Live Blog: The Plaza

Today we are blogging directly from The Plaza Hotel in preparation for this weekend's wedding. Yesterday we had an extremely productive day; the families of this weekend's happy couple checked in, welcome bags were deposited and a full final walkthrough was reenacted. This afternoon we also have the bridal party rehearsal to look forward to. We love being back at this timeless venue and working with a host of familiar vendors. We are really looking forward to a fantastic celebration this weekend but we will certainly be sad to see our planning meetings with this couple come to an end! 

-1 day until Mr. and Mrs!

Real Weddings: Nipa and Vik

This weekend we traveled to the Hyatt Regency in Long Island where Nipa and Vik enjoyed a wonderful wedding weekend. Guests traveling from near and far were greeted by the SJS welcome desk and handed welcome bags and itineraries before heading to their rooms. 

The events were kicked off on Friday evening with a colorful Sangeet. Guests enjoyed henna by Monita and Mehendi For All, while the beautiful decor came courtesy of Kalpana Aunty at Sajawat decorators. Ritesh Rathod and the Medley Entertainment band kept everyone dancing long into the night, while guests sampled amazing Mexican cuisine from Rajbhog catering. 

Saturday was a jam-packed day which began with a buffet lunch from Rajbhog followed by the groom's baraat. 

DJ insomnia made sure that the grooms procession was lively as ever and he made a fun and energetic entrance to his ceremony.

The bride's entrance was equally as stunning, gliding in on an open hand-painted dholi supported by 8 of her close family members. The emotional ceremony took place on a beautiful mandap crated by Sajawat and was witnessed by 600 guests who were kept refreshed by servings of ice-cream from Rajbhog. 

In the evening, guests enjoyed a cocktail hour on the terrace patio before entering the grand ballroom for a stunning wedding reception catered by Bukhara Grill. Along with DJ Insomnia, a photo booth kept guests entertained well into the night. 

We wish the couple every happiness and are so glad to have helped make their events a success! 

Nipa and Vik were also featured in the New York Times on Sunday. Click here to see the article.

Live Blog - Nipa and Vik

Today we are blogging from The Hyatt Windwatch in Long Island directly from Nipa and Vik’s Wedding. This Wedding weekend will see the results of months of planning and co-ordination between our couple and their vendors. All party favors and welcome bags have been prepped, and the SJS check-in desk is set up and ready to greet the couple's guests, who have traveled from near and far to join in the festivities which kick off tonight. We really can’t wait to see everything come together. Stay tuned for photos and highlights!

Destination Wedding Planning Trip

Planning trips are essential for all our destination brides, as it allows them to schedule back-to-back meetings and trials with all of their vendors and sample any choices before ironing out the final details of their events. This past weekend in Mexico was no exception, allowing our happy couple to attend various tastings and with a very full agenda (site inspections, room inspections, menu tastings, a hair and make-up trial and a décor meeting) we were able to be very productive and sign off on many crucial decisions. Co-ordinating from abroad can certainly be time-consuming and stressful, and often any time zone differences can also make this a very difficult process to manage logistically. In this way, planning trips give our couples the opportunity to also insure their special day goes off without a hitch.

Wedding Buffets

Most people significantly underestimate the important role that food can play in their event. As planners, we know that great food equals happy guests, which is why we place emphasis not only on quality but also more importantly on quantity - it does not matter what delicacies you are serving if there is not enough to go around! When it comes to buffets, we always recommend that these be double sided, which helps to keep a steady flow of diners while allowing them to be more easily refilled by your caterers. We are often asked how many buffets are sufficient for an event and while there is no magic formula, the most successful equation we have come up with is 1 per 100 guests. This will guarantee that there is an ample amount of delicious food available for all those who want it and ensure that guests plates do not go empty!

Sand and Coral Wedding Colors

Today’s blog focuses on the wedding color scheme of coral and sand. When used together, these two colors compliment each other to perfection and additional gold accents really bring out the warmth in these tones. Ideal for destination or beach themed weddings when paired with lighter cream shades, we really love the tropical or desert feel of this color combination. Paired with darker tones, this combination could also be used for fall weddings due to coral’s slightly orange hues for a down-to-earth look.

Maharani Weddings

As planners, we work so very hard to ensure that every event we coordinate is a success in every sense of the word. As such, it fills us with immense pride when our past weddings are featured on MaharaniWeddings.com, one of the top Indian wedding blogs in the US which is read by tens of thousands of brides every month. We are beyond thrilled to have been recently featured multiple times as a highlighted vendor on the site, giving their readers the chance to see some of the beautiful weddings we have helped to create.  

We are very thankful to have been given the chance to work directly with Maharani, who today published an article of helpful and invaluable planning advice from our founder and lead consultant, Sonal J. Shah. (Click here to read the post)

We look forward to future collaborations with the wonderful team at Maharani and are so happy to continue to share our beautiful weddings with all their readers!

How to have a successful outdoor wedding:

This year’s summer season may be behind us but the planning for 2015’s summer weddings is already in full swing! So many of our brides like to take full advantage of the beautiful warm weather and stage spectacular outdoor ceremonies which gives them the opportunity to add an additional location to their events. Although it is true that outdoor venues make for beautiful photos, it is essential to take a range of other factors into consideration, from the weather to the wildlife, and seriously evaluate your ability to handle them all. Failing to plan for any number of things can really create a bad atmosphere and have your guests remembering your events for all the wrong reasons.

If you’re considering getting married outside, planning for some of these provisions will surely keep your guests happy: 

Water stations  - it is important to keep everyone hydrated and since alcohol is dehydrating be sure to serve a variety of teas, flavored and iced water. 

 http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-supplies/invitations-and-stationery/bottle-labels-a1-551498-1.fltr

Hand-held fans – these can be laid out on every chair before the ceremony starts in order to keep guests comfortable in the hot weather. Paper or battery operated, they could be color coordinated to match your décor or even multi-purposed and created out of your wedding program!

http://myweddingreceptionideas.com/folding_hand_fans_favors.asp

Parasols - leave a basket of these at the entrance to the ceremony in order to provide some much needed shade in venues where this is lacking

 http://weddingshop.theknot.com/fans-parasols.aspx

Suncream – leave a few bottles at the entrance to your venue to allow guests to stay protected from the sun’s strong rays

http://www.beau-coup.com/personalized-sunscreen-wedding-favor.htm

Bug Repellent – there is nothing worse than flying bugs to kill the mood or distract a guest. Ensure you remain the main focus of the day by providing sprays or citronella candles to keep the unwanted visitors at bay.

http://www.happywhiskers.com/citronella-candle.html

Sunshine –  consider timing your outdoor event for sunset to avoid a sunshine glare or provide sunglasses as wedding favors to keep all eyes on you.

https://www.etsy.com/market/wedding_sunglasses

Top Indian Bridal Designers

Finding the perfect wedding dress can be difficult no matter what type of event you are planning. South Asian wedding outfits can consist of anything from the traditional saree to modern, sleek Indian clothing, to heavily embellished dresses. While both comfort and style is key, each individual designer brings a twist to the generic bridal outfit, be it through the use of interesting colors, beaded accents, unusual fabrics or texturing and detailing. The increase in the number of recognized up-and-coming designers in this field mean that Indian bridal designers are now highly sought after, with everyone hoping to get their hands on a unique piece to wow their guests on their special day.

Here are some of India’s best-loved fashion designers that we just can’t get enough of:

Nikhil Thampi:

Payal Singhal:

Sabyasachi Mukerjee:

Manish Malhotra:

Neeta Lulla:

Rita Kumar: