Love in the air- in Goa
Nov 28, 2012 Destination Weddings
Meghna & Darshan’s wedding at Grand Hyatt Goa was a beautiful and elegant affair. Meghna looked stunning, and Darshan super happy and their photographs convey the joy they exuded.
The mandap was designed in the shape of a Lotus; there were electrifying performances by Vishal Shekhar and renditions by Adnan Sami. As one of the guests rightly quipped: “A big celebration, executed with a lot of style.”
Photographs courtesy
Avantika Meattle
www.avantikam.com
Ram & Gautami Kapoor celebrate their Platinum Day of Love
Nov 28, 2012 Precious Platinum
Television actor Ram Kapoor along with wife Gautami, unveiled the new platinum jewellery range at Ranka Jewellers in Pune recently. The couple celebrated their day of love by exchanging platinum jewellery at the showroom. “Platinum for me signifies everlasting love, which needs to be celebrated in the most special way. I still remember, 10 years ago when I got married to Gautami despite the traditional value of gold, I gifted her a platinum ring,” said Ram Kapoor. Gautami added, “I am thrilled beyond words to exchange precious platinum jewellery with my husband. Being a woman, I am definitely very fond of jewellery. But this platinum necklace is not just a piece of jewellery for me, but is something that is symbolic of the extraordinary relationship that I share with my husband and defines who we are. It holds a very special place in my heart.”
Shown below is the platinum jewellery they chose for this special occasion.
Glitz and Wow Weddings this Season
Nov 22, 2012 Celeb Weddings to Watch out for
Its the time of the year when you hear about weddings and the grandest weddings. And you’re reading about it here first- news on the most high profile city and destination weddings.
Vardhan- Rawal Wedding in Mumbai
Kunal Vardhan, son of prominent builder and owner of Worli’s Atria Mall Champalal Vardhan is marrying Ritika whose father Neeraj Rawal, is a big name in the liquor distribution business. The ten day celebrations kicked off with a fun youngsters party at Atria Mall and the finale event is a grand reception at Mumbai’s Turf Club on November 24th. In 2010, Kunal’s sister Neelam’s wedding was the talk of the town- dubbed as the most expensive wedding in Mumbai, the highlight was a ‘Bingo Night’ at Grand Hyatt where the first three prize winners won an Audi-4, a BMW-3 Series and a C-class Merc!
Akon@Big Indian Wedding in Udaipur
Udaipur, India’s destination wedding capital will again witness one of the grandest weddings- Puru Sethia, son of UK business magnate Nirmal Sethia weds and International music sensation Akon will be performing a duet with Priyanka Chopra at his Sangeet at Jagmandir Palace tonight. The four day celebrations are at different exotic locations- Manek Chowk, Jagmandir, Devi Garh and Zanana Mahal. Many more ace artists are part of the celebrations- famous violinist Vanessa Mae, a 110 member circus group Cirque De Soleil, Kailash Kher, Raja Hasan and DJ Aqeel.
Singing sensation Akon performs at the Sangeet of Puru Sethia in Udaipur tonight. Jagmandir Palace, the venue for Puru Sethia’s sangeet
Mumbai’s high profile Banker’s daughter weds in Delhi
Rana Kapoor, the head honcho of YES Bank, one of the most enterprising individuals in the banking domain, is also well known for his passion for the good life. So naturally when his daughter Raakhe got engaged to Dubai businessman Alkesh Tandon, this was a dream assignment for India’s top wedding planners. E-Factor Events won the plum account of managing the Entertainment part of the extravaganza while the decor for the different functions at venues like Taj Palace and a farmhouse are being done by the best names in wedding design & decor- Delhi’s Geeta Samuel and Mumbai’s Dhun Cordo.
Dr Rana Kapoor and his wife. Their Daughter Raakhe Kapoor and fiance Alkesh Tandon
Destination Aamby Valley
Five years ago, the Sahara group Chairman took a decision of opening the doors of his prized Aamby Valley for wedding celebrations. Since then the destination has emerged as one of the favorite venues of the richest members of the Marwari community. Ahmedabad based Red Events, are managing four big weddings at Aamby Valley, including the wedding of the scion of Haldirams. The functions with different exotic themes, take place between 8th and 10th December, the decor for which is by R-1 Events, who specialise in exotic wedding decor.
Power Alliance in Pune
Swapnali, the daughter of flamboyant Pune hotelier and construction magnate Avinash Bhosale weds Harvard trained educationist and Youth Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam on December 8th. Over 20,000 guests are expected at the mega wedding that is being planned by Aditya Motwane of Percept Weddings. Two years ago, Swapnali’s brother Amit’s wedding celebrations at Amanora Park Town in Hadapsar were a glitzy affair, and the swish set in Pune and Mumbai and looking forward to the Bhosale family celebrations again.
Builder Avinash Bhosale and his wife Gauri
Avinash Bhosale’s daughter Swapnali weds Youth Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam in Pune
Chennai industrialists daughter weds Media barons son
Nayantara, daughter of Chennai industrialists Nina and Shyam Kothari is marrying Shamit, the son of Shobana Bhartia (Chairperson of The Hindustan Times). The wedding is in January, in Chennai after which the Bhartias host a celebration in Delhi. Last month, the Bhartias hosted a royal theme dinner at Delhi’s Imperial Hotel to formally introduce the to-be-weds to some of their friends. “I have been to the most beautiful celebrations in the world, but nothing compared to the class and understated elegance of this celebration”, a guest told us. We can’t wait to see the wedding photographs; seems highly unlikely though since the Kotharis and Bhartias are very private people.
An Elegant Affair at Taj Mahal Hotel
A week after Nayantara’s wedding in Chennai, is the wedding of Arjun Hitkari, son of prominent socialites & business persons Debbie and Arun Hitkari. Arjun is marrying Gayatri Misra who is the daughter of Ajoy Misra, a hean-honcho with the House of Tatas. So naturally, the venue for the wedding is the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai.
Cakes go Bridal
Nov 19, 2012 Fashion & Bridal Wear
Nitin & Ruchika Khurana of The Sweet Boutique add a new dimension to a dream wedding. The Delhi-based duo whose clients include the city’s most well heeled, now customize wedding cakes to match the bridal outfit!
Romantic renaissance art wedding cake with red roses & cupids inspired by a red bridal gown (Kisneel by Pam)
Traditional royal blue & gold cake with Maharaja paintings & Mughal patterns inspired by a royal blue velvet lehenga (House of Valaya)
A four tier ivory colored wedding cake inspired by a gown (Sonal Kalra Ahuja)
Peacock wedding cake inspired by peacock theme gown (Sonal Kalra Ahuja) and Elegant pearl wedding cake inspired by gold chiffon saree gown (Kisneel by Pam)
Ivory and purple carnations wedding cake with golden carvings inspired by a bridal gown (Sonal Kalra Ahuja)
A five tier peach and gold wedding cake inspired by a peach and gold bridal gown, A red and gold wedding cake with traditional motifs inspired by a Mughal theme velvet ensemble
To know more about The Sweet Boutique visit www.thesweetboutique.in
Destination Hyderabad
Nov 12, 2012 Destination Weddings, Taj Hotels Resorts Palaces
The Taj Group of Hotels in association with WeddingSutra.com invited some of India’s luxury wedding planners to stay at Hyderabad’s legendary Falaknuma Palace. Many of India’s grandest weddings have taken place in Hyderabad and with the revival of palace properties like Taj Falaknuma Palace and Chowmallah Palace, the invitees were most excited to visit Hyderabad- after all, they would not only experience the hospitality of the Taj Group, they would also get to see how and why the group spent 15 years restoring and renovating the palace.
A horse-drawn carriage (restored from the Nizam’s time) takes guests up a hill to the palace.
The Taj Falaknuma Palace is like no Indian palace most of us have seen in Rajasthan and other states, it looks almost European– a grand country mansion of an English nobleman.
More a palace, than a hotel.
“So you stayed at the magnificent Falaknuma. I’m envious”? many friends remarked. Staying there was not just a special experience, it was an experience of a lifetime- after all Falaknuma Palace offers guests an experience than is hard to replicate anywhere in the world.
Photographs courtesy
Sandeep Dinker
www.photobrahma.com
https://www.facebook.com/PhotoBrahma
Aneesa Dhody talks about her Guide to the Goodlife
Nov 8, 2012 People & Parties
Aneesa Dhody Mehta’s parents are well-known among Mumbai’s elite and fashionable. Her mother the very elegant Rita Dhody is considered as Mumbai’s original fashion doyenne and father Raja Dhody one of India’s most stylish businessmen. Aneesa, their elder daughter has maintained a low profile and this was one of the first happening parties where we met Rita Dhody and her two daughters Aneesa and Nadine. The occasion was the launch of Aneesa’s new business venture, the portal TheGlobalLocal and the venue was the chic NCPA cafe.
Aneesa Dhody shows Emmanuel Balayer the portal www.thegloballocal.in- ‘An insiders guide to luxury & lifestyle in Mumbai.’
From left to right, Aneesa Dhody, Rita Dhody, Haseena Jethmalani and Nadine Dhody
In 2000, the same year when we launched WeddingSutra.com, some of the most high profile fashionistas and society people launched a portal- so obviously the launches were high profile. And then the launch parties for dotcoms stopped. Thegloballocal launch party reminded us of those days, when many young, enterprising & stylish launched a dotcom
Aneesa began her career in Luxury Brand Management with the Murjani group and since then she has worked on projects with several lifestyle, luxury and beauty brands. TheGlobalLocal, according to Aneesa has been designed to offer the discerning advice and information on the best the city has to offer. A lot of inspiration for TheGlobalLocal, is from Aneesa’s own experiences of guiding friends and acquaintances. The primary target audience is the ‘global minded Indian’ (and expats) for whom the site provides tips and information on luxury and lifestyle products and experiences in Mumbai. We asked Aneesa what’s the question she is asked most often by those visiting Mumbai. “Dining & food”, she answers adding: “not everyone is interested in shopping or clubbing, but everyone wants to know the hot spots for food & drinks.” The other most frequent query, be it those who live in Mumbai or outside is about unique, bespoke gifting ideas. “There’s a big challenge there– to look for what they feel is special and not standard”.
As an added service, Aneesa has drawn on her luxury event planning experience to offer an exciting range of customised event services. The Global Local can arrange for events like Bachelor and Bachelorette parties, Fine Dining@ home, Baby Showers, Anniversaries, Weddings, and Proposals. “No request for a bespoke solution would be too small or too large, be it a pre–wedding bash or organising a sunset cruise to celebrate a special anniversary”, says Aneesa. “There are some special occasions in one’s life where people just want that little bit more. We are there to lend a helping hand, and offer a customised solution focused around the individual’s needs and preferences”.
Tags: Aneesa Dhody, Good life, Guide, Mumbai, Thegloballocal
Power Wedding in Delhi
Nov 6, 2012 Celeb Weddings to Watch out for
Rana Kapoor, the Head Honcho of YES Bank is hosting his daughter Raakhe’s wedding this month-end in Delhi. Raakhe and Alkesh Tandon’s engagement at Maurya Sheraton in April this year was a super-grand celebration, so quite obviously the wedding is expected to be a spectacular affair. Though the Kapoors live in Mumbai they chose to host the Sagaai and Shaadi in Delhi since many of their and the Grooms close friends and family live there.
Raakhe and Alkesh at their engagement in Delhi
The celebrations are at The Leela and Taj Palace. The invitees, who include India’s who’s who are looking forward to the finale, a Celebratory Ball at a Farmhouse on 1st December which will have performances by a troupe who are being specially flown down from Paris.
Raakhe is Bindu and Rana Kapoor’s second daughter. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Raakhe works with her father in YES Bank. Alkesh is based in Dubai, where he runs Best Interiors, an international boutique design house. His cousin is Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. According to the grapevine the Mittal son-in-law introduced the couple when they were both holidaying with their friends in London.
The Matchmaker- Alkesh’s cousin Amit Bhatia, with wife Vanisha Mittal at their wedding in 2004
Tags: Alkesh Tandon, Amit Bhatia, Raakhe Kapoor, Rana Kapoor, wedding
Hyderabad Royalty inspired collection from Ganjam
Nov 5, 2012 Fashion & Bridal Wear
Bangalore–based Ganjam jewellers are known for their distinctive collections—some heritage and some contemporary. Their previous collections include the Ikat Collection that evoked the feel of traditional fabric from Orissa with marquise-cut rubies and diamonds, and the Gerbera Collection that brought the international trend of warm, colourful jewellery to India. The Nizam Collection, Ganjam’s recent offering is inspired by the jewels of the erstwhile Nizams of Hyderabad.
Earrings- Green tourmalines, yellow sapphires, pearls and diamonds set in 18k yellow gold and
Necklace- Emeralds, pearls and diamonds set in 18k yellow gold
Till recently, some of the priceless jewels of the Nizams were housed at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, but are currently in the custody of the Reserve Bank of India. The Ganjam family, and Eswar Ganjam, the Chairman of Ganjam have personally worked with the collection. Eswar Ganjam handled the jewels when he evaluated the collection on behalf of the government of India in 1978. Ganjam’s Nizam collection was designed with a lot of inputs from Eswar Ganjam’s and the research by the design team who got to see jewels on display at the National Museum in New Delhi some years ago.
Bracelet- Green tourmaline, yellow sapphires, pearls and diamonds set in 18k yellow gold and
Choker- With colored gemstones, diamonds, and pearls, all set in yellow gold.
Kalgi brooch (head accessory) with detachable feather, green tourmalines, yellow sapphires, pearl
and diamonds, Pendant with rubelites and diamonds
Ring with rubelites and diamonds
Tags: Ganjam, Nizam collection
