Anisha Menon
Anisha dons a traditional Kanjeevaram and fun cocktail gown for her wedding festivities
Anisha Menon from Toronto and Jayant Srinivasan from New York first met while doing their Masters degree in upstate New York and later started dating when they worked together in New York City. Currently, they work in technology at investment banks in their respective cities. Jayant, a Tamilian Iyengar, comes from a very traditional family whereas Anisha comes from a heritage mix as her Dad is a Malayali Hindu and her Mom belongs to the catholic community. With so many cultures into one pot, the wedding planning was a real challenge. “I had the toughest time finding a balance between the uber traditional rich kanjivaram sarees that my mother in law desired, and my much simpler aesthetics”, says Anisha.
Wedding shopping
“All the shopping in India was done by my lovely sister, Shruti Menon, who coordinated with me over Whatsapp on her iPhone!”, exclaims Anisha. “She would click and send pictures of the wedding outfits and I would say yay or nay”, she adds. Anisha’s sister and mother got their outfits specially tailored at Shehlaa by Shehla Khan in Bandra, Mumbai who did an amazing job. Her sister got a white anarkali with sequins booti and zardosi work while her mom got a peach sari with gold zardosi. For Jayant they got his suits custom tailored in New York city at Sebastien Grey Clothiers. Jayant decided to go with a black suit for the Bombay reception and a brown-gray woolen suit for the Bangalore reception.
Traditional wedding with accessorized twists
The Bangalore wedding functions were held in Woodlands hotel. For the wedding which was held in Iyengar style, Anisha chose to wear a simple white tussar silk sari with brocade border. Instead of the traditional temple jewellery, Anisha chose to go with kundan style diamond necklace that her mom got custom-made for the wedding. Midway through the wedding Anisha changed into a traditional nine yard kanjivaram sari that her mother in law got custom-made from Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
For the reception, Anisha draped a beautiful red net lehenga sari that her sister picked up from a boutique in Juhu, Mumbai. “We didn’t have to shop around much as we fell in love with this sari instantly”, says Anisha. She complemented the sari with custom-made kundan style. For the Bangalore wedding and reception, makeup artist Ralph Daniels emphasized her eyes with big lashes and burgundy toned smoky eyes.
Fun flirty cocktail style reception
The Mumbai reception was held in Kino Cottage, Mumbai – a beach villa, where Anisha wore a short white wedding dress that she picked up from Toronto at a boutique called White. The label is New York based Ivy and Aster. “It was the second dress I tried on, and I fell in love with it at first sight”, says Anisha. “I teamed it with a lovely belt made with swarovski crystals to add a dash of glamour and chose red accessories to go with the dress to give it that little pop of color. I chose a short wedding gown because the venue was near the beach, and I wanted something that was fun, flirty and easy to manage.”, she adds. It was the perfect dress for the fun cocktail party ambiance created at the reception by the couple with dim lighting, a self constructed and decorated photo-booth and lots of dancing. The hair and makeup for the Mumbai reception was done by Reema Sablok. “I wanted a fun messy updo to go with the strapless gown I was wearing.”, explains Anisha. So she got her hair curled and rolled into a massive bun. The makeup was kept natural looking.
Highlight
“The best moment of the wedding was towards the end of the Mumbai reception when we did shots with family and friends celebrating the successful execution of a multicultural, multi-city wedding spanning a whole week!”, says Anisha.
Photography: Photo Tantra (Bangalore wedding and reception photos by Vinayak Das), Shreya Sen (Mumbai reception photos)
