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Meet the Shaadi Samagri Specialist
Wedding Planning - Mar 24, 2011
When NRI Sindhis visit Mumbai for shaadi shopping, there’s one person they must visit, Colaba-based Pradeep Gidwani, who specialises in puja samagri (puja related items) and wedding decor accessories. His clients come from far and wide like Netherlands Antille, Spain, Hongkong and Dubai. Pradeep’s designs samagri color co-ordinated with the wedding theme (or the bride’s wedding wear), and he retails decor elements like the backdrop for pre-wedding functions, packaging material and boxes for favors.
Pradeep Gidwani@ a Wedding in JW Marriott, Mumbai
Cuffe Parade housewife Sapna Bharwani tells us how Pradeep has been involved with the wedding elements of every wedding in her family since 1996. “Our large family is spread all over the world and every few months a family member or friend visits Mumbai for wedding shopping. Our must-visit destinations include Pradeep Gidwani’s studio for decor accessories, multi-designer boutiques Designer Studio and Ensemble for trousseau picks, Lalchand Jewellers@ Colaba for diamond jewellery and Bhuleshwar for bindis and bangles.” According to Sapna Bharwani, unlike earlier today most of her NRIs relatives prefer organising the destination wedding abroad, in places like Thailand or Bali. “The weather and the traffic is a big-dampener, so they prefer marrying abroad, but there, you won’t find a resourceful person like Pradeep, or a fun shopping place like Bhuleshwar, so Mumbai is a must-visit place for wedding shopping.”
For many like Pishu and Mayu Mirani from Hongkong, the Vaswanis from Saudi Arabia, Lasmanas from Jakarta and Alwanis from St Martin, Pradeep has not just supplied the all-important wedding items, but he stepped in as a family member to help co-ordinate all the pooja rituals. He explains: “Recently, when Pooja and Jackie Vaswani’s son Akash got married at Amby Valley I was there to co-ordinate with the Maharaj for the pooja samagrahi, and in the last minute when the wedding party couldn’t find the ‘sanduli’ on which the pooja is performed, I co-ordinated with the relatives who were on their way to purchase it from a shop enroute.”
While color co-ordinated pooja samagri is Pradeep’s forte, attention-to-detail decor items (personalised cushion covers, napkins) his speciality, his clients can rely on him for help which they can’t get from regular event management companies. Explains Pradeep: “At one wedding, the Pandit had to go back home since it was very late, and the Dattar ceremony (salt ceremony) was to take place—but none of the relatives how to go about it, thankfully I was there to guide them on the how to’s.”
WeddingSutra Editors Note- Here’s our tip for all budding wedding managers. At the best event management schools, you’ll learn about wedding-related food, decor, entertainment and guest management. But as Pradeep’s experience proves, it’s not enough to know just that if you want to be much sought-after by clients.
