| But there is not just one simple kind of wedding planner anymore, someone who designs spaces, organises flowers and seating and lighting for a flat fee. There are now hundreds of them, a long lineup of inter-linked and highly trained specialists who undertake to give each wedding its distinctive, unforgettable appeal. Many of them are names so well-known on the planned-wedding circuit that they don't require advertising. They execute business worth hundreds of millions of rupees each season merely by word-of-mouth. Their names are merely whispered, for fear of speaking them aloud could mean leaking the surprises, thereby spoiling the whole effect. |
| One wedding planner's invention this season included a 100-foot-long Perspex bar, cunningly underlit in shades of lilac, to go with extravagantly staged item numbers by flamenco dancers, with waiters passing drinks dressed like Andalusian peasants. She is so busy that she can no longer even attend the weddings she conjures up. Four years ago she was a badly-paid underling armed with a degree in interior design who laboured long and hard over a drawing board in an architect's office. Today, she presides over an office of her own, with an army of workmen, and contracts out specialist jobs like lighting, backdrops and sound systems, flower arrangements and table decor to a host of allied professionals. "We only take on large, themed weddings with six to eight months' advance notice. Usually we sign on turn-key jobs depending on the number of functions." The big change, she said, was not the growing number of weddings her firm set up in Delhi. Demands were pouring in from Ludhiana, Kanpur, Jaipur and even Bhopal. "The Shatabdi trains are our best ally," she said. "And with the new highways we can truck down tonnes of equipment and props, even frozen food, overnight." |
| The capital's new catering corps is similarly trained to capture the taste buds of jaded palates with enticing variations-on-a-theme. An entire Anglo-Indian menu""railway curry, crumb chops et al.""was among the hits at one of season's big weddings. Culinary confluences are only part of the entertainment. From mujra dancers from Lahore performing under a blaze of red chandeliers to Russian belly dancers teasing guests at champagne-and-caviar stations, the Indian wedding has been transformed from a family gathering to an international show-piece. The world's cities, from New York to Nairobi and Montreal to Melbourne, now set their social clocks in accordance with the propitious high points of Indian marriage charts. |
| For all their planning, glitz and social cachet, Indian weddings are different from similar events in the West. They have not yet become wholesale media purchases. One story in the London papers this week is about the upcoming nuptials of model Liz Hurley to Indian businessman Arun Nayar. Will they be hiring the glamorous Devigarh palace outside Udaipur for the big fat Indo-British wedding? The speculation revolves around a 2 million pound deal on sale of exclusive rights of the wedding coverage to one of the top-selling celebrity magazines. Should such a deal be struck it will entirely depend on certified attendance of an all-star guest list. |
| What makes Indian weddings different and popular is that they remain a celebration, not a celebrity sellout. |
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