Maleka and Hrushabh, Ahmedabad
For Maleka and Hrushabh, the best destination for their wedding turned out to be the bride's farmhouse in Ahmedabad where their pets could also be part of the celebrations.
They skied and snowboarded their way into each other’s hearts in Austria, but when it came to tying the knot, Maleka and Hrushabh zoomed in on their hometown of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. They put a lot of thought into their nuptials – from saving flowers from being wasted by planting beautiful blooms to hand painting walkways. Here, bride Maleka shares the unique floral elements (even the horse wore a baby’s breath hair band!) and decor concepts at her stunning wedding.
How We Met
“Hrushabh’s cousin, who is also a very good friend of mine, introduced us to each other at a party. After this meeting, however, we lost touch completely since I thought he was arrogant. Three years later, we met at a common friend’s wedding and hit it off from there. Despite that, our love story only started in Alpbach, Austria where we coincidentally ended up on the same ski trip with our respective friend groups! This was certainly something that neither of us had ever anticipated. Hrushabh, being a pro snowboarder, followed me on the slopes to make sure I was alright since I was just a beginner at skiing then. All our friends called him my ‘Rescue Team’. He dislocated his shoulder during that trip and I took the last few days off from skiing to keep him company at the hotel. Once again our friends teased us by calling me his ‘Nursing Team’! That’s where it all began and eventually, he got ‘Rescue team for life’ engraved on my engagement ring!”
Wedding Venue
“The nuptials took place at our home and the location could not have been more perfect. We have our house on the outskirts of Ahmedabad because of which we had all the peace and quiet; and to make it better we even have beautifully landscaped garden. What was amazing about this was that our beloved pets could be around too. On our guest list were dogs, horses, cows, ducks, a hen and lots of chickens!”
Wedding Planning
“The wedding decor and styling, as well as the invites and stationery for our wedding, were taken care of by Naiara by Maleka which is a company founded by me. Right after college, I got into event decor, wedding invites and stationery. I believe that all the magic lies in the details and the personal touch that one gives to any event! There were a lot of new, interactive, design related ideas used for the wedding to make it different. The cross stitch roses on the checkered fence, soap tree and plaster of Paris roses on the pillars were only a few of the innovative elements at our wedding. Our nuptials were planned by Event Tadka from Ahmedabad, and the choreography was taken care of by Spin Academy. My makeup artist was Ulupi Parikh.”
Wedding Functions
Mehndi and Sangeet
“We wanted this function to be colorful, fun and interactive, more than anything else! We used multiple circular frames and covered them in cloth – which was our take on tassels. We created customized table runners and cushions especially, hand-painted walkways, and also created a soap tree which was inspired by our travels which doubled up as a takeaway cover for our guests. We even had cross stitch roses on an existing grid – completing each one took us six hours!”
“The idea behind clubbing the mehndi and sangeet was to limit the use of flowers as much as possible because we love flowers and hate to see them die! We planted loads of petunias and dahlias to enhance the decor instead.”
“As for the activities we had a photobooth, a wall where our guests could write messages for us, a caricature artist, foot spa, nail art, golden tattoos and mehndi artists. To keep our guests entertained, we had a live band and dance performance by family and friends.”
“In my mehndi design, instead of having Hrushabh’s names, I decided to incorporate an Adidas logo because he loves sneakers so much! In fact, to show his love for those shoes my bridesmaids and I even put up a small surprise dance performance for him. We danced on ‘Deewana Hai Dekho’ wearing sneakers. A friend of ours who played his character paid no attention to us when we were dancing, but the moment we lifted our lehengas to show him our shoes, he pretended to suddenly be very interest. The dance was choreographed on a mashup of ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ and ‘Don’t Stop’ since I love Bollywood and Hrushabh is a fan of Michael Jackson. For this function, I wore a blue lehenga by Anita Dongre, and Hrushabh opted for a white kurta with a blue bandi jacket by Kunal Rawal.”
Wedding
“Our wedding was designed to be very elegant. Peach, pink, white and gold were the colors used in the decor. We optimized the natural beauty of our garden and once again, planted a lot of pink poinsettias, wheat, and white petunias to avoid flower wastage. The mandap was a rather dreamy one with baby’s breaths, and eucalyptus stems painted gold, and freshly grown wheat on the inside. The pillars were decorated with plaster of Paris roses and leaves which were in line with the light color palette of the function.”
“Each Chiavari chair had a peach and white ombre fabric and was decorated with a bunch of baby’s breaths. From the trees hung golden cane baskets and small trays made of logs both filled with flowers. Flamingo models were installed by the lotus pond. Guests were given rose petals to shower on us during the pheras, and the petals were painted golden. We also had a headband made with baby’s breath for our dearest horse!”
“I entered the venue with lots of large diyas like those used at the Benaras ghats during the evening ‘aarti’ (prayer ritual) around me. We were a Sabyasachi couple on our wedding day – I wore a red lehenga while Hrushabh opted for a sherwani in the same color.”
Advice For Couple
“Tend to wedding invites, guest lists, jewellery, and clothing at the start, preferably in that order. Once you are done with these, you will find that the pressure is off and you have more time to enjoy planning the finer details, especially towards the big day.”
The Wedding Makers
Wedding Planner: Event Tadka, Ahmedabad
Wedding Decor: Naiara by Maleka
Bride’s Outfits: Anita Dongre (Mehndi and Sangeet), Sabyasachi (Wedding)
Groom’s Outfits: Kunal Rawal (Mehndi and Sangeet), Sabyasachi (Wedding)
Makeup Artist: Ulupi Parikh, Ahmedabad
Invites: Naiara by Maleka, Ahmedabad
Choreography: Spin Academy
Photography: Fotonix Studio, Ahmedabad
