Akshi Bhargava and Sumit Ahuja
Jaipur
Sumit Ahuja works as an Equity Derivatives Analyst at Citigroup in
Canary Wharf - London. Akshi works as an Operations Officer at Brevan
Howard Asset Management LLP.
"We always wanted to have a Royal Palace Wedding and be the King and
Queen for the day" says Akshi Bhargava who got married to Sumit Ahuja
in Jaipur. She shares her experiences.
We considered Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur before we finally settled
on Jaipur, one of the reasons being our roots are in the city. It was
very difficult to finalize on the venues as Jaipur has a lot to offer
but based on the capacity, location and our budget, we settled on the
Taj Jai Mahal Palace Hotel, for the
Reception, Alsisar Haveli for the wedding vows and the Jaipur Megh
Niwas Hotel for stay. The wedding was held on December 18, 2011 as per
Punjabi Hindu traditions and the ceremonies included a Cocktail night
with friends, Mehndi and Sangeet, Haldi, Pheras and the Wedding
Reception.
Wedding@ Alsisar Haveli, Jaipur
Alsisar Haveli has its special charm- the beautiful historic Rajputana
ambience with traditionally dressed staff and a beautiful swimming
pool. Orange, Yellow and Amber, the theme colors were perfect for the
afternoon hours. Dholwalas & kacchi godhi played at the enterance of
the baraat, the safawallas tied safas to the thumping beats of the
dhol and the women welcomed the guests with flower petals. This was
followed by the varmala and pheras after which a Shahi lunch
(traditional Rajathani food) was served in the beautiful dining room
which has walls decorated with inlaid gold and is truly magnificent.
Wedding Reception@ Taj Jai Mahal Palace Hotel, Jaipur
The welcome at Jai Mahal was in Rajputana style- petals were showered,
trumpets and drums (nagaras) played like in the olden days to welcome
the King & the Queen. The beautiful front gardens of Jai Mahal Palace
were decorated with white and red flowers, big copper vases; the
beautiful fountains were surrounded with candles and flower petals.
For the sit-down dinner, the under lit tables were set with gold
linen, there were golden draped shamianas and white & red roses centre
pieces with tall white candles in the centre. The surrounding trees
and the palace building in the background were decorated with fairy &
red lights. A Sufi band playing in the centre added color to the
occasion.
Wedding Planner
One of our very close friends Bhanu Prataap Singh Raghav who is a
Wedding Planner helped us with wedding planning and he organized all
the functions. We were truly very impressed with the hard work he put
in.
Wedding Clothes & Make-up
My mehndi/ sangeet outfit was from a Pakistani designer, for the
wedding I wore a Sabyasachi lehenga- I picked it because I loved its
mix of colors. For the reception I wanted a very different look so I
chose a glamorous layered gown from Monga's, a boutique in London.
Sumit wore a Jodhpuri suit for the mehendi/ sangeet and a sherwani for
the wedding. For the reception he wore a blue velvet tuxedo.
My make-up was done by my sister-in-law Jaswinder Chhabra, who runs
Shades, a chain of beauty salons. I loved all the different looks she
gave me for all the functions especially the traditional look for the
wedding.
Recommendations
Dev Purbiya wedding photography : Devendra is an AMAZING photographer,
our best decision!
Website : cam-dev.in/
Naveen Sharma Photography is great at what he does. Brilliant work!
Website : www.r-actionstudio.com
Monga's : Indian designer attire in London (extremely hard to find
quality Indian wear in UK)
Shades Beauty Salon, Jaipur - Jassi did an amazing job, we totally loved it.
WeddingSutra.com Great Website, great ideas. Rocks!
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