Aastha Sharma

Aishwarya Rai’s personal stylist and entrepreneur, Aastha Sharma had an intimate and a very fashionable beach wedding at Mumbai’s Hotel Sea Princess in November this year. Aastha is a celebrity stylist as well as founder and style director of Wardrobist Consultancy. She married Karanbir Lamba who is actress Minissha Lamba’s brother, and their wedding was attended by her family and close friends, many of whom are celebrities. Here, she shares details of the wedding and her different looks for functions.

How We Met
We met three years ago in a café near my building. Karanbir used to live right across my house, and that was when our eyes met. We started talking and gradually dated for three years before we got married. I felt a very strong connection with him and knew we would eventually settle down together soon. He finally proposed to me on a beach in Goa on the 14th of February this year, following which we met our parents, and with their blessings, we decided to get married.

Wedding Venues
I am a complete beach bum and always wanted a beach or outdoor wedding. We were initially planning to hold our wedding in Goa but it didn’t work out. We got married at Hotel Sea Princess as its outdoor pool area suited our elegant tastes. The main criteria for our wedding was that we wanted our guests to relax and enjoy all the three days of our wedding functions.

Wedding Functions and Looks

Mehndi
The mehndi ceremony was organized at home with close very close friends and relatives in attendance. My dear friend Nupur Kanoi who is a fashion designer made me a beautiful fuchsia pink one-shoulder jumpsuit. It was very comfortable and I was able to move around with ease in it as well as sit for long hours during my mehndi ceremony. I wanted a very simple makeup look for my mehndi function and decided to do it myself.

Haldi
I wore a plain georgette yellow saree for the haldi ceremony and adorned custom made gold kaleeras with peacock tassels. The ceremony full of fun and laughter was held at Sea Princess itself.

Sangeet and Cocktail
We zeroed on Kino Cottage in Versova as our sangeet venue as it has a beachside area which was perfect for enjoying relaxed and breezy sundowners. The décor was very dreamy with lanterns and flowers which reflected the happy and fun mood of my sangeet.

I was very sure of all my wedding looks because I am from the showbiz industry. I wanted my outfits to look elegant and suit my easy and casual style. I have been blessed to be associated with the best designers so it was very easy to put my ideas across to them. My close friend Nikhil Thampi made a stunning outfit for me – a vibrant yellow crop top with flared pants which had beautiful hand embroidery on it. The jewellery was done by Suhani Pittie which was very minimal in style as I just wore just a ‘haath phool’ and earrings. Billi Manik did my makeup and hair as she understood my minimalist preferences. She gave me beautiful shimmery eyes and beachy waves hair which looked fabulous.

Wedding
We had a small mehndi ceremony at Hotel Sea Princess and wanted to keep it very private and intimate with only our family members and close friends. My pheras took place in the lagoon-facing poolside area of the hotel. I wanted a traditional red and yellow décor setup and had the whole area decorated with marigold and rajnigandha flowers, and my vision was executed very well by National Decorators.

I wore an orange Anita Dongre outfit which I always wanted ever since I first saw it on the runway! I was sure that I wanted an orange ensemble in my wedding trousseau. Anita Dongre’s team was super helpful and made me the most beautiful bridal lehenga that I wanted. It was both comfortable and gorgeous, and I matched it with jewellery from Pink City by Anita Dongre to complete the look.

Reception
We didn’t want to have a typical reception where we would stand on the stage and have our guests meet us. We had a very limited guest list and I wanted all my friends to meet and mingle around easily. So we organized a party at Trilogy NightClub in the hotel which has an amazing vibe. I was careful that it did not end up looking dark and dingy like a typical nightclub. We did the decor in a way that it looked uplifted, with a Gatsby-esque vibe and decorated the area with flowers, soft lights and photo booths.

My most favorite designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee designed a stunning deep red high-waisted skirt with a matching crop top and a long embellished jacket. His work is like a piece of art. I had briefed him that I wanted something that I could dance in easily as well as wear at occasions other than my reception party. I wore jewellery from TBZ – The Original that matched my glamorous look completely.

Advice to the to-be brides
Trust your gut; you are always subconsciously aware of the kind of a wedding you desire. Don’t be fooled by the media or constant advice – just plan a wedding that you can enjoy. You don’t need to hire the biggest wedding planner or high-profile fashion designers to make your wedding look grand. Just trust your gut and plan a wedding that you can reminisce about forever.

The Wedding Makers
Locations: Hotel Sea Princess (Juhu, Mumbai) Kino Cottage, (Versova, Mumbai)
Outfits: Nupur Kanoi (Mehndi), Nikhil Thampi (Sangeet), Anita Dongre (Wedding), Sabyasachi Mukherjee (Reception)
Wedding Designer -Jean Pereira
Jewellery: Suhani Pittie, Pinkcity by Anita Dongre and TBZ – The Original
Kaliras: Mrinalini Chandra
Makeup Artist: Billi Manik, Out of the Box
Decor: Jean Pereira (Sangeet & Cocktail), National Decorators (Wedding), Kamali & Co (Reception)
Invitation & Stationary- Inviluxe Invitations

Photography & Cinematography- The Lightsmiths

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