Congratulations! You’re engaged. Now, post the celebrations come the wedding planning. Ground zero of this process invariably with start with thinking about the size and scale of your celebrations. As the South Asian community, we often lean towards the idea of a big, fat Indian wedding. If the idea of a walk down the aisle with hundreds of people in attendance seems unappealing to you, then an intimate affair is an obvious choice. You’re not alone if you’ve chosen this path less travelled. Several couples post pandemic are going down this low-key route and it’s easy to see why.
Intimate weddings come with a number of upsides. And I am not just referring to lesser budgets. By no means small weddings translate to cost-cutting. You can keep it pared down or go exorbitant. The biggest uptick of planning a smaller wedding is that you can focus on personalization of every aspect of the special occasion. From curating a lavish menu to putting together interactive experiences for your guests, the benefits are truly endless. On the day of, you don’t even not to juggle between too many guests. Smaller guest list will allow you to spend quality time with the entire wedding party and make memories for life.
Fewer guests will allow you to thoughtfully allot your budget in elements you want to highlight. Scaling up the wedding décor and design is one of the perks for you and your planner. But of course, big or intimate, creating that magical setting is no easy feat. Starting with the theme, you need to pay attention to each and every major and minute detail, from that mandap which will be the MVP to intricacies like tablescape, florals and even cutlery. Feeling daunted? We tapped in on the expertise of the best in the business, Devika Narain and Vedika Mohan. The former can be credited to Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s beautiful wedding décor in Tuscany, while the latter was behind Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s special occasion in Lake Como, Italy.
Devika Narain
Starting Point
Devika Narain, the celebrity planner who designed Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s Tuscany wedding and founder of her eponymous firm Devika Narain & Company, says her cardinal rule to planning any wedding, regardless of its scale, is to “make a list of non-negotiables—things you certainly want or don’t want at your wedding. It helps to prioritise what matters to you and your family. I find it amazing how this simple list ends up defining everything from the guest list to the food and the way the space looks.”
Holiday Vibe
According to Devika, “Intimate weddings are like family holidays, where the entire family gets together to celebrate. They are so much more beautiful. I have always believed that quality trumps quantity. So, don’t pack in too much in a day—let your guests to enjoy each function. Do hire professionals—you don’t want to be running behind the florist in your lehenga. Don’t be carried away by a trend, when you look back at your wedding, you want everything that is eternal and don’t want your grandkids judging out purple lip colour or neon mandap. Go classic!”
One Click
“The pandemic has meant rejig of our processes and beliefs. Technology has been our greatest aid, from being a tool to plan better to collaborate and create. Now, post pandemic too, it has been a huge tool to fill the gaps and expedite processes, especially when it comes to destination weddings. We still make it a point to involve couples in every aspect—after all it’s their wedding,” Devika explains.
Dream Weddings
For Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s wedding, Devika Narain dreamed up décor using blush and lilac florals. For a mehndi in Phuket, the expert used indigo and teal with a pink to create bright happy pops of colour. Speaking of personalizing, “A custom cocktail menu is a winning idea to personalize a wedding. You can never go wrong with a yellow palette for a daytime celebration,” shares Devika.
Personal Touch
The easiest way to make your wedding stand out? “Make it personal,” says Devika. “The time for OTT displays is out. Weddings today are all the about personal details, attention to guests and having fun. Think about what you like and dislike—colours, flowers, fragrances, cities and let that influence the choices you make to create a more meaningful wedding.”
Vedika Mohan
At Home
Vedika Mohan, the creative director of The Wedding Design Company, the planning team behind Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s Lake Como ‘I dos’, spills the beans on making it count. For our homes, we often bring the outdoors indoor, but Mohan recommends flipping the coin for your wedding moodboard. “Living room style décor is an extension of you and your style. It’s like doing an interiors job but with a twist. You can have furniture with quirky upholstery and lamps with printed lamp shades. If you want an Indian touch, add elements of silver, mirror, shades of ochre, or different prints like Ikat.”
In Harmony
“Pick a colour, print or flower, and do an overdose of it. For example, if you like jasmine or tuberoses, there should be an abundance of it. It’ll also add a beautiful fragrance throughout the space. If you like the yellow palette, do plenty of it and offset with blue pottery. It makes for a lovely tablesetting. Pick a print and use it for table runners, seat covers, napkins, cushions and at the bar,” Vedika avers.
Local Flavour
Looking to infuse your Indian roots and global sensibilities? Vedika suggests going the sit-down setting route. “Classic, beautiful, perfection are the words that come to mind when I think of a sit-down dinner. A sit-down dinner is very curated and extremely personalised. Think customising the napkins, selecting the crockery and cutlery, customised place cards and menus, to pairing the menu with different wines course-by-course.”
Conscious Coupling
Mohan reinstates that sustainable doesn’t equal vanilla. “The need to reduce the carbon footprint is something, we as a company and even couples today, are propagating. You can use environmentally-friendly fabrics like jute and kora, reuse flowers or even donating flowers to NGO’s and organisations that can recycle them and incorporate plants into the decor. Sustainable, conscious weddings are something that we should definitely stand for.”
