Malaysia-based event stylist and creative director at Dausche Avasa, Guna Nandini was introduced to her now-husband Lavan Iswaran through a network of aunties in their community. “As fate would have it, it was at a time where the both of us really needed to find each other,” she reveals. “We were healing from our traumatic past relationships, and our paths intersecting brought us on a ride that was meant for our healing and growth. And that was just what we did for each other. We found ourselves bringing the best out of one another. It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to find that kind of ‘old school love’; the kind with cryptic handwritten notes and poetry and one that felt safe and secure.”
So at the end of their first date, when Iswaran serenaded the song ‘Snehithane Snehithane’ from the Tamilian, Mani Ratnam directed romantic film Alai Payuthey, the proud Tamilian in Nandini felt like she was “home”.
The Cinematic Wedding Vision
As a young Tamilian girl who grew up in the 90s, Nandini harboured the most profound memories of watching and admiring the National award-winning Indian filmmaker’s body of work. “I always carried along with me was the fascination with the way Mani sir delivered his story-telling within his frames. It was always intriguing, the way he captured the essence of a variety of relationship dynamics, under so many different circumstances his characters were set into. He directed his actors to display emotions, so subtly, yet with the necessary depth with ease. Like his scenic cinematography, his set locations almost always had a purpose of its own. Nothing was ever redundant, everything with meaning,” the bride adds.
Mani is touted as a puppeteer of light and shadow, who mastered the art of chiaroscuro as his language to show the third dimension. Guna couldn’t dissect his films as a child, “but they always spoke to me in a way that moved me and turned out to become lingering memories as the years went by. and that, exactly that was what I always wanted for my wedding. I had a hunch that when I met my soulmate, I would celebrate the blessing that I had always dreamt of…and memories of that day to last a lifetime,” she shared.
The Wedding Planning
So when it came to envisioning her big day, celebrations inspired by Mani Ratnam’s movies and Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman’s compositions felt like a natural fit. The bride decided to bring her cinematic vision to life with a ceremony at Seavoy House, Kuala Lumpur. The bride’s former experience as an architect made wedding planning and designing all events a breeze “as I immediately got to planning mode. Iswaran and I planned our big day alongside our army of friends and family, and we whole heartedly enjoyed every step of the process.”
The Pre-Wedding Shoot
A pre-wedding shoot that looked straight out of the silver screen was planned. “We wanted the pre-wedding shoot to hit the spot and be a little taste of the wedding ambience, an ode to 90s South Indian cinema.” The couple and the maid of honour scripted, directed and brought to life a mesmerising pre-wedding shoot filled with love and laughter. “Our friends came before we shot and got everything ready throughout the wee hours.” Dozens of canned coffees later, the couple was thrilled with the photos by Rooban Sacci and video by Pavetra Arumugam.
The Court Marriage
“Unfortunately (or fortunately), the date we picked out to get officially registered ended up being in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown. But we got a little lucky that the government still allowed us to go on with a limit of 6 people, so we did after attaining all the required permissions and letters. Even though we were bummed that we couldn’t have a couple of our close ones with us, we decided that we would still make this ceremony a deeply meaningful one by making the most out of the situation.” The couple still brought some light-heartedness to the special occasion with a small celebration at the newly-wed bride’s family home. “My mom’s brick orange front porch called for a rustic boho vibe. Given the pandemic related restrictions, I resorted to surrounding neighbourhood palm leaves and dried branches for décor. I played around with earthy tones and pops of emeralds and turquoises, which tied in with the colour of my mom’s 30-year-old Benarasi sari that I gave a new life to.”
The Pre-Wedding Bridesmaids Party
First in line was a bridesmaid proposal party for the bride’s tribe, held at a picturesque venue overlooking a lake and hills. She planned a high tea picnic, where the colours complemented the wedding. She also got cotton Kattam saris customised that complemented hers, along with classic kemp jewellery to match, clutches with respective name tags and illustrated bridesmaids cards that tied them to the female leads of Mani Ratnam movies.
“I grew up with these beautiful women, some of whom I met as a child, some as a teen, some in college and some after. The women who knew different parts of me during different stages of life, the ones I’ve shared countless heart to hearts with, I felt that it was only right to celebrate them when I asked them to be my bridesmaids or my thozhi, as they say in Tamil.”
The Wedding
“Waking up that morning at my wedding venue felt a little different,” shared the bride. The vibrant pink lotuses floating in the pool right in front of the mandap, surrounded by glimmering oil lamps, marigold torans hanging from the intricate roof details swaying along with brass bells looked ethereal.
“One of my absolute favourite things was that we were able to witness the spellbinding transition from almost a painting-like sunset into the darkness of the night with our sundowner wedding. With the sun going down and the little oil lamps glowing brighter, my groom had returned to the front to make his ‘big entrance’ accompanied by his family and friends.”
The Décor & Details
“We weren’t interested in following trends,” instead Nandini wanted to embrace both traditional and cultural elements for the wedding décor that translated into a beautiful, memorable wedding. So, they opted for minimal elements using veshtis as drapes, illustrations of Pichwai art, puli kolam motifs, halved coconuts and terracotta pots as centrepieces. Every aspect was thoughtfully personalised, including the wedding invite.
“For the invitation, I did that thing all brides do, turned to Pinterest for inspo, and it definitely came to me. I found the most clever idea of a 3D sari and veshti knotted together, done previously by Dreamcards.in. It was this symbolism that sold me. I read it as two individuals interlocked in a sacred bond and friendship who choose each other every day for the rest of their lives. We added our spin on it—I slightly tweaked the design by adding some traditional South Indian Chettinad ‘puli kolam’ details and got about 200 or so printed. Then, the hard part: putting this puzzle of a wedding card together. It was such a tedious process that went through multiple stages like purchasing the adequate amount of saris and veshtis to make enough sets of knots for all the cards, followed by measuring, cutting, ironing and pleating, and finally sealing the cards. It became a crowd-pleaser.
Infusing another time-honoured Tamilian element was the bespoke manjappai bags given as wedding favours. “Traditionally, manjappai bags are yellow and are used to carry groceries. I thought it would be a great and highly sustainable idea. I commissioned a local supplier here in Malaysia who could produce a batch of customised ones that could be used as we hand out our invitations and sari to all our guests. One of the lines I thought would be perfect on the bag was lyrics from Mani Sir’s ‘Dil Se /Uyire’ song, which means there is love that exist beyond the stars. It was definitely one of the best wedding decisions because till date, I see family members reusing them.”
The Wedding Wardrobe
The bride chose a minimal ivory checked sari for the first wedding look by Vani Vritti and accessorised with South Indian temple jewellery. The groom complemented her in a beige kurta and Nehru jacket set.
For the Muhurtham look, she went with a double bordered Kanchipuram sari in rich rust orange from the vintage vault of Kanakavalli. Adorning her hair with fresh jasmine flowers, Nandini chose to complete her wedding look with traditional jewellery pieces, mehndi, a classic kohl eye makeup and a minimal veil.
The Reception
It was all about the partying and nothing but full-on fun, music, drinks and dance, a complete fiesta! From the start of cocktail hour, our playlist was a throwback to the 90s Tamil music mixed with some late 2000s English hip-hop and R&B.” The couple chose to have various personalised entertainment segments like live instrumental music, singing and dance performances by family members and heartfelt speeches.
From deep conversations to deep conviction that destiny had in plans for them, the couple blossomed into a union they “knew was ‘written in the stars’.”
The Bride’s Checklist
The Bride: Guna Nandini
The Groom: Lavan Iswaran
Venue: Seavoy House, Kuala Lumpur
Photography: RB Clickz Photography
Videography: Pavetra Arumugam
Bride’s Outfits: Vani Vritti and Kanakavalli
Makeup and hair: Usha Sevi Ganeshwaran and Fazz Ariffin
Wedding Planning, Event Styling and Decor Design: Dausche Avasa
On-ground Staging: JS Vior Brilliant Events & Deco
