Esha and Timmy’s Wedding and Reception
Nov 30, 2009 Celebrity Wedding Pictures
After a week of celebrations, Esha Koppikar married Timmy Narang in a simple ceremony at Juhu’s ISKON temple. Esha wore a traditional red saree with a red dupatta while Timmy chose to wear a very casual mustard-green kurta. And that string of pearls around his neck? Sometimes we feel the best accessory for a groom is just a happy and confident smile, nothing else.
Timmy looked good in his reception outfit though—in a regal black sherwani style jacket and thankfully with full sleeves this time around. The pink piping on his jacket matched Esha’s pink lehenga by Neeta Lulla. Its interesting that beautiful Esha chose a traditional lehenga and didn’t sport one of those daring Indo-Westerns. Esha’s white gold and diamonds looked quite nice with the rich silver embroidery on her lehenga.
Esha’s makeup for the morning wedding was done by Ojas Rajani. Her makeup for the evening reception at Narang House was done by good friend and makeup maestro Cory Walia. Says Walia: “Esha has the most beautiful features and doing her makeup is an absolute pleasure. She has fabulous teeth, perfectly formed lips, a beautiful complexion and a great posture. I gave her the gulab color on her lips to match her outfit, a hint of the same color on her cheeks. For her eyes I used silvery pink eye-shadow, brown kajal and the barest of eye liner. And she was ready for the show.”
We spotted some lookers!
And then there were some who give a whole new meaning to dressing up for a wedding!
Tags: Celina Jaitley, Esha Koppikar, Timmy Narang
Girls in Gold and Groom in Black
Nov 30, 2009 Celebrity Wedding Pictures, People & Parties
In our last post we said Timmy looks good in whatever he wears—we take back our words. For the Sangeet on 27th November, Esha glowed in a gold Neeta Lulla ensemble, but Timmy turned a bit too adventurous and wore a black sleeveless Nehru Jacket. Why sleeveless, we fail to understand! He didn’t look festive nor elegant— just stiff and staid! Timmy attempted to do a first time for the groom—in the pink pants, which he carried off well. Then he wore a heavily embroidered pink kurta, which also looked great. But he failed to impress in the ‘Groom in black’ look.
We loved Esha’s lehenga – but the long choli, we don’t get!
Tags: Anita Dongre, engagement, Esha Koppikar, Neeta Lulla, Sangeet, Timmy Narang
Hottie gets Hitched
Nov 27, 2009 People & Parties
“The women members of Leena Mogre’s Gym are always talking about Timmy Narang, his glowing skin and his hot bod”, says a friend who is a Pali Hill resident and works out at Leena Mogre’s. She adds: “Little wonder Timmy has a complimentary membership to the gym since it started— women turn up at the gym just to see him, and fortunately for him, it’s where he met Esha Koppikar too.” Timmy’s friends say he is obsessed about his skin, diet and exercise routine and he takes his gym schedule more seriously than anything else.
At his pre-wedding functions, the 40 plus groom glowed in his unconventional grooms wear. Our verdict—Timmy can carry off anything, but if most other grooms had worn the same creations—they would look funny. At the pre-wedding ‘Barbie and Ken@ The Disco’ theme bash hosted by sister Ramona, Timmy wore plaid pants and a pink satin belt and tie. Esha looked pretty in a white gown designed by Ashley Rebello. For the engagement Timmy wore a rich pink sherwani with heavy zardozi, teamed with a white churidar. Esha wore a radiant pink ensemble by Anita Dongre.
For a change, we’re looking forward to see the wear of not just the bride, but the groom too. Tomorrow is Timmy’s wedding and we’re sure he’ll chose something grand yet unconventional—and he’ll look good too—for he’s one of the lucky few who looks good no matter what he wears.
Tags: Esha Koppikar, Leena Mogre, Timmy Narang
Couture created @ Colaba, Mumbai
Nov 26, 2009 Fashion & Bridal Wear
The media (including our blog) devoted too much space on Shilpa Shetty’s wedding. Our Facebook friends and fans protested. One friend wrote “Shilpa, Shilpa, Shilpa. That’s all I see everywhere. Next what? Features on her new home and the color of her bathroom tiles?” So we take a break from Shilpa and bridal wear to talk about the creations worn by two famous ladies. At a state dinner hosted by the US first couple for Gursharan Kaur and Manmohan Singh, Michelle Obama wore a champagne-colored gown adorned with sterling silver-plated appliqués. It was created by Mumbai-bred designer Naeem Khan who is now based in New York. The full length strapless gown had a matching chiffon wrap providing formality appropriate for a State Dinner. This she teamed with stacked gold and diamond bangles and glamorous rose cut, amber and tourmaline pear-shaped earrings. Gursharan Kaur, much shorter and older to Michelle, looked equally elegant and smart in a heavy silk saree with classic contrast colors—black with a red and gold border. We asked our saree specialist friends and they aren’t hundred per cent sure if the saree is from Orissa or a Venkatagiri or a Modern Kanjeevaram—so we’d love to know where India’s first lady sources her beautiful sarees from!
Interestingly, Naeem Khan’s creation was stitched and embroidered at his family workshop– SU Zariwala located in Colaba, Mumbai’s old money zone. Naeem’s younger brother designer Azeem Khan operates from this workshop. While Naeem focuses on the international and Hollywood clientele, Azeem caters to wealthy Indians, NRIs and select Bollywood stars. Close to SU Zariwala’s workshop is Adity Designs. Run by Sumangali and Nitai Mehta, the embroidery house limits interaction with individual clients and prefers creating stuff for international couture houses. We heard one of their biggest clients is Versace and Liz Hurley’s Versace wedding gown was embroidered at their Colaba workshop— but the low-profile house prefers to keep quiet about their prestigious clients or exquisitely crafted creations!
Tags: Adity Design, Aditya Designs, Gursharan Kaur, Liz Hurley, Michelle Obama, Naeem Khan, Nitai Mehta, SU Zariwala, Sumangali Mehta, Versace
The Wear@ The Wedding Reception of the Year
Nov 25, 2009 Celebrity Wedding Pictures, Fashion & Bridal Wear
Shilpa’s sexy two piece outfit in gold with Swarovski-encrusted bodysuit along with a satin sari-style gown, would have been perfect for a Red Carpet. For a wedding reception, the world expected more from Shilpa Shetty. Maybe Shilpa was going for an edgy look for the grand finale@ Grand Hyatt– after wearing stuff heavy and bright for the wedding and pre-wedding functions. But its her day and we gotta say that she did look good!
We Lurrved!
We loved Mehr’s traditional lehenga (a Tarun Tahiliani, we are sure) — and she looked rather fetching in it.
Haseena Jethmalani was dressed most appropriately for a reception—a rich velvet blouse and a white saree that looked oh-so-gorgeous!
Shabana Azmi’s beautiful black saree, we like!
Rani Mukerjee’s pretty pink Manish Malhotra saree with a classy beige-brown border.
Kalyani was chic in the lovely white lehenga.
Disappointing
Gauri Khan’s saree with an over-dose of floral elements
Suzanne Khan’s white ensemble- what is it? A saree, a lehenga, a gown? We are foxed!
Shamita Shetty’s saree by Manish Malhotra—too much bling!
Amisha, Amisha, what do we say!
Tags: Aishwarya Bachhan, Amisha patel, Gauri Khan, Kalyani Chawla, Mehr Rampal, Shilpa Shetty, Suzanne Roshan
Who is The Wedding Planner to Bollywood Superstars?
Nov 22, 2009 Celebrity Wedding Pictures, Wedding People & Planners
Delhi’s top wedding planners Geeta Samuel, Meher Sarid, Vandana Mohan are more in the news vis-a-vis the prominent wedding planners of Mumbai– Aditya Motwane of Percept, Gurlein Manchanda Puri and Martin Da Costa of Seventy. The reason is obvious—while loads of money is spent in Mumbai, Delhiites truly enjoy themselves at the big, fat wedding and their city designers set the trend for bridal wear and wedding décor.
Talking of Mumbai, if we asked you to name one or a few Wedding Planners who cater to Bollywood— can you name even one planner? In all probability your answer is ‘don’t know’. Interesting na, considering that Bollywood weddings get talked about for long. So you’ll remember the designer who did the clothes, the bride’s makeup artist or the mehendiwallih but you won’t know the name of the Wedding Planner. Abhi-Ash, Sanjay-Manyata, Aamir-Kiran, Fardeen-Natasha, Hrithik-Suzanne, Kajol-Devgan, Twinkle-Akshay, Madhuri-Nene— perhaps, none of them even hired the services of a professional wedding planner. They took the help of their friends to put together everything and being networked with event management walas they had plenty of resources on hand.
We don’t know if Shilpa Shetty-Raj Kundra have hired a professional event management agency to manage the affair at Khandala and Grand Hyatt—but the woman who has emerged as Shilpa Shetty’s unofficial Wedding Planner is the hugely ambitious Kiran Bawa—almost unknown in the business and social circuit till a few years ago, the franchisee of VLCC in Mumbai and daughter of the owner of Hotel Bawa International, Kiran shot into the limelight when she teamed up with Shilpa to launch Iosis, the upmarket Spa. Kiran and Shilpa have plans to open many more spas and salons throughout India.
Not only is the wedding being held at Kiran Bawa’s home, Kiran has been Shilpa’s spokesperson too. So here’s the input from Kiran, on Shilpa’s picks and the Spa services for the wedding guests at the wedding venue.
Clothes
Shilpa and Raj both chose Delhi based designers. Shilpa’s clothes are all by Tarun Tahiliani. Raj has chosen Shantanu and Nikhil. At the mehendi Shilpa wore a very un-traditional hot pink Swarovski crystals kaftan. For the sangeet she chose a Anarkali churidar kurta. Her wedding saree is a traditional bunt saree, in burgundy and red. For the reception, she’s wearing a saree which looks more like a gown with as many as eight thousand crystals stitched to it. Raj is wearing a black short sherwani with pants.
Music
Shilpa and Raj danced to Teri Ore from Singh is King and the choreographer for the Sangeet was Ganesh Hegde. Daler Mehendi also performed at the function. A Hawaii-themed mehendi ceremony preceded the sangeet.
Wedding
The Wedding with 150 guests was a mix of Punjabi and Bunt traditions. The sehrabandi, chuda and kalire ceremony was held and Raj arrived in a chariot to the wedding venue. The wedding was solemnized in the traditional style of the Bunt community. Spa and beauty therapists from Kiran’s spas and salons were present to provide massage and styling services to the guests.
Food
The lavish buffet at the wedding comprised Hyderabadi and Awadhi dishes from Mumbai’s A-list caterer- Sanjay Vazirani who runs Foodlink.
Watch this space for more information on the Grand reception for 400 guests at the Grand Hyatt!
Tags: Aditya Motwane, Geeta Samuel, Gurlein Manchanda Puri, Kiran Bawa, Martin Da Costa, Meher Sarid, Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty, Vandana Mohan
More Khabar on Celeb Weddings
Nov 19, 2009 Celeb Weddings to Watch out for, Celebrity Wedding Pictures, Wedding People & Planners
Some more khabar on the to-be held celeb weddings in November. Esha Koppikar’s wedding décor is being managed by Kalyani Karandikar, one of Mumbai’s hottest emerging wedding decorators. Kalyani is creating a very traditional décor for the Manglorean wedding function at ISKON Temple, Juhu and a white winter theme décor for the post wedding party at Jade Garden, Nehru Centre. Esha’s beau Timmy Narang is managing all the arrangements for the wedding reception at his home Narang House in Pali Hill. Young, friendly and energetic, Kalyani Karandikar is being touted as the next Gurlein Manchanda in the wedding circuit, and many industrialist families and other high profile personalities are hiring her services to do thematic décor —for weddings and other functions.
Mumbai is heartened to hear the divorced couple Rita and Raja Dhody are together planning a beautiful celebration for their daughter Aneesa. Proves that all bitterness is forgotten in exuberant times, and every couple, even if they’ve parted, are only too happy to come together and jointly plan the best celebration for their loved one.
Grand Hyatt, Mumbai is very excited about hosting Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s wedding reception. The hotel staffers are also having a hard time– avoiding requests from friends and clients who want to ‘hang around’ in the hotel’s lobby on the day of the reception, just to watch all the celebrities walk by.
Delhi is talking about the beautiful invitation cards which Kapil and Sandy Khurana of The Entertainment Design Company have created for Roshni Nadar and Shikhar Malhotra who are marrying on 29th. Brothers Kapil and Sandy specialise in creating exquisitely designed cards using traditional crafts and modern techniques. Delhi is also looking forward to see the décor which ace wedding planner Geeta Samuel is creating for Roshni and Shikhar’s wedding celebration at Kamal Nath’s opulent ministerial bunglow. Interestingly, the couple have set up their Gift Registry at one of the most popular US websites—a relatively unknown concept in India, this is the first time we’ve heard of a high profile couple setting up their wedding gift registry.
Tags: celeb weddings, Esha Koppikar, gift registry, Roshni Nadar, Shilpa Shetty, Timmy Narang
Weddings to watch out for!
Nov 16, 2009 Celeb Weddings to Watch out for, Celebrity Wedding Pictures
Roshni Nadar the CEO of HCL Corp and industrialist Shiva Nadar’s daughter is marrying Shikhar Malhotra, a distributor for Honda at the end of the month. And further to our earlier post on Weddings at Homes and Farmhouses, we’re happy to hear another high profile couple has chosen to get hitched at a home. Roshni and Shikhar will marry at the ministerial bunglow of Kamal Nath, the minister of Road Transport. With India’s powerful business baron’s daughter marrying at a top politician’s home, we’re sure this wedding will be attended by India’s who’s who. We’ve always seen Roshni in smart and well cut business suits and we’re wondering what the Tamilian bride will wear since her fiancé is Punjabi. A traditional or an understated contemporary saree or a rich heavily embroidered designer lehenga? Watch this space for more!
Aneesa Dhody, the beautiful daughter of Rita and Raja Dhody will soon marry Harsh Mehta, nephew of celebrated architect Pinakin Patel. Luxury and Style are Aneesa’s family forte. Her dapper business magnate father dabbles in luxury interiors. Mother Rita Dhody, one of Mumbai’s best dressed women takes on styling work for high profile shoots and select films. Aneesa is pursuing a career in Brand Management of luxury brands. We are sure this wedding will generate loads of interest and set new standards in wedding décor and bridal style.
Tags: Aneesa Dhody, Rajeev Sheth, Rita Dhody, Roshni Nadar, Shiv Nadar
Mridula-Osh Wedding Affair@Aurus
Nov 15, 2009 Celebrity Wedding Pictures, People & Parties
More than the in-the-news Shilpa Shetty and Esha Koppikar whose weddings are this month, we were really looking forward to seeing pictures from the wedding celebrations of model Mridula Chandrasekhar and the debonair Osh Bhabani. Osh co-runs b:blunt with sister Adhuna (Farhan Akhtar’s wife). He was born to a Bangladeshi father and English mother and he had a very English upbringing. Mridula, on the other hand grew up in a typical South Indian family in the Central suburbs of Mumbai. We were sure the Mridula-Osh wedding would be the most chilled-out and fun event—and it certain looked so. The venue for the celebrations was Aurus, the beautiful beachside resto-bar cum lounge at Juhu. We loved the simple yet elegant look of the bride and groom. Osh looked dashing yet formal in a light shirt and purple/blue tie, while the svelte Mridula looked simple and cute in a pretty pink and white gown.
Some pictures from the wedding party at Aurus.
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Tags: Adhuna Akhtar, Aurus, Mridula Chandrasekhar, Osh Bhabhani
Rent Wedding stuff for a day?
Nov 10, 2009 Fashion & Bridal Wear, Marriage & Wedding Trends
Rent the Runway, a website was founded by a Harvard Business school graduate, when she watched her sister agonize on whether to buy a really expensive new outfit for her wedding. It struck the founder that the bride was going to spend a good portion of her salary on a dress she would wear once or twice only. The solution was Rent the Runway that makes high fashion more accessible and getting it as easy as renting a movie.
In India, almost everyone rents some stuff for the wedding— the venue or a luxury car, décor material or costume jewellery. But very few rent the wedding clothes or real jewellery. What do Indian brides and grooms think about renting wedding clothes or real jewellery? We spoke to two recently-weds and here’s what they say.
Amandeep Gargi
For a memorable wedding, things do not have to be grand, they have to be worth the occasion. Every aspect of a wedding should have sentimental value to make it worth the investment – from clothes, to jewelry, to venues, decor, and the guests. It is not quantity but quality that matters. Decide for yourself what has the most sentimental value to you and budget to buy the most important. If some stuff is there just for glitter and it has no use later (like décor stuff or elaborate costume jewellery), rent it.
Sonika Bhasin
Brides and grooms should buy what they would love to wear—and cherish it as their prized possession for many years. I didn’t overspend—I just bought clothes for the different functions, some smart cocktail wear and a few sarees. My advice to brides and grooms: if budget is a constraint and if you can’t spend on expensive stuff don’t waste money by renting it. Buy a few exquisite creations which you can use for many years. And if you have loads of money, a wedding or marriage should not be an excuse to overspend—you can keep on buying new stuff later, depending on your future needs.
Editor’s View- We think a concept like Rent the Runway will find it hard to succeed in the bridal space in India. While Indian brides are greatly influenced by bollywood fashion and tend to over-purchase, they are very sentimental about their wedding clothes. They know they may not get to wear their wedding sarees or lehengas again but they look forward to preserving it as a fond memory of their beautiful wedding. Most Indian women are very creative and enterprising in their approach and they truly enjoy the process of scouting for, short-listing and purchasing the best creations; if they really pine to own a dream designer creation, and they can’t afford it, they request their tailor or designer to make a copy of it. Or they go hunting to a store where they can buy an inspiration of the original at a fraction of the cost—and they reconcile to the fact that the copy may not look as fine or elegant as the original creation.
