Malavika and Ashwin thought they had worked every detail around their wedding day, but there was one thing they hadn’t prepared for.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
The bride narrates their wedding-day story…
The couple: Malavika Raghavan and Ashwin Narayanan
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Venue: Woodrose Club
Wedding Day: 4th June, 2015
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
“As the last one among my friends to get married, I thought I had seen it all – the big traditional weddings, the party-all-night weddings and the bridezillas. What they all had in common was the crucial, and often grueling, vendor-selection process.”
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
" I was so obsessed with making sure my wedding was a chilled out, stress-free operation that one of the first things I did was download the Ultimate Indian Wedding Checklist, customize it for my wedding, and follow it to the T. I’d never had any childhood dreams for my special day, so I thought the several hundred pins on Pinterest and six months of preparation time would suffice.”
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
I didn’t have a lot working for me. For starters, my to-be-husband Ashwin and I, both based in Dubai, were trying to manage a wedding in Bengaluru – my hometown.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
To make matters worse, our initially planned small wedding (by Indian standards), with a 200 – people guest list, grew astoundingly, to a 450 – people guest list.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
The swelling numbers brought some unexpected problems with it too – a change in the layout and setup of the venue, curfew and music restrictions, etc. It dawned on us that we needed some professional help.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
I contacted Katha Weddings, who came highly recommended by a friend whose wedding the wedding planners had organized impeccably.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
Right after sharing my elaborate list of décor needs with them, we began working together to create a color palette and theme for the wedding.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
But that was not all!!
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
What was most impressive about them was how the team managed to avert a potential disaster.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
We had decided to have my mehendi and sangeet ceremony outdoors.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
An hour before it began, however, there was a terrible downpour. My heart sank; our entire vision for this wedding was about to drown.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
But through it all, Team Katha remained optimistic, quickly working around alternatives, never compromising on the look of the venue or the décor.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
I still remember them working tirelessly through the night, always ready to help, with a smile on their faces – often stretching themselves well beyond the scope of their job.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
When the rain finally gave in, we decided to retain the outdoor venue, which Team Katha managed to decorate well before the guests arrived.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
In fact, Katha Weddings had decorated two separate venues with different themes in just 24 hours – and that too, flawlessly.
PHOTO CREDIT : AMRITA B NAIR
No one could tell that the venue had seen a crazy downpour just minutes ago ! The guests loved the décor and felt it was very well organized.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
I was really worried that the rains would wash out one of the most important days in my life, but I am truly grateful to Team Katha Weddings for not only saving the day but also making it extra special.
PHOTO CREDIT : SIDDHARTH SHARMA
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