Gunjan Sharma
Designer by profession, Gunjan took the help of her cousin Akshay Wadhwa to design her entire trousseau.
By Jaspreet Soni
Gunjan and Vic Tauro knew each other from High school in Kuwait, where Gunjan’s mother was the Principal and her father the Manager. Since both Gunjan and Vic were very good dancers, they were often paired up together. Though it was love at first sight for Gunjan, Vic realized many years later that he also didn’t want to let his best friend go. When Vic asked Gunjan’s parents for her hand in marriage, it didn’t take them more than a few seconds to say ‘yes’. Says Gunjan: “His ‘smart kid’ image in school helped.” She and he are quite different, she says. “He is the logical, technical and efficient Engineer and I am the creative, tasteful and ‘lost in my own world’ architect /interior designer.” Gunjan and Vic had a Hindu wedding at Ashoka Hotel and a Nuptial ceremony in Sacred Heart, Connaught Place, New Delhi.
Being a designer herself, Gunjan was very particular about the cuts, styles, and colors of her outfits, and her single man army for the entire trousseau was her cousin Akshay Wadhwa who has his own studio in Shahpur Jat, Delhi. Says Gunjan: “I and Akshay sat and came down to my basic needs and likings, based on which we decided the cuts and shapes that would suit me. I wanted my outfits to be bold, feminine and young instead of classic and sober.”
Elegant Ivory Wedding Gown for Nuptial ceremony
Says Gunjan: “I knew I didn’t want a Nirma white color; ivory was my choice. I wanted my gown to be really simple, as I wasn’t going to use it again, so we decided to get embroidery done only on the upper area, instead of the full flair of the gown. Also, since I was going to have my Mehndi on during the church wedding, I wanted full sleeves yet wanted the Mehndi to show, so we chose a net that was very untraditional.”
“We layered net, satin and chiffon over each other to get the perfect gown. The gown had about 50 meters of soft net pleated together for the flare.” Gunjan kept her hair and jewellery simple so that the main focus remained on her dress and make-up.
Orange and Pink Lehenga for Mehndi
Gunjan opted for comfort and style in an Indo-Western lehenga for her Mehndi. She says, “I was clear about the color I wanted- ‘Pink’. And Akshay made sure I had the most manageable outfit for my Mehndi. We picked an orange net on satin lining for the skirt with an orange hand embroidery border, and pink silk fitted corset with orange brocade sleeves. And after I tried it on, I was elated.” She wore a Rajasthani Borla (maang tikka) with her outfit.
Her make-up for all the occasions was done by Vidya Tikari. Gunjan has a fondness for big eyes so the idea was to have smokey eyes and keep the rest of the face neutral with a soft blush and natural lip color.
Royal Blue Anarkali for the Cocktail party
Since the Cocktail party was the only occasion when she could wear an evening color, Gunjan opted for a rich royal blue. “My main motive for this outfit was something that will allow me to dance freely with my high school dance partner! So the outfit and jewelry was carefully picked to allow easy dance movements. The Anarkali had hand embroidery with antique threads and stones,” she says.
Ombre Lehenga for the wedding
Gunjan says, “For the wedding lehenga we chose an ‘ombre’ silk (dyed in 2 colors), from chili red to blood red, and then enhanced it with rich yellow gold colored work all over. I got a net pleated skirt below it for it to fall well. For the dupatta, we used a crepe one over my head and a golden color net for styling.” She wore a heavy gold neckpiece to complement her outfit.
Photographs Courtesy: Sundeep and Lakhbir (www.dotdusk.com)
