Wedding Planner Nilma's Authentic South-Indian Soiree With A Boho Twist!
BY Latha Sunadh | 19 Mar, 2017 | 5841 views | 6 min read
What happens when a Wedding Planner meets a Graphic Designer / Producer? A super fun hipster wedding with a bunch of cute ideas thrown in. Unimaginably original and super sweet, this Bangalore wedding aptly titled "Beardo & Wierdo" is all about being badass in the most creative way possible. From the flamingo-inspired pool party to the traditional with a twist, South-Indian ceremony to the new-agey Boho party, this wedding was everything you could have hoped for in 2017. Photography by George Seemon Photography Photography and Neel Bhupathi Photography took they styling and the ceremony up to another level altogether. P.S How cute - they had food trucks at the After Party! :P
Meet Nilma & Abhineet
"We have been acquaintances/friends for about 10 years now…. but we started dating 4 years ago when we met at a mutual friends wedding. Since then we have been inseparable. :)" says Nilma.
The Pre-Wedding Pool Party
The Wedding
The Boho After Party
From The Bride:
As I am a wedding decorator for about two years now I didn’t have to wait for my own wedding to have a “dream wedding” as I had executed most of my favourite ideas at my clients events. But then again there were couple things which none of my clients asked for or had a similar style to mine, and that’s where I had the most fun planning and prepping for my wedding with Abhineet, my family and my team who did a wonderful job! :)
When the date got fixed, both Abhineet and I knew exactly what we wanted. Both our styles are natural, minimalistic and fresh…. hence while looking for a wedding venue our main criteria was that it should have a gigantic tree with its branches cascading down to form a natural mandap under which we would sit and have the ceremony," says Nilma.
"Since Abhineet and I were busy with the ceremonies and we couldn’t take care of the decor personally (though we would have loved to!) we looked for venues that were beautiful by itself and required our team to enhance the space marginally by adding in a few elements rather than going bat shit crazy with fabric and flowers and metal structures all over the venue. Another reason for the minimalistic decor was because we paid for everything throughout all the events (vendors/ outfits/ caterers/ transport/ venue etc.) by ourselves with whatever we saved over the two years of running our business together. Unfortunately that dug into our honeymoon budget and we couldn’t have one. Nevertheless the fun filled week with our closest family and friends celebrating us was worth it!" explains Nilma.
"Here's a breakdown of the cool events:
While Abhi was busy with pujas at his place before the wedding, I had a Halloween-themed surprise bachelorette on Oct 31st 2016 planned by my girlfriends which was soooo much fun. The next morning, with the same bunch of girlfriends I had a poolside flamingo/tropical themed soiree with a lot of cocktails and dancing in the pool. Post which in the evening we headed to my parents place for a mehendi (which btw I did not don as I so dislike the smell). But this event was mainly to do some dancing and get my family and friends together a day before the wedding.
The wedding ceremony was a traditional, brahmin one as Abhineet is a Kannada-Brahmin boy and I’m part Malayali and part Coorg. To bring in my side of the traditions into the event I got my closest friends to wear a mallu saree, coorg style. Ralph, the brilliant makeup artist made me feel like a queen! I entered in with a small dance choreographed by my friends. Sitting under the shade of a ginormous and beautiful fig tree, with my soon to be husband turned to be one of the most magical days of my life so far :) To bring in some coorg flavour we got the traditional valaga musicians from coorg, to whose music everyone danced with so much happiness till late that afternoon.
My mom-in-law bought my wedding saree for me, but I was persistent that I wanted to wear my moms wedding saree. Hence after the ceremony when the coorg dancing started I rushed in and changed into my moms gorgeous vintage wedding saree to spend the rest of the afternoon in. Giveaways for the guests were jars of coffee from my uncles estate in coorg and marigold flowers in pots. The weddings invite as well was printed on marigold seed paper which when you sow grows into a plants. In the last couple months many of our friends and family have sent in photos of the wedding invites which are now full grown plants and that was a wonderful feeling :)
The next event was a boho themed wedding brunch party for about 100 of our friends which was my favourite event! A lot of grooving to DJ Ivans fabulous music, food trucks, and laughter. We started at 1 am and ended at 10 pm exhausted from all the dancing! My sister-in-law also played for us a surprise video with small video clips sent in by friends and family :)
Throughout all the events we tried to be as conscious as possible of the environment by not creating excessive waste and having eco friendly decor. We replaced plastic water bottles by renting steel tumblers for drinking water. We had banana plants in pots at the mandap instead of cut stems which is traditionally used. We got handfuls made out of bamboo from Mysore. We tried our best to use raw materials like rope and jute into the decor.
At the end of it all .. most of guests said that the events were free spirited, breezy and fun! :)" explains Nilma.
Vendors: Venue: Pre-wedding party at Bricklane; Wedding at Moongate Events; Post Wedding Party at The Courtyard House Wedding Planning & Decor: With Love Nilma Bridal Outfits: Party outfit by Vero Moda; Wedding sari and post wedding outfit from my Mom's collection; Angadi Silks & Sithara Kudige for the blouse Groom's Outfits: Wedding outfit by Angadi Silks; Post-Wedding outfit by Shraddha Ponappa Jewellery: Rented / Borrowed Catering: Pre-wedding party by Bricklane; Wedding catering by RNM Caterers; Post-Wedding party catering by Manna Hospitality; SWAT food truck; Go Waffles food truck Invitations: Abhineet at With Love Nilma Makeup: Ralph Daniels Videographer: The Wedding Flicks Photographer: George Seemon Photography Photography; Neel Bhupathi Photography mainly for the decor + pre wedding event