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Breezy beachside weddings to plush city unions – Castles & Coasters redefines versatility with their planning chops
Wedding Planning - Apr 3, 2023
Destination or city? Intimate or grand? Traditional glam or boho all the way? Planning your dream wedding can be full of puzzling choices and decisions, from finding the perfect venue to the right decorator, entertainment, planning the menu, and the list goes on!
Your wedding is the most joyous time of your life, and the planning process should be no different. The first step to having a stress-free wedding that is planned and executed to perfection is to find the right wedding planner, one that matches your vibe, understands your visions, and handles the ups and downs that come along the way! Namha Malhotra, Co-Founder of Castles & Coasters, shows us how to get the ball rolling for a magnificent celebration in any landscape with these two stunning and distinct wedding celebrations that were planned by her and her team.
The Leela Palace, Delhi
A divine blend of grandeur and serenity, this 4 day Delhi wedding was hosted with both chic hotel and farmhouse festivities. Combining the bride’s vision of traditional home-held celebrations with the splendor and spirit of the Big Fat Indian wedding, the team worked in seamless cohesion across the two venues to ensure perfection. The revelries saw a host of exciting professional entertainment, stellar decor, luxurious hospitality, and more. Namha and her team worked tirelessly for more than a year to curate specialized experiences for every event, adding personal touches to everything from the decor to the food, artists, gifts, and more.
Themes, personalization, and unique details
From the cozy and minimalistic garden welcome dinner in earthy tones of olive and deep blue to the exuberance of carnival with mixed-medium art for mehndi that was a visual treat of epic proportions, every occasion exuded a distinct spirit and flavor. The glamor quotient was kicked up a notch for the Sangeet with performances that told the couple’s love story, while the wedding was a sensory retreat to the garden of love.
Namha shares, “The most crucial event was the baraat and we planned this in multiple stages. The baraat was curated around the concept of a vanity van where people could come dance, have a massage if tired, and do a touch-up of their hair and makeup, complete with pockets for different age groups, which made for an experience like no other. Safabandhi was not designed separately but as part of the baraat itself, infused with bursts of energy by Gurdeep, and followed by rousing music by DJ AJ and dhol players.”
Planning highlights
Namha shares, “This wedding allowed us to fulfill what we believe in 100%. One of the main key values of our company is to work not for but with the family to create experiences of a lifetime, so from start to finish we were in complete sync with the couple and their families.”
She continues, “The planning phase was the most enjoyable part of the whole experience, as we put a lot of love and care into it which was reflected in the execution. Each meeting was essentially a brainstorming of ideas, where we curated layouts to tie the whole event together.”
Challenges
“The biggest challenge with this wedding was the hotel capacity. For the welcome dinner, we had over 250 people while the venue space could hold only up to 175. To overcome this, we extended the venue to not just the given space but also the restaurant and its alfresco segment. We created 3 sets of the bar and planned the layout to ensure nothing was restricting the movement of the guests. We replicated a similar setup for the ballroom mehndi to create pockets of experience.”
She adds, “When planning a wedding, you have to account for any local factors that may affect it and have backup plans in place. When the announcement of elections just a week before D-day impacted the terms of serving alcohol, we actually changed the venue at the last moment and tweaked the timings of the functions. Since the wedding was being held during winter in Delhi, we also arranged for customized shawls that made for a thoughtful and useful wedding favor for all the guests”.
Grand Hyatt, Goa
Hosted in one of the most picturesque locations in Goa, this dreamy beach wedding at Grand Hyatt Goa was curated with exciting entertainment acts, incredible decor, and inimitable hospitality, making it a 3-day long festival of love. From selecting a venue with the most enchanting view to crafting experiential celebrations, every aspect of the wedding was hand-picked and orchestrated to fulfill the vision of the bride and groom.
Namha shares, “Our team worked tirelessly to ensure a seamless transition from welcoming the guests to each subsequent function. From hiring masseuses for Haldi to help guests unwind, to crafting a mobile baraat and beachside safabandi, every detail was thoughtfully planned as per the couple’s brief. Instead of the usual show-stopping entries most people desire, the bride wanted hers to be spontaneous and organic, and we ensure every moment felt natural and full of warmth”.
Themes, personalization, and unique details
The delicious eats and karaoke of the Welcome Dinner got the ball rolling before the sunkissed revelries of the Mehndi function the next morning. Namha and her team pulled out all the stops for the Tulum-inspired lunch soiree which saw everything from a band and custom drinks to welcome the guests, to mehndi artists, jugglers, stilt walkers, a professional mentalist, a carefully curated menu, and more. Iconic names like Navraj Hans and DJ Ganesh took the Sangeet to the next level, while the white beach wedding was nothing short of a dream.
Planning Highlights
Namha shares, “This wedding allowed us to fulfill what we believe in 100%. One of the main key values of our company is to work not for but with the family to create experiences of a lifetime, so from start to finish we were in complete sync with the couple and their families. The planning phase was the most enjoyable part of the whole experience, as we put a lot of love and care into it which was reflected in the execution. Each meeting was essentially a brainstorming of ideas, where we curated layouts to tie the whole event together.”
Challenges
“The hotel and logistics posed the biggest obstacle, as Goa is understandably one of the most sought-after tourist and wedding destinations in the country. Despite the busy airport, we ensured that each guest’s experience from the moment they stepped out was as special as could be. Our logistics team was split up so there was no waiting for guests and that they enjoyed a smooth experience, while our hospitality team was enmeshed with the hotel crew to ensure a seamless check-in experience. The hotel staff worked perfectly in tandem with us so everything could be done in time.”
She concludes, “Being located in a coastal area, the weather was unreliable and not always in our favor. But with the help of all our teams and the hotel staff, we could carry out all the functions without any major issues, and give our couple their dream wedding”.
To start planning your dream wedding, click here.
