×
WeddingSutra
WeddingSutra.com
GET - In Google Play
Install

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

After a surprise proposal on the warm, golden sand dunes of Dubai, Varun tied the knot with Jyotsna in the lush green tropical paradise of Bali, Indonesia

Jyotsna and Varun’s Bali wedding bash was marked with beautiful music, beautiful decor and interesting themes that were inspired by diverse concepts such as outer spaces and glamorous operas. While none other than WeddingSutra Favorite – Bianca Louzado dolled up the bride, another WeddingSutra Favorite – Picture Perfect India captured the extravagant nuptials. Here, bride Jyotsna shares some more highlights of the festivities.

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

How We Met
“Varun and I met at a common friend’s house party in December 2007 and hit it off. We became the best of friends, and we each went off in our separate ways to college. In January 2010, over a Skype conversation, we realized that our relationship is a lot more than friendship and decided to start dating and we’ve been together ever since.”

The Proposal
“Varun loves to go desert driving and planned a surprise proposal with my sister. They coordinated with a company called Arabian Glamping and set up an adorable rustic canopy tent amongst the dunes with a picnic basket and drinks. He picked me up and went on a drive through the desert near Qudra Lakes and pretended that his car got ‘stuck,’ got me out of the car and walked me to where he had the gorgeous setup. Before I could even think, he had quickly pulled out the ring and went down on one knee.”

Wedding Venue
“We always wanted a destination wedding, and Bali was our top choice. We chose The Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort as it had exactly what we required – excellent management, great hospitality, various room categories, two ballrooms, a beautiful pool and some outdoor locations that allowed us to host each function in a different setting.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Wedding Functions
“During the drive from the airport to the hotel when the guests were arriving, we had a pre-recorded audio of us and a playlist set in place. We timed the playlist so that when the guest reached the hotel the song playing was ‘Paradise by Coldplay.’ Guests were greeted at the hotel by Balinese Girls and drummers.”

Wedding Planning
“We could blindly trust Innayat Khubchandani of Innaz Communique who helped us execute this grand affair to perfection – and he was also a big factor in why we chose to do our wedding there and with him. He is very consultative in his process and truly takes into account your input of how you’d like things to be, and gives you his expert advice on each detail. His team will make your wedding day perfect!”

Ghari Puja
“For this puja, vertical garden backdrops were created with flowers forming a colorful abstract Ganesh surrounded with ‘Oms’ on either side. For the garlanding area, a similar backdrop was made with the ‘Gayatri Mantra’ in English script font cutouts. The highlight of the event was my mother’s sisters dancing to a lovely medley of songs.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Welcome Dinner
“The decor of the night was rustic/boho chic, and a tunnel made of fairy lights and foliage formed the entrance of the venue. For this night we had fire dancers around and hired a local jazz band called ‘Soulful.’ Some of our closest friends sang for us, and one uncle even played the harmonica.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Mehndi
“We decided to do a casual private mehndi affair in my room. My henna artist Ima did custom motifs inspired by our story so the designs were quite unique. The setup included a fun, colorful backdrop with suspended dream catchers to create a bohemian vibe.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Sangeet
“We wanted to create the feeling of a show and used references of operas, Music Hall Dubai and Beirut to mimic a theatre-type ambiance. The pillars were ornamented and made to look like antique gold. The stage backdrop was curved and unique with circular openings for the LED screens behind. We had a vintage light box sign that said ‘NOW SHOWING.’ The guests were handed ADMIT ONE ticket stubs after which they reached the foyer where there was a bar set up like a ticket booth. The energetic and awesome Meet Brothers who we had hired for this event had everyone dancing non-stop for three hours.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
 

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Wedding
“For the baraat, Varun entered in a red Impala with a custom license plate that said ‘JV 2018’ and his groomsmen rode on Vespa scooters beside him. For my entry, we created an ombre petal pathway for the procession. Our wedding was held on the beach. For the mandap, we created a structure that comprised of a mirror and a floral dome that seemed to float in mid-air. The lead singer Anupam from our favorite Dubai band ROOH kicked off our entry with ‘Enna Sona’ and entertained everyone with a lovely Sufi night. Four of our closest mutual friends even gave speeches and pieces of advice to both of us.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
 

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

After Party
“Our after party was inspired by outer space and was held at the Gamelan Ballroom. To enter the party, you had to get a UV stamp, and walk through a wavy shaped walkway of fairy lights to reach a mirror room that was inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s infinity room. The bar represented the Milky Way, and the dance floor was like a galaxy. We had orbits and stars that suspended from the ceiling. We even had entertainers dressed in futuristic alien outfits and they partied it up with us.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Pool Party
“With a retro American theme in mind, we set up vintage motorcycles, signs and bull floats. Our focus was the food for this event, so we had food trucks dishing out Mexican food, hot dogs, burgers, popcorn, liquor popsicles, and more! The highlight of the event was our rain dance took place in the main pool.”

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Reception
“We created a modern American style architectural surroundings with grey columns, mirror niches, glass chandeliers, shimmery draping and acrylic dining furniture. Our bar was a see-through acrylic one with floral arrangements in shades of blues, purples, and magentas. We had another special bar in place set up for fine whiskeys as Varun is a single malt fan. Opposite the main stage, we constructed a mini stage above our acrylic bar on which we had the Silver Strings band kick off the night with instrumental music as the guests entered. We entered the venue to the song ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ playing in the background.”

The couple also hired the ONEmpire band that had all of the guests dancing to soulful and shaking retro numbers and everyone rocked the house till late into the night. This WeddingSutra Favorite band turned up sharply dressed, brilliantly skilled and with a crowd interaction that had everyone off their chairs and on to the dance floor

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort

Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
Jyotsna and Varun, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
 

Advice for Couples
“Don’t forget to add your little personal details to the celebrations and remember that the most important thing is to just enjoy your wedding. We both had an absolute blast but if there was one thing we wish we had done better was t eat more of the delicious food that we served!”

The Wedding Makers
Venue: Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort, The Westin Resort Nusa Dua Bali, Indonesia
Wedding Planner: Innaz Communique
Décor: Dina Touwani, Flora Lines and Danny Dinani, Dandit Inc
Caterers: Queens Tandoor – Girish Shamdasani, MnM Innovative Concepts, Tuk Tak from Thailand
Bride’s Outfits: Preeti Chandra (Ghari), Sweety Alter (Welcome Dinner), Suneet Varma (Sangeet & Wedding) Amit Aggarwal (Reception), Pallavi Puri (Mehndi), Queen B by BKJ (After Party & Pool Party)
Groom’s Outfits: Raghavendra Rathore (Sangeet & Wedding), Collars & Cuffs Dubai (Reception), Queen B by BKJ (After Party)
Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist: Bianca Louzado
Mehndi Artist: Ima Habsyi
Entertainment: DJ Manoj & DJ Nitesh (Dubai), The Soulful Band (Jakarta), Abhishek Singh, Meet Brothers, Rooh – Anupam Nair, Paris House Addict, Silver Strings, ONEmpire, Zarir Warden, Katalyst Entertainment Pvt. Limited
Wedding Cake: Le Novelle Cake
Wedding Invitation: Jyotsna Lakhiani and Neelam Naden (Innaz)
Bartenders: Flairmix from Thailand
Choreography: Dans Dubai

Photography & Videography: Picture Perfect India

Related Articles: