Lascelles Lovely Wedding

Fashion designer Lascelles Symon and Model Pallavi Sharma's wedding venue was a Badminton Court. Here's how Lascelles transformed the venue.

Lascelles Symon and his model wife Pallavi Sharma celebrated their wedding reception at Bandra Gymkhana in Bombay. The Catholic groom and the South Indian bride then proceeded to Coimbatore, where Pallavi's parents are based, to celebrate a traditional Hindu wedding at a Balaji Temple. Lascelles talks about his wedding and shares some advice on wedding planning.

Involvement from the word 'go'
I was involved in planning my entire wedding celebration. From the menu to the décor, I wanted to play a role in deciding everything (though little did I realise that dealing with the vendors would be such a nightmarish experience). Yes, typically in India it's the parents who organise the wedding. But it's a good feeling when you take on the onus and give your parents the opportunity to enjoy themselves at your wedding.

The wedding theme
Everything had to start with a theme. Pallavi and me decided that the wedding theme would be off-white and gold.
Our wedding was organised at a Church and was followed by a reception at the Bandra Gymkhana. The Church occasion was obviously a simple and family affair, so all my creative energies were concentrated on the evening reception. Since it was the monsoon season in Bombay, we couldn't choose an open-air venue so I had to opt for the Badminton Court of the Gym. Therein lay the big challenge. If your wedding is at a five-star hotel, there's little you can do by way of transforming the venue. But if it means any other venue you can work wonders, provided you have the time and the energy.

The décor and the food
I detested the concept of a stage where both the bride and groom are usually perched. Instead, we decided on a green and white backdrop that would highlight the presence of the couple. It was simple floral bouquets and unusual lighting which created a special ambience.
For the menu, I laid special emphasis on the table setting and vegetable carvings that would whet the guests appetite. I sampled the menu of a lot of caterers and then evolved a menu which was a mix of simple Indian, continental and Italian cuisine. The dessert table, to which I paid equal attention, consisted of a spread of over 10 different desserts.

My advice to others

• Have a discussion with your spouse on what kind of wedding you'd like to arrange. Don't go by what your neighbours did or get too influenced by the opinions of your uncles and aunts. At the end of the day, both of you should enjoy yourselves. And it's a once in a lifetime occasion. So try to satisfy the needs of you, your spouse and both your parents.

• Before finalising the venue please check the rules of the place. Find out to what extent they are flexible and their timing of closure in case it is a night function. Ditto in the case of the vendors. Have a long discussion with them on what they can arrange and what they cannot. And don't go simply by what they did for others wedding. Try and evolve a special package for yourself.

• It's advisable not to spend too much money on the wedding function. You could rather save some money for a special honeymoon. Of course, saving money can be tiring too. For you'll have to do more leg work checking out the different options and taking a lot of load yourselves.

• Limit the guests to your close friends and relatives. When Pallavi and me drew up a list, it totaled to around 4,000. We then had the job of cutting the list to 200 since we wanted the function to be a personal affair. This is obviously a sensitive matter but it's advisable to invite few people and send the others a small note, preferably accompanied by sweets or chocolates.