us a great deal of ideas on garlands, colors etc . Eventually, we met with Pooja and paused for a second to taken in her gorgeous face, she is such a beautiful woman definitely a make-up artists delight! Pooja is an architect, great fun to be with and a very pleasant person with the most beautiful smile! Viraj’s personality is a lot like Pooja’s, he is lively and easy-going and together Pooja and Viraj definitely are a match made in heaven, They define fun- You can see it when you are around them, always surrounded by friends and family, fun and frolic. They met at a party and hit it off like a roof on fire. One can tell how connected they are.

Now moving to give you a brief about their wedding- The wedding cards were electric blue and white and these colors were carried through the wedding in the gift hamper packaging, decor and clothes. The menu planed for day 1 would define a chaat lovers delight and menu for day 2 was a scrumptiously laid out banana leaf meal. Make up was kept as natural as possible with contemporary and traditional hair accessories for both days. Guests were stationed at 3 different hotels close to Jade garden. The nice thing about Jade garden is that although it is a residential club, it’s as natural as it can get. Hence the scope of working with contemporary elements is promising. Day 1 had shades of pink and purple and we used interesting flowers like rudrakshi and crhrysanthamum, interestingly they go very well with roses and orchids.

We used bright linens for tables and elements like alcohol and goli soda bottles, pickle jars and light bulbs with flowers. We fell in love with the idea of using chalk boards at weddings. It’s just super cool. The bar area was done up with hanging bulbs with individual floral stalks, the dance area on the contrary had a starry backdrop, somewhat like a 70’s hindi flick. We were debating whether to call the night before the wedding a Sangeeth or just a Cocktail Party and well….. Ended up calling it “the party”. This “the party” was so much fun that it would give any other party a run for its money. Started off with the traditional Varapuja,, which is a South Indian custom & symbolizes receiving of the groom by the bride’s parents and a formal introduction of both families. The Varapuja transitioned into the party with firework display. Fire crackers and me do not go hand in hand as sometimes the cracker behave like they have a mind of their own, but fortunately the display delivered to its full potential this time. The party was great fun with food, alcohol and a sing song affair.

The wedding morning begun with the smell of hot filter coffee and jasmine flowers. The flow of guests was slow initially but before one knew it, the venue was packed with guests. The wedding was conducted by a kannadiga priest Viraj was dressed in a traditional Bengali outfit and Pooja was in a traditional kanchi saree with a reddish border to incorporate the Bangali colour scheme – This gave the wedding a very new feel. Hand fans were placed on every chair to help guests beat the heat. The amazingly good-looking couple, the lovely Bengali twist to south Indian ceremonies and the element of fun brought in by the couples’ near and dear ones surely make this a memorable wedding. Wedding colours – Electric blue and white and purple. Make up – Harish Candid cinematography – Studio 33 Candid photography – Manas (www.manassaran.com) Wedding Venue – Jade garden Food – Delhi wala chaat and Adigas