A flourishing wedding industry
By Shanaz Ramzi
Marriages have featured as the most important event in a person’s
life in practically all civilized cultures, since time immemorial. In our part
of the world, especially, wedding ceremonies have always tended to be elaborate
affairs spreading over quite a few days and involving at least three to four
formal occasions. Regardless of whether a person can or cannot afford to
indulge in the festivities and celebrations associated with marriages, the
prime concern has invariably been to put up the best show possible.
But, when one compares the grandeur of today’s weddings to that of
the finest of those of yesteryear, one finds that they are far removed from
anything witnessed before in terms of conceptualization and execution. And,
although admittedly, such weddings are confined to the moneyed classes, the
trend is fast catching on so that even middle-income groups are now coming up
with economical ways of introducing imaginative touches to wedding festivities.
But, for those who have no budget constraints, or at any rate have
greater financial leeway than most, weddings have become nothing short of dream
sequences from Hollywood
or Bollywood blockbusters. In fact, many prospective couples actually model their
entire wedding receptions on the lines of weddings picturised in popular
movies. And to make all this possible and in fact, choreograph the wedding from
start to finish are wedding planners, who take on most of the responsibilities
of the wedding household, so that all that is required of the bridal party is
to look fresh and welcoming when receiving their guests.
In fact, Meinu Baigmohamad, Aayesha Valika and Yumna Ali Khan,
three
friends who have teamed up as wedding planners and are highly popular, claim
they even see to the arrangements inside the wedding household, so that the
decoration of banisters, lighting, etc. is all taken care of by them! So
involved do they become with their clients from the start -- from designing
exclusive wedding invitation cards to suggesting where to sit, how to make an
entry and which photographer to use -- that it becomes almost like a family
affair for them. Sometimes, the trio even guides the bride as to what
combination she should wear at the wedding.
Yasmeen Katchi, who has been decorating stages for weddings for over
two decades and has over the years, become a full-fledged wedding planner,
admits “Of late, wedding decor and management has developed into an industry.”
Not surprisingly, the options today, are tremendous. These days, clients have
the choice of either getting the entire wedding professionally planned; or just
some aspects of it, such as stages or flower arrangements, giveaways or ‘mehndi
thaals’ handed over to wedding planners.
While on the subject of stages, always an important aspect of
local weddings, today, according to some wedding planners, they could cost a
minimum of Rs 10,000 for basic decor, although if one wishes to spend less than
that, one could do it by opting for just floral arrangements for the scaffold.
Expensive stage settings include backdrop, props, carpet, furniture and myriads
of fresh flowers – one can choose local or imported depending on how much one
wants to spend. Some people go all out and even have landscaped stages with
waterfalls and simulated garden scenarios. Needless to say, the more elaborate
the stage, the more the expenses.
Anisa Khan, another wedding planner
claims that she can detect the
difference in people’s tastes over the course of the last eight to ten years.
Almost a decade ago, she feels, the demand was for relatively simple stages.
“However, over the years, the trend has become to compete with balls and every
couple wants their wedding to look different and more striking than any other.”
Concurring with the view that not just
stages but weddings have become very glamorous and elaborate affairs in the
last few years Baigmohamad says “So stylish have weddings become today that
more and more people are using the services of wedding planners to organize
their events. They want sit down affairs, complete with round tables and fancy
linen. There is a lot of stress on coordinated stages, entrances, ‘takhts’ and
marquees.”
According to Khan, these days an
average reception package for about 500 guests, which includes floral
arrangements, a decorated stage, about 100 to 150 candles, giveaways,
table-setting with napkin rings, ribbons around the glasses and fabric on
chairs, costs over a hundred thousand rupees. So nowadays, when planning a grand
wedding, in addition to all the trousseau expenses, one has to be prepared to
keep aside a substantial sum as ‘style’ expenses.
So grand have
weddings become, in fact, that all occasions now tend to have themes. Often,
the bridal outfit becomes the basis of the theme of the wedding ceremonies.
Hence, if the reception attire is Eastern, then an ethnic or Mughal theme
prevails for which ‘bara
daris’, ‘jharokas’, and ‘dyas’ lining the length of the pathway leading
up to the stage could be used. Non-traditional weddings have varied
themes, such as a black backdrop with stars on them, simulating a galaxy, or a
gazebo to give a modern, dramatic touch. Similarly, ‘mehndis’ could have an
‘ajrak’, ‘chundri’ or ‘jamawar’ theme.
Recently, among the most stylish
wedding organised by wedding planners was a Rajasthani mehndi, complete with a
procession of
camel carts laden with ‘mehndi’ and professional Thari dancers! Another opulent
wedding entailed a Greek reception. Decorated with golden organza curtains
boasting a typically Grecian print, and complemented by stone urns, candelabra
and green heart-shaped wreaths hanging on gold organza backed chairs, the event
transported guests to another country altogether, if not another time zone.
To assist wedding planners in organizing
such grandiose functions are a host of other businesses, both big and small
that have acquired new dimensions and professionalism that were missing say, a
decade ago. Their services can also be hired individually by people who don’t
want to spend mullah on wedding planners, and want to deal with them directly.
Among these are the ubiquitous ‘phoolwalas’, who now not only provide flowers
for all occasions, they are equipped to do stage décor and ambience décor all
on their own – of course with the necessary guidelines provided by the clients
-- that can leave one convinced that there is an event manager behind the
affair.
With ‘mehndis’ now
becoming as important as the wedding day itself, an entire cottage industry has
developed with people specifically catering to ‘mehndi’ accessories. ‘Mehndi
thaals’, ‘mashals’ for girls and boys to hold, bridal canopy, ‘doli’, dowry
boxes, baskets, giveaways and mirrored trays are a few of the items that are
offered for purchase either indirectly through wedding planners, or directly by
those involved in their production. Some wedding planners also rent out
decoration items such as ‘rangolis’, candle stands and ‘jamawar’ partitions.
Even boys can be hired to carry the ‘doli’ seating the bride!
Women operating from the house have also joined the bandwagon, and
keeping in mind the latest trends, create wedding accessories for
purchase, as well as take orders. A case in point is Shamim Munir who
operates through her home under the name of Home Decor. She
supplies ‘mehndi’ platters, complete with sweet meats, flower bracelets
and henna. She also makes trousseau or dowry containers and quaint boxes for
distributing ‘mithai’. Naheed Ansari is yet another enterprising lady who does
entire ‘mehndi thaals’, giveaways, fruit baskets, and gift wrapping for
in-laws.
Another business that has become equipped as never before, to meet
the changing and growing demands of clients, particularly for weddings, is that
of catering. While once caterers merely provided food; tents; basic tables and
chairs; crockery and cutlery; today you can have your pick of ambience decors,
which include different colours and textures of marquees, carpets, lounges,
wooden chairs and elaborate centre tables, nephrons, lamps, mirrors, carved
doors, arches, lights, centre-pieces, candelabra, and what not. In fact, they
have different options to suit different occasions, so that if it is a mehndi
that one wants the caterers to provide for, they will do the decor in a traditional
manner. As with the other services, their facilities could be acquired
directly, or through the wedding planners.
Music has also become an
integral part of weddings today, especially the mehndi function. Whereas, in
the days of yore family and friends used to practice songs for months prior to
the wedding, and the tambourine and ‘dhol’ were an intrinsic part of every
wedding household, today it is a different scene altogether. DJs are hired for
the mehndi function, and dance rehearsals are also held with them, so that they
are in the loop of which music to provide for which meticulously choreographed
Bollywood dance number. Needless to say, special clothes are stitched for all
those participating in the dances so that the visual effect is nothing less
than what one sees on the Indian screen.
As for the wedding
function itself, again depending on one’s taste and budget, one could opt for
anything between a Bollywood singer flown in from India; a home-grown singer; and a
jazz band, to a sarangi player and tabla nawaz for entertaining one’s guests
these days.
Designers too, not to be
left behind, have begun to cater either exclusively to wedding wear or devote a
good chunk of their time and inventory to the production of these luxuriant ensembles.
Costing anywhere between Rs 60,000 to eight lacs depending on the design label
and the intricacy of the work, these bridal outfits are one-of-a-kind and
probably worn just once in the bride’s lifetime, too.
According to Rizwan Beyg,
how heavily a bridal jora is worked depends primarily on family budgets, rather
than on trends. If there is only one major function held, then the ensemble
tends to be heavy, whereas, if there are quite a few occasions, then the bride
could get away with wearing relatively light joras on some of the events.
There are some designers,
though, who are now making bridal wear that are somewhat trendy, and made in a
style that can give the bride maximum wear later. A case in point is
SanaSafinaz, whose current bridal range includes “Long, Mughlai coats worn over
ghagras boasting lengthy trails, and accompanied with long dupattas.” Says Sana “The ensemble makes a
strong statement, and we have been adhering to simple, non-fussy cuts. Their
advantage is they are relatively reasonable and one can get wear out of them
later, by donning the coats with trousers.”
Although no shoe
designers have sprung up that cater exclusively to bridal footwear, there are a
number of ladies now who make ornate and stone-studded footwear ideal for
weddings, and take orders as well. The advantage of the latter is that not only
are the shoes custom-made, making them more comfortable than what is available
off the rack, the pair becomes exclusive, as often they are made in the bride’s
desired combination.
Many jewellers are also
now doing bridal jewellery in keeping with the demands of the times. Gone are
the elaborate full gold sets of yore. The jewellery now matches the clothes of
the bride, and complete matching sets are no longer in vogue. According to
Kamal of Nauratan Jewellers “Brides these days are very aware and influenced by
designers from the west, so that they want to replicate designs made by
Tiffanys, Bulgari, Cartier, etc.”
As for beauty salons, so lucrative has the business become that you can
spot one in practically every corner of a commercial area. Packages for bridal
make-up that include a simple hairstyle but don’t include any of the other
basics like manicure, pedicure and waxing, could go up to Rs 25000. Every
renowned beautician has a signature style that is the reason for her fame, and
depending on whether a bride wants to sport an eastern or western look, and of
course the budget, one or the other make-up artiste is preferred.
According to make-up
artist Shamaine “Doing a bride these days is a lot of fun as there is so much
innovation in clothes and jewellery, leaving a lot of scope for the make-up
artist to display their talent.”
Another aspect that has become an integral part of weddings today is
portrait photography. While any half-way talented photographer with a decent
pair of lens used to suffice in the good ol’ days for taking pictures of the
family and guests present at a wedding, these days the bride and groom shop for
designer photographers who can take creative portrait shoots of the couple,
either in their own studio or wherever the couple so desire. Hence, there are
various photography packages now on offer which include a certain number of
portraits, event photographs, albums, blow-ups and video coverage. It goes
without saying that the cost of the package goes into thousands, and varies as
much with the name of the photographer/studio as with the number of days and
photographs desired.
While many may think it
is sheer extravagance to waste so much money on decor and pomp, not to mention
clothes and make-up just for a few hours, one must admit that today’s weddings
have given rise to an industry of sorts, creating employment for a large number
of people now involved in catering to the burgeoning needs of elaborate
weddings. And although, undoubtedly, the higher end of the spectrum providing
such services is beyond the budget of a vast number of people, there are now so
many affordable counterparts available in every category of service, that one can
cut corners and still manage to have a stylish wedding.
Box One
What’s in this season –tips from experts
Even when a wedding household decides to go with a wedding
planner, and hands over all the arrangements of the various functions to them,
they normally prefer to tackle the other aspects – such as designers, jewellers
and make-up artists, themselves. However, often, even though brides-to-be are
armed with information about which designers, jewellers and make-up artists
they should patronize, they have little or no clue as to what they should
actually get – and are only obsessed with the fact that they should look great.
Since they aren’t really sure of what’s in and what’s out, they don’t have any
idea what brief to give the designer, for instance, and similarly, are unsure
of the kind of make-up they should go for.
So, here are a few tips from experts for the brides-to-be this
season. Recommends Sana Hashwani, the indispensable half of the SanaSafinaz duo
“Go for colourful attires as colour is in this season. Bright and citrus hues
have become popular abroad, and the trend has caught on here as well. Thanks to
air-conditioned tents, wearing of strong, bright colours in the heat of
October, which was once unthinkable, has now become possible.”
Among the colours that style guru Rizwan Beyg suggests for
this season are “Kashmiri pink, which is the new red now, as it looks good with
diamonds as well; soft ferozis, and oyster pinks.”
With regard to make-up, Shamaine
says “Gold is very in this season. Make-up should be neither too light, nor too
dark. Soft colours are in as are smoky eyes, while soft pink cheeks are the
rage. As for hair styles, it is better to have the hair up in a bun, away from
the face.”
Seema of Ravissant Beauty Parlour concurs with Shamaine’s view
that
the smoky look is in, but adds that shimmer is also in great demand this
season. Says Seema “Reds and maroons are still popular with brides, as always,
but the mat look has gone. There is a lot of concentration on the eyes, which
are now very smoky, with a kohled look, while pale lips are sought. By and
large, a natural look is fashionable, regardless of whether the wedding is in
summer or winter. Hence, cakey bases are totally out. As for hairstyles, normally
the front half is tied up, with very little back-combing. Loops are normally
preferred when putting up the hair, rather than anything elaborate.”
While seconding the opinion that a natural look is still very much
in, Rukhsana Tabani of Cistres, adds that translucence is the name of
the game these days. She adds “A dolled-up look is totally out and heavy
foundation is avoided these days.” Also of the opinion that eyes are more
heavily kohled nowadays, and the eye-lined look of the ’60s and ’70s has come
back, Rukhsana says that the translucent look prevails for the lips as well,
even though they have colour.
Says Mussarat Misbah of Depilex “Pinks and peaches on
the face are very popular and bronzers are totally out. False eye-lashes are a
complete no-no, although eyes are the main focus of bridal make-up; and kohls
and brown shades on the eyes are the rage. Eyebrows are very defined now, with
maybe even a little colour added to them.”
With regard to hairstyle, Mussarat opines a simple French knot is
in, so that it can hold the weight of the dupatta, and the hair doesn’t get
into the eyes.
As for jewellery, modern
looking half-sets are popular these days. Today’s bridal jewellery is neither
too light, nor too
heavy. According to Kamal of Nauratan jewelers “Those who want to go for
‘jhumars’ and ‘teekas’ these days, do so only to either return them after the
wedding, or to exchange them with some other more practical jewellery. In fact,
many don’t bother to invest in them at all and wear artificial ‘jhumars’ and
‘teekas’.”
Kamal says sets with filigree work and stones are very in
these days; the stones comprise relatively neutral coloured gems such as
aquamarine, peridot and polki which could be worn with almost any outfit.” Full
sets are no longer worn, and long earrings are in, worn with necklaces, while
matching rings and bracelets are avoided. Instead, plain bangles are
fashionable.
Another interesting trend in bridal jewellery that Shehrezad
Rahimtoola mentions is that of detachable necklaces, so that they can
later be worn in three or four different ways. Says she “What is in now are
diamond chains, which can later be worn on their own, while the centrepiece can
be worn separately on an ordinary chain. Similarly, stones are interchangeable
in sets nowadays.”
Among the stones that are popular for bridal jewellery, according
to
Shehrezad, are brandy topaz, diamonds, green amethyst, rubies,
aquamarine, pink tourmaline and emeralds. “The gold look,” she says, is
totally out, as is “mom’s jewellery, and rhodium polish is being given to gold
sets, to give it a white look.” She advises “Don’t match the stones with your
clothes. Instead, play with colours so that they stand out, rather than blend
in with your attire. So, if you are planning to wear off-white, don’t wear it
with pearls, use emeralds instead. If you are planning on wearing red, use pink
tourmaline instead of red rubies.”
So, if you are making wedding plans, don’t forget to pick up a
leaf
from the diaries of these experts. You won’t go wrong, and will be able
to face your D-Day with confidence!
The Dos and Don’ts in organizing a
wedding:
1)Start drawing up a list of invitees as soon as the wedding date
is finalized and keep adding on whatever names you recall as you go
along. It is always easy to eliminate later, but initial effort should be made
not to forget anyone.
2) Give yourself plenty of time for distribution of cards so that
overseas invitees can receive their cards well in time. It doesn’t matter if
they are not going to attend, the fact that you thought of them will be
appreciated.
3) Maintain a diary that remains with you at all times. It should contain
contacts of all people you are likely to use at the wedding time – event managers,
photographers, make-up artists, designers, caterers, and so on; a list of To-do
things and their up-dated status as time passes; a list of clothes given to the
various tailors/designers/karigars and their status; and a list of gifts, their
budget and their status.
4) Keep your house well-stocked with tit-bits, frozen food items and
squashes/soft drinks to serve a constant stream of drop-by visitors.
Don’t forget a stock of mineral water bottles for overseas guests, and
also ensure that you have enough bedding, toiletries, crockery and
cutlery to cater to the needs of your live-in guests.
5) Don’t take it for granted that once a venue has been
confirmed,
it stands confirmed, especially if the booking has been done way in
advance. Keep following up to check that the booking has not been
cancelled.
6) Never give the correct date to the designers. Always give
yourself a margin of at least a fortnight, for they will NOT deliver on
the scheduled date.
7) Make sure you get your fittings and trials done at least two to three
weeks ahead of the scheduled date, and then try the kameez again just a few
days before the wedding, as brides-to-be tend to lose weight. Also, try on your
jewellery with your jora to see the effect. Sometimes brides realize at the
last minute that the necklace string is too short or too long, or that the
jewellery is not complementing the outfit.
8) Double-check with the make-up artiste the number of appointments
of brides on the date of your booking, and if the parlour has a standby
generator in working order.
9) Make sure that the sound system/band/singer you hire for your
events is in no doubt of the date of the event.
