Think about Weddings and you think of Celebrations, lots of food, shopping, jewellery, last minute running around, keeping everyone happy, keeping everyone entertained and yet looking like a million bucks and seeming like a effortlessly planned event!

If you are thinking about the bride or the bridegroom going through this, forget it, the onus is more on the family and friends who have to ensure that everything goes smooth like a ‘smooth operator’! And when it comes to Indian Weddings, the whole ballgame changes.

The planning starts 6-8 months before the due date with deadlines, vendors, what not hankering for your attention,making you feel privileged yet bartered all at the same time.

Why am I writing this? precisely  because I landed an opportunity to plan,organize and implement the wedding and reception of a dear friend with her parents. The bride happened to be living out of town and I and her folks living in the same town made it easier for us to organize it, or so I thought 🙂

It all started when we got introduced to my friend’s prince charming in August and in September her folks and I met to start from scratch for a wedding that was going to happen in January 2016.

One month into it and I realized I wanted to pay homage and bow before the wedding planners! There was a reason why people paid shit load to get them to take care of everything!

When you are amidst this big family with lots to take care and everyone has their own way of handling things, you tread carefully, you watch out, you make sure no one gets hurt, you also make sure the bride doesn’t get hurt. In short, you are caught between the friend you love dearly and her family whom you started loving too!

I was caught in this dilemma almost in every situation. While I saw the practical sense in the bride’s father in handling vendors, and naturally the financier of this entire event, I could also understand the dreams and hopes of my friend who wanted it to be the perfect dreamy happy wedding she wanted!

Tears, fights, sulks, Icy silences , it was all happening!

Yet I saw unconditional love among all of them. My friend, inspite of wanting things her way, would give in to them just out of respect and her parents through all their fights with her, in the end would say, Let her have what she wants and that my friends is really an Indian Wedding!

Venue,Make up Man, Photographer, Event Decorator, DJ, Dresses for wedding & Reception,Ceremonial process, Guests Invite,Theme- this kind of sums up an Indian wedding overall.

And then the little details seep in, what should be the colour for table clothes? what colour for the bridesmaids? What about the Decor for the Church? the Decor for the cocktail party & reception? Drinks – inside or outside? Food – Inside or Outside? Make up Man – does he EVEN UNDERSTAND what I want? Photographer – does he UNDERSTAND what’s this all about?? How many Guests vis-a-vis how many rooms to book?? Do we invite this person or not?? The list goes on and on and on …

Finally after 4 months of planning, organizing, pulling our hair out, the D day arrived with a cocktail party followed by a wedding and reception the next day!

I always wondered how come, just how come brides get their bridal glow?? I mean, yes, they do the facials, they take care of themselves at least a couple of months before, but nothing compares to how they look like just before the wedding! It sort of comes from the inside. The love that they feel for the person they are going to spend the rest of their lives, the flush of being the bride, it’s all there!

I remember totally letting my hair down at the Cocktail party, feeling a sigh of relief and happiness and as I looked at the bride’s folks, i saw them feeling the same 🙂

When the DJ played, there were hugs, kisses, love, different states of drunkenness, dancing, flirting as we all celebrated the event! Finally the D day arrived, finally all that we planned,fought mini wars and reconciled for was finally happening!

In short, It was a solid 2+ hour movie of drama, emotion, action, romance where everything somehow works out in the end! 🙂