Nupur Mahajan and Jaideep Sinh's flash wedding
On a Monday evening, Nupur and Jaideep decided to get married in Mumbai; and their wedding was on Sunday the same week. Journalist Nupur Mahajan on the fun and tensions of her flash wedding and her transition from mini-skirt girl to head-covered saree clad princess.

About Nupur
The daughter of an army officer, Nupur studied all over the country. She graduated from Sophia Mumbai and then pursued Mass Communications at Symbiosis, Pune. She was a correspondent at Bombay Times before moving to STAR TV as a Special Correspondent. She quit STAR early this year and took over as the Editor of Downtown Plus, the South Mumbai supplement of The Times of India. Nupur's parents, Col and Mrs Mahajan are settled in Dehradun where her mother runs Finesse, a finishing school. Her elder brother is in the Armoured Corps.

About Jaideep
A scion of the Royal Family of Muli in Saurashtra, Jaideep's family includes his grandmother, the Rajmata of Muli, his father Thakur Jitendra Sinh the Chief of Muli, his mother, the princess of Bikaner and Rani of Muli and brother Ranjit Sinh, a travel consultant who is married to veteran politician Digvijay Singh's daughter. 28 year old Jaideep's cricketing career came to a halt eight years ago, after he hurt his thumb. He then changed track, and went on to do an MBA after which he worked for AT & T and Reliance Infocomm. He is now runs Beyond Boundaries, a Sports Management and Marketing Consultancy.

How they Met
Nupur and Jaideep met through a common friend a few years ago, when Jaideep was seeing Nupur's friend. Says Nupur: "When we met we both were in the frame of mind of a permanent relationship. But as a friend was dating him, each time he'd ask me out I'd turn him down." They continued to bump into each other at parties until Jaideep called her one day, when he was feeling down, after having just broken up with her friend and his ex-girlfriend. They met on a Sunday and realized that they clicked very well, and they spent an entire day, just chatting and enjoying the small pleasures of life- a walk down marine drive, a movie at the theatre and eating street food.

"There was no need for a proposal or the question popping up, because we both clicked so well. We just knew that we were made for each other", says Nupur. But with love and romance, came the tensions and apprehensions for the dynamic duo. "Everyone from Jaideep's family is married into royalty and both of us knew that Jaideep marrying a commoner would be unacceptable to his family. And my being an independent, career woman would make things more difficult for the ladies in his family have always been home managers", explains Nupur.

A Tough Call
Their relationship went through some tough times due to the opposition they faced from the grooms family. "We finalized the date twice earlier, and on both occasions it was called off. I knew Jaideep loved me very much and would marry no one else, but I also knew that it would be an uphill task for him to get his family to agree. On various occasions, we just decided that all this was getting too unpleasant to handle, and that we should call it off. Moreover, my parents were furious that I had to go through all this unnecessary trouble. But finally, as the cliché goes, love conquers all, and thanks to Jaideep's gentle persuasion, and his uncle Raj Singh Dungarpur's intervention, we managed to take the plunge."

Says Jaideep: "It took me time as it was a tough call to decide between parents and the woman I love, and once I even gave in to peer pressure, but immediately I felt handicapped. I knew I couldn't do without her, and so decided to just go ahead... After months of persuasion I finally just got the cards printed and sent them to my family with the hope that anyone who turns up would be a bonus. And it paid, they all showed up and blessed us. There is hope for love!"

The Wedding Functions
Nupur and Jaideep had to organize the wedding all by themselves, and had less than a week to plan it all. Also, says Nupur: "I had just taken up a new job, so I couldn't take leave. So the whole week was crazy." Fortunately, thanks to her Bombay Times stint, Nupur had established contact with some good city vendors, and knew people who had some great contacts. "I had done a lot of interesting stories- featuring Nita Ambani's mehendiwali, Dhirubhai Ambani's paanwallah, Vijaypat Singhania's durzi. All this came in really handy and I used the services of some of these vendors for my wedding", says Nupur.

Mehendi at Gun House
The programme began with a Mehendi at Gun House, a mansion in Colaba that is the residence of Mumbai's General Officer Commanding Maj Gen P.K. Kaul who happens to be Nupur's uncle. It was a followed by a ring ceremony, where Jaideep slipped a beautiful platinum and diamond ring into Nupur's finger.

The Wedding at The Taj President
"One of the reasons we opted to have the wedding at The Taj President was because of Chef Ananda Soloman. I had critiqued his food earlier and we both had enjoyed his spreads", says Nupur. The wedding began at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, April 18, and was attended by our families and close friends. For the first time, the women folk from Jaideep's family attended a wedding; as per his family tradition, women do not attend wedding functions. Jaideep bought Nupur a stunning pink creation from Mumbai's Kimaya boutique and her make-up was done by make-up maestro Cory Walia. The food was a vegetarian spread- with loads of starters, a Konkani and North-Indian main course and a huge array of Indian desserts.

The Reception at the Cricket Club of India (CCI)
While the morning wedding was a traditional affair, the evening function at the CCI poolside had a very modern theme. There were flowers and candles on each table, subtle lighting at the corners. An army band played popular tunes and it was followed by soft piped music. DJ Akhtar then played some swinging numbers. The menu was an Indian spread from CCI and Thai food from Thai pavilion.

"I always wanted a guest book at my wedding, so all the guests signed in the guest register at the entrance of the venue. It is my most treasured possession for in it are all my wonderful memories", says Nupur.

Nupur and Jaideep with Diana Hayden

Nupur and Jaideep with Sunil Shetty, Mana Shetty and friends

Nupur and Jaideep with Aditi Govatrikar and friends

Each day is a Honeymoon
As Nupur had to get back to work the next day, they had no time for a honeymoon. The couple who now live at Anita Building in Malabar Hill's Mount Pleasant Road have had an extremely hectic schedule since marriage but they are now off to Maldives for a week, at the Taj Exotica. "But" says an enthusiastic Nupur: "When you are in love each day is a honeymoon, and three more honeymoons are already planned. September in Europe and December in Australia. And August in Leh..."

Nupur's final exclaim is: "With all this family tension happening, many people ask us 'is it worth it? - as each day is a battle, but yes every second of it is worth it."