Oh so glamourous, lasts forever and makes a grand statement, these bouquets are handmade to your specifications using pearls, rhinestones and satin material to create faux florals.  If you go this route, budget about $300 – $500 for the bouquet, sizes range from 7-10″ and colours can be customized to match your theme.

Simply gorgeous…

007 ways to Bond-up your wedding:

1. Rent an Aston Martin as your car for the day – you won’t find this at any typical limo company so look into an Exotic Car rental place.  In Toronto you are looking at about $1500 for the weekend + insurance

2. Have a Bond-themed E-shoot – hit up a private airport to get some runway shots or 1 King West to get pics in their bank vault.  Bring 3-4 outfits to change into for each of you and then print out your best pics to create a museum-type gallery in the lobby of your reception venue

3. Serve martinis during cocktails of course!  Vodka martinis with olives would be best if that’s too hard core for your crowd, substitue with a polar bear or clear chocolate martini

4. Speaking of martinis, consider an ice luge in the shape of a gun to be at the bar or a focal point in the lobby.  This is where guests can pour shots down the ice luge and create some fun shots

5. Live string orchestra – a great way to class up your cocktails or dinner hour, hire a string quartet to play some ambient music and hopefully some Bond movie theme songs.  Maybe Skyfall as your first dance song?

6. Rent a photobooth for your guests to have some fun posing like their favourite Bond characters.  Complete the idea with props likes guns, bow ties, blonde wigs, fake cats, etc for them to dress up in

7. Consider some iconic Bond colour schemes

a. Dark Blue, Black, Sharp White – Dark blue table cloths, black charger plates, white napkins, white floral centrepieces

b. Black, White, Red – Black table cloths, dark red charger plates, white chair covers, black napkins, red floral centrepieces (in giant martini glasses!)

c. Black, Gold – Black table cloths, gold charger plates, black chair covers, black napkins, gold vase with black and white flowers

Ok so if you are feeling super ambitious, maybe borrow some ideas from this 20-something millionaire that had the ultimate Bond inspired wedding!  - http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/10/james-bond-themed-wedding

Being in a different city but having a wedding reception here in Toronto meant that Monica had to trust someone else to pull together the biggest party of her life.  Sunil lived in Toronto but his busy work schedule made is super difficult to do things on his own – enter Sapna Weddings.

We first met with Sunil and his parents to get an idea of their expectations and budget.  This way we could recommend the best options for them to consider and save them tons of time from researching things on their own.  We then proceeded to help book their venue, find their vendors and work out all of their logistics.  Monica and Sunil had their say throughout the process but there was definitely one key factor that made all of this possible – they trusted us.

We would often send emails with my recommendations and Sunil and Monica would reply with “whatever you think works best”.  Music to our ears!  Everyone wins: the client doesn’t have to do the work, we get to inject our experience and expertise into making the best decision and the final product is the best that it can be.

The last time we met with Monica and Sunil before the reception, Monica said “I don’t think I did a thing for this reception” and the ultimate gratification was when she gave me a big hug at the end of it all and told me it was absolutely perfect and everything she had expected – yay!

Our Favourite Moment:

Monica and Sunil opting for a huge ice cream sundae instead of a wedding cake and while “cutting the ice cream”, Monica not wanting to stop trying all of the flavours before opening up the dancefloor

We had been contacted late the week before about the interest in doing an article and cultural wedding planners and naturally, when considering an Indian wedding planner, we were the only ones the Globe was going to speak to since our reputation and online presence is so strong.  We interviewed on the phone for about 45mins and shared details of our role and support for Indian couples looking for help planning their wedding.  We were also happy to provide references for the reporter to connect with regarding South Asian wedding planners and Sapna Weddings in particular.

I want to thank everyone who helped contribute to the article, Dave Abreu for his amazing photography, Archna Gupta and Deepti Aurora for their openness to interview and one of our past clients Sonal and Bhav whose photo was featured.  Special thanks to Tamara Baluja, reporter at the Globe and Mail for reaching out!

Be sure to have a read at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/for-wedding-planners-today-its-something-old-something-new/article4393366/

It took us 4 months to woo Smitha and Jesse into working with us; they were apprehensive about hiring a planner who lived in Toronto since their wedding was taking place in Rochester.  Smitha loved our design style and what she had seen on our blog but how was Sapna Weddings going to help them find their vendors without knowing their local market?  After months of talking on the phone and over email, Smitha and Jesse took a leap of faith and put us in charge of developing, sourcing and executing their wedding design.

Working remotely is not without its challenges.  We did tons of research into the Rochester area, called around, got references and visited several vendors to see who would be the best fit for the client and our long distance working style.  They had to be reputable and able to work well over phone and email.  After we sourced the vendors, we began working on the decor concepts for Smitha & Jesse.  They wanted an untraditional look, something clean and modern and were open to any and all of our suggestions on colour, design and overall look and feel.  We developed their colours schemes, designed their custom made mandap and put together EVERY element of how the room looked – from the draping to the florals and the stools they sat on for their ceremony, the entire concept was built to create a unique wedding look.

Side note: Smitha was my perfect bride.  We bonded over wine and Mexican food the first time we met after months of working over email .  She was super nice, flexible and easy to work with.  She could make quick decisions but ultimately always took our advice and really leaned on our expertise.  She allowed us to work with little direction but we didn’t finalize a thing without her approval.  The event had to look like something she loved and it was our job to bring it all to life.  She trusted us completely and everything was better because of that.

I feel like I could ramble on forever about this couple, our experience and their wedding but I’ll share the fun stuff now.  The wedding and reception could not have gone better – perfectly planned and executed with a BEAMING bride and groom at the end of it all.

So how do we make their reception about everything but them? It was all about the food and the music with no head table and no bride and groom official entrance.

THE FOOD
Creating a marche style concept, there were 8 food stations distributed throughout the room, each one offering a different type of international cuisine to tempt the palette. An Southeast Asian station with items like mango salad, Thai veggie curry and noodles; a live pasta station; a South Indian station with idli, sambar and dosas and of course the staple Punjabi station, with Tawa veggies, saag paneer and mutton pepper fry to name a few.

The food was a huge hit and with the 600 guests as the station concept helping to eleviate long lines and offered a large menu selection

THE MUSIC
We needed a focal point in the room – something to drawn in everyone’s attention. Usually it’s the head table or a love seat on the stage for the bride and groom but Natasha and Puneet didn’t want to sit on the stage so we needed something else. So a band was hired – a world renowned Qwaali group to perform throughout the night. When their set was over the DJ took over and absolutely filled the dance floor with some old school bollywood tunes like “My Name is Lakhan” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDd_s6HdDVg) and “Muqabala” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06qaMg66CGw).

THE DECOR
As always my fav thing to highlight, Natasha wanted something elegant and simple with a focus on the table decor. Minimal flowers but a cluster of items at the centre of the table highlighted with the pin spot lights from above looked gorgeous…

CEREMONY ENTRANCE SONGS
Groomsmen
Salaam-E-Ishq – Tenu Leke
Tere Dware Pe Aai Baraat – Vivah

Groom
Sajan Ji Ghar Aaye – KKHH
Baharon phool barsao – Suraj

Bridesmaids
Ajab Si – Om Shanti Om
Pee Loon – Once Upon A Time in Mumbai

Bride (instrumentals of any of these are very nice)
Singh Is King – Teri Ore
Guru – Tere Bina
Jodhaa Akbar-Jashn-E-Baharaa

RECEPTION ENTRANCE SONGS – HINDI (great for parents!)
Mauja Hi Mauja – Jab We Met
Twist – Love Aaj Kal
Deewangi Deewangi – Om Shanti Om
Dhoom Tana – Om Shanti Om
Disco Wale Khisko – Dil Bole Hadippa

RECEPTION ENTRANCE SONGS – ENGLISH

Bridal Party
Beautiful People – Chris Brown
I Gotta Feeling – BEP
Party Rock – LMFAO
Forever – Chris Brown
Give Me Everything – Pitbull f Ne-yo
Just Dance – Lady Gaga
Anything Michael Jackson!

Bride & Groom
We Found Love – Rihanna
Firework – Katy Perry
DJ Got Us Falling In Love – Usher f Pitbull
Moment for Life – Nikki Minaj
OMG – Usher

CAKE CUTTING
Sweetest Thing – U2
Ice Cream – Sarah McLaughlin
Sugar Sugar – The Archies
How Sweet It Is – James Taylor

FIRST DANCE
Pehli Nazar Mein – Race
You Got A Way – Shania Twain
The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
My Chere Amour – Stevie Wonder
Unthinkable – Alicia Keys
If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys

MEHNDI

In serious Bollywood movie style, the mehndi celebration at Chomu Palace was one to remember.  Flower strings hanging from the trees, fountains, mehndi stations and stunning floral designs on the ground, the setup team worked overnight to pull together the perfect look for the morning mehndi.  As the guests arrived, they were greeted by authentic Rajestani folk dancers who performed to the drummers and got the dancing started.

Our mehndi favourites: a live tarot card and palm reader and a “choose your own bangle” station that was arranged to allow the guests to pick bangles to match their outfits!

CEREMONY

In North America, the grandest baraat we do would have an elephant and possibly a live band.  In Jaipur the baraat is incomplete without adding two horses and two camels to start things off!  As stunning as this was, it didn’t compare to the poolside ceremony we had at Samod Palace.

Our ceremony favourites: fresh tropical juices served by the wait staff during the ceremony and lounge areas setup near the mandap for the close family to relax on

RECEPTION

Back at Chomu Palace, there really was no need for any décor, the beautiful courtyard within the palace was better than any set designer could have put together.  Our bride and groom entered to a huge applause as the guests celebrated their last night in wedding paradise.

Our reception favourites: live fireworks as the bride and groom cut their cake and the DJ killing it with Deadmau5.  Seriously, Deadmau5 in India – sick.

Our next proposed destination wedding location – Shiv Vilas, Jaipur (http://www.shiv-vilas.com/).  Call us if you’re interested…

The birth of Sapna Weddings was based on an observation of an obvious need in the South Asian market.  Our weddings span several days, are rich in culture and customs and typically consist of 500+ guests – how could there not be a service dedicated to helping make this process easier?

We are now very proud to announce the launch of ELITE by Sapna Weddings.  ELITE offers a very high end level of service that truly plans the entire wedding and pre wedding functions for the couple and their families.  By eliminating all of the legwork involved in planning a wedding, ELITE is an option for couples who live far away from the city they are marrying in, have extremely busy work or school schedules or are looking for luxurious full service wedding production.

ELITE strives to create an experience that can allow for a bride to “just show up” at the wedding and not worry about creating invitation labels, putting together guest favours, taking care of out of town guest needs, etc.  Having luxurious service doesn’t mean you need to have a luxurious wedding, ELITE is designed to appeal to all types of brides with all different types of visions (or no vision at all!) – whether it’s a dream wedding at the Four Seasons or a fun and intimate affair with your closest friends and family, we are for every type of bride needing the ultimate level of wedding support.

www.sapnaweddings.com/elite

How about we go outside the typical Indian wedding colours and surprise out guests with something different?   Below are some my FAVE colour trends for 2012 – and they are only trends because we are going to make them trends!

NOTE: The colour combos below are a mix of what I have seen in the past and my own creative eye.  I wrote out this entire post and then decided to add pics to help you visualize.  Pics are pulled from various websites, enjoy!

1. Taupe / Blush Pink / Pearl – on the softer side of things, super elegant and understated.  Picture taupe table cloths, pearl napkins on mirrored charger plates with white and shades of light pink flowers for the centre

2. Mustard / Grey / White – a little bolder and more gender neutral, perfect for a fall wedding.  I envision grey table cloths, white napkins, mustard flowers made from wool mixed with white fresh flowers, custom table numbers with white background, grey fancy order and mustard numbering.  Now let’s say Mustard is just not your taste and you are having a hard time finding things that match – easily replace with red and you have a STUNNING colour combination and tons of options for flowers

3. Teal / Orange / White – very fresh and it pops!  Look for white chiavari chairs, white table cloths, teal napkins and orange flowers in a teal vessel, super summery!  Feel free to sub the orange with yellow or coral

I could go on forever, I haven’t even touched on olive, dusty gold or mauve (not together of course!).  Ok so now a twist to some of our traditional Indian reception colours but playing with how much you use and adding non-customary colours to the mix:

1. Plum / Chartreuse Green / Gold – still giving you the regal feel of the rich tones, add the green to break things up.  Absolute love green spider mums and button mums for the green.  Also cymbidium orchids are gorgeous.  Don’t be afraid to use the green as a table cloth colour for your family tables with purple napkins and gold charger plates.  Now I couldn’t find a true “plum” for the pics, but this will be a good start.  Plum would be closer to a purple/fuchsia tone.

2. Navy Blue / Fuchsia / Light Pink / Cream – use more of the blue and creme with the fuchsia as your tertiary colour and shades of pink flowers for your centrepiece.    Cream table cloths, navy napkins – too light?  Flip the combo.

3. Purple / Pewter / Dusty Aqua –  Picture dark linens (purple or pewter), dusty aqua napkins on silver or glass charger plates witha silver border, multiple shades of blue and purple orchids for the centre piece.

That’s it for now – I promise to write more posts this winter – it takes like 4 hours to put this stuff together