Rhea and Dishant, Mumbai

Rhea, a fashion designer, wed Dishant, founder of The Daily Bar and Kitchen, Mumbai, in a minimalistic wedding followed by a lively music festival. The unique wedding was trendsetting to say the least, and the wonderful moments were captured by WeddingSutra Favorite – D’silva Films. Here are the highlights.

How They Met
Dishant was at a music gig with his brother, a DJ by profession, when he saw Rhea for the first time. She was with her roommate who was instantly smitten by Dishant. Being a good friend, Rhea decided to help by striking a conversation with Dishant with the intent of introducing her friend to him. Dishant, however, thought Rhea’s approach meant that she liked him. That’s how the two struck up a friendship.

Soon after, Dishant realized that he wanted more. Buoyed by encouragement from friends, he professed his feelings, which led to this amazing journey.

The Proposal
Rhea recalls, “Dishant’s brother is a jeweller and he made the ring. He came to visit us the night we before we left for Nepal to give Dishant the ring. Right before he left, he looked at Dishant and me and said ‘Congratulations guys!’ and Dishant just glared at him. I immediately knew that something was going on and kept wondering whether he was going to propose during the entire trip. There were so many romantic moments but nothing happened so I eventually thought I was mistaken.”

Dishant had planned to propose – while bungee jumping. However, right before they could jump off, he was told to remove everything from his pockets. The ring needed to remain on top and Dishant was quite upset that his idea didn’t pan out.

Once back in Mumbai, Dishant took Rhea out for dinner. Rhea says, “Dishant sat there talking about one incident after the other in Nepal where he tried and failed. He told me how I kept sabotaging all his plans and I couldn’t stop laughing. While he was telling me the last of where he tried to propose, he went down on one knee and opened the ring box with so much excitement that the ring just popped out and fell somewhere! The waiters, him and I were soon all on the floor searching for the ring! Dishant looked really beaten and said, ‘I can’t believe that after all those incidences I dropped the ring!’. Honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

Wedding Planning
Rhea says, “We always wanted to keep a percentage of our budget aside for charity.” Dishant’s logic was that the number of elements that go into a wedding can be easily cut down and thus they removed any unnecessary expense.

The couple budgeted to spend 40% of their funds on the wedding functions, 40% on the celebrations with friends and the remaining 20% on charity. They also kept aside a certain amount for miscellaneous expenses.

Rhea and Dishant kept all the essential rituals and functions and eliminated unnecessary expenses so that the money saved could go toward good charitable causes.

Rhea talks about the planning, saying, “My mom is a Malayali so we really wanted a lot of white and gold. As we did not include any of the traditional Malayali functions, we thought this was a good way to pay tribute to that part of my culture. We also added a hint of lavender to the white and gold decor. From the welcome drinks to the flowers, everything had a touch of lavender.

We had a decorator, however, the planning, decor design and placement was all done by me. I really wanted a wedding by the beach but we were also focused on not going overboard. We decided on an intimate venue by Juhu Beach, which had a stunning view of the sunset.”

Wedding Functions

Mehendi
Rhea says, “We had a really intimate mehendi function. Personally, I don’t like mehendi but that was a function I couldn’t avoid as my mom and my mother-in-law wanted it.”

Wedding
“I knew I was going to design my own outfit, but I soon realized that designing for a customer is so much easier than for yourself. There is a lot of pressure and work when it is your own wedding. I wanted a pastel lehenga that would complement the colors of the sunset. The bootas at the bottom had an Indianized version of a coconut tree. After many changes, I finally got my dream lehenga. I’m glad I designed it myself as it feels so close to my heart,” says Rhea.

Speaking about her jewelry, she says, “I wore an antique set which was over 110 years old that belonged to my grandmother from my dad’s side. I’m a sucker for antique jewelry and I knew that everything else I wore had to match this necklace. So I got earrings specially made; it meant a lot to me to be wearing the set.”

Cocktail Party
Rhea says, “I don’t like overly-elaborate outfits. This was a tricky situation because Mallu weddings are quite subdued while Sindhi wedding are the complete opposite. I had to find the middle ground and designed a simple gold-beige embellished gown.

We had the wedding and cocktail party on the same day so we didn’t change the decor too much. It was all white, gold and lavender, with the addition of lanterns and tea lights.”

Music Festival
Dishant and Rhea wanted to attempt something unique for their wedding celebrations. She says, “Every time we travel, we go to the beach, dive, go to the mountains or go hiking. For the past five years, though we have always planned to go to a music festival, it has never happened. So, we decided to fulfil this wish while paying tribute to our first meeting at a music gig.”

Dishant adds, “Another plus point of having a music festival was that the wedding was mainly about spending time with our families, while the music festival allowed us to celebrate with our friends.”

The music festival was 48-hours long, with 18 DJ friends playing all throughout. A line-up was planned and posters were created to enhance the party vibe. There were a host of fun activities for guests to enjoy.

Advice For Couples
“We tell our friends who are getting married that saving money for charity is something that everyone can do. No matter how big or small the wedding is, it’s not the amount that matters, it’s the fact that you can contribute a percentage for a good cause,” says Rhea.

“The key to planning a wedding smartly is to plan it well in advance. If you leave it till the last few months, you’ll be spending much more. By planning in advance, you can decide what you need and what you don’t,” says Dishant.

Wedding Makers
Venues: Sun-N-Sand Hotel, Mumbai (Wedding, Cocktail), Samode Bagh Resort, Jaipur (Music Festival)
Wedding Planner: Two Fat Ladies
Décor: National Decorators
Bride’s Outfits: Label Rhea Pillai Rastogi
Groom’s Outfits: Lovedeep Gulyani
Makeup and Hair: Pakkhi Pahuja
Invitations: Nishika D’silva

Photography & Videography: D’silva Films
Music Festival Photography: Sabit Tisekar

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