THE WEDDING CEREMONY

The Wedding Ceremony took place in Vaux Le Vicomte, a 17th century chateau, known for its landscape and gardens. The 17th century chateau served as the backdrop to the ceremony, which was conducted on a mandap built in the centre of a pool. The chateau was used only as a backdrop, everything else- the food stalls, the tents, the pillars, the elephants - was built. There were elephant-shaped pillars, palaces in the Indian and western styles - the former looked a little like the Taj. There were candles everywhere and six inch thick ropes that wound round the mandap were made from roses.

The sehrabandhi was held at the Salon Ravel at Hotel le Grand Intercontinental, where Family Bhatia and friends gathered to bless Amit. Then, the barat set off with much fanfare for the chateau, about an hour's drive out of Paris. Dressed in a bright white sherwani with gold work, Amit arrived in a chariot. Vanisha, accompanied by her friends and cousins, walked down the steps of the chateau, with a red-velvet canopy with gold zardozi held over her head. The bride wore a red-and-gold lehanga designed by Sandeep Khosla and Abu Jani.

After the jaimala , the guests were ushered to another corner, where snacks were being served. Here, the rain gods blessed the celebrations with a drizzle and this brought the ceremony to a brief halt. As the rain stopped, fireworks lit up the skies, and were followed by star-studded entertainment - Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar.

Ash surprised the guests with a repeat of her Devdas favourites - Dola Re Dola Re and Silsila Ye Chahat Ka , while wearing the movie outfit and holding a diya in her hand. After Akshay and Ash performed a few Bollywood remixes, the Khiladi took over and rocked with Dil Le Gayee Kudi Punjab Di . Akshay told guests that since he himself was a Bhatia (his real name is Rajeev Bhatia), this made him a barati .

The wedding was followed by a feast of various regional Indian cuisines by renowned chefs from all over India in a specially 'gilded' Bikaner Palace. The nuptials formally ended with a bahu swagat and doli lunch at Paris' le Grand Intercontinetal.