Garima Ahluwalia and Anand Rathi – Jaipur, Rajasthan
Anand and Garima met through a common friend around 7 years ago. They chose Raj Palace in Jaipur as their wedding venue, primarily for its accessibility which turned out to be a big plus for them.
Anand and Garima met through a common friend around 7 years ago. Says Anand: “She was in Delhi then studying architecture and I was in Hyderabad. It had always been a long-distance relationship (in fact, the distance peaked towards the end). We are two very different people, I’m an extrovert and adventure junky. She is homely and organized. There is only common denominator … the realization that somehow we are made for each other.”
Raj Palace
Says Anand: “Jaipur offers some of the most spectacular heritage monuments in India which have now become accessible for wedding celebrations. Also, being Rajasthanis my family wanted a reflection of the Rajasthani culture, the colours and the decor in the venues. Raj Palace was our choice as the wedding venue, Rani Sisodiya Bagh the venue for Sangeet/Cocktail and Entertainment Paradise Cinema Hall for the musical night before the Sangeet. We did consider some other resorts and palaces like Samode, however the accessibility of Raj Palace turned out to be a big plus.”
The Wedding Planner
Rahul Taneja (he runs the company LiveCreations) managed the events. He has been operating in Jaipur for the past 12 years. Our choice of wedding planner was pretty simple. Many wedding planners approached us, but none were able to guarantee the requisite decor of the Sangeet venue in a day’s time (it was booked on the day before and after). Rahul pulled off the seemingly impossible task.
The wedding being a multi-cultural celebration (Anand is from Rajasthan and Garima is a Punjabi), blended the traditions. The wedding functions included the musical night, a night club-themed party for youngsters, the mehndi, the sangeet and the wedding.
Decor
The venue- Rani Sisodia Bagh is a multi-tier garden located in a small valley on the outskirts of Jaipur. In terms of area, it is one of the largest venues Jaipur has to offer. Also, it is beautiful in its untouched state, so decorating it is a big challenge. We had several iterations of possible suggestions for decor with our wedding planner and finalised on a decor that highlights the arches and the facade of the venue. Since it was a night function and the ambient light is low, pleasant mood lighting was used for food and audience area.
The decor at the wedding venue Raj Palace was subtler. We wanted to retain the quaint ambience of Raj Palace hence the lighting was minimal. No props/heave lights were used which allowed for a very relaxed ambience.
Music
There was a musical night on the day before Sangeet- old Bollywood melodies orchestrated by Anand Panwalkar and group (from Mumbai). On the wedding night, we had a Scottish Bagpiper Band of the Indian Army and another live band of the Gurkha Regiment.
Wedding Wear
Says Garima: “For the musical night, I wore a floor-length anarkali suit designed by Tanu Batra. The outfit designed in peach and fuchsia pink had an intricate combination of heavy chikankari work and zari. My wedding lehenga was a deep shade of maroon with zari embroidery and the dupatta was a contrasting kesari yellow; jadau jewellery complemented the traditional, bridal look.” Says Anand: “I’m not a big fan of heavily embroided attire. For the sangeet I wore a Jodhpuri Angrakha with slim fit trousers. For the wedding, I picked a pastel cream sherwani with a multi-line pearl necklace as an accessory.”
Says Anand: “I’m not a big fan of heavily embroided attire. For the sangeet I wore a Jodhpuri Angrakha with slim fit trousers. For the wedding, I picked a pastel cream sherwani with a multi-line pearl necklace as an accessory.”
Our Recommendations & Advice
We thoroughly enjoyed our photo experience with Photokhichega (Abhinav and Avani Sah) and would highly recommend them. Also critical to the success of the wedding was Mr. Rahul Taneja who did an amazing job with execution of the decor.”
Our advice to WeddingSutra readers- sit back and relax on the days of the wedding celebrations. Don’t bother double checking what is going right or wrong on the day of the wedding. Enjoy the moment, all else is secondary
Photographs courtesy:http://www.photokhichega.com/
