HYDERABAD: The Big Fat Indian Wedding (BFIW) has become a brand that sells amazingly well. From NRI’s looking for that connect to their roots to Indians here organising one helluva party disguised as a wedding, the concept of the event has changed from just being a traditional ritual of matrimony to a spectacle to be remembered and cited for bragging rights.
However, pulling off the BFIW has always been an enormous task. Such has become it’s magnitude, Priya Tanna, editor of Vogue India, likens it to a film. “A wedding has many details to it. There’s the most obvious hassle of clothing followed by jewellery and then venue. People want everything in such harmony with each other that decor, and even cutlery is matched. And none of this is ever available at one place in one city.”
For those of you who have been married or had your children married in the past few years to a decade, you know exactly what Priya is talking about. If you were promised the best of fashion in Delhi, then for jewellery, the karigars at Kolkata are unmatched while Mumbai has a shopping spot for most everything. But zipping all across the country isn’t the ideal way to go about planning and executing such a large-scale project. Which is why Vogue India started The Vogue Bridal Studio.
Launched last year, the studio is a one-stop destination to script, cast and wrap up the perfect BFIW. From sourcing top designers to jewellery brands to even etiquette instructors, the bridal studio could be your new best friend. In their second edition currently, a road show is taking the studio to cities across the country because the BFIW isn’t just “a Delhi or a Mumbai phenomenon”, explain the curators.
Bringing the studio to Hyderabad this Wednesday, the prelude to the Vogue Wedding Show 2014 that takes place in August, featured designer Manish Malhotra besides Priya Tanna and Oona Dhabhar, marketing director at Condé Nast India that publishes the fashion magazine. Renu Basu, global-head sales for Taj hotels that has also partnered with the show, was also present.
While the session included a discussion about current trends, a few tips and what to expect from the show, Manish sat down with City Express just before the event to talk about designing for such occasions.
“Designing the outfit is all about the person and telling their story. While some come in with specific ideas – that they’ve always dreamt of being married in red, want a particular kind of outfit, etc, others need some help. But it’s never just the one person’s idea. It’s a family event and everyone ends up having a say in how the ultimate look and feel of the dress, and by extension the wedding, will be.”
Having designed for most every actress in Bollywood besides also dressing up quite a few international starlets, Manish says his unstructured learning is what helps him come up with new ideas.
“I never went to a design school nor studied fashion. I’ve always been keen on art; I used to love to draw and paint. I’ve grown in my career by observing people and their surroundings. I never understood this concept of travelling to some corner of the world or isolating oneself to find inspiration; it’s all around you.”
Picking up plenty of inspiration from the indigenous handlooms industry, Manish says its important that we find and explore more of them. “I’ve imbibed a lot of Kashmiri work in my designs. Others are also looking at the handloom industry to bolster their work as well as the industry. But you need to be genuine about it.” Pointing out that there are plenty of self assumed champions of handlooms, he says rather bluntly, “Don’t be so pretentious.”
Coming back to the bridal show, he predicts lots of oranges and reds this season. The only down-side he sees though is the fixation on a gown. “I don’t know why they want to wear a gown at an Indian wedding? It’s quite annoying especially because everyone wants to wear it, even the mothers. I tell my clients now that I don’t do dresses!” he chuckles.
However, in terms of the overall production of a wedding, Priya interjects to say that it’s shifting from the mega spectacle to more intimate gatherings steeped in a cultural setting.
“Design-wise, we see a people going back to tradition. Wear your family heirlooms and keep things simple yet elegant. More and more brides and grooms are taking on the responsibility of their weddings with the family taking a back seat. They’re very clear that it’s their day and what they want is important. What the show will do is put them in touch with all the people and tools required.”
Besides jewellery and clothes, Priya says the studio can give you wine/malt appreciation classes, sessions on food pairing, dancing, grooming and just about any minute detail you may want taken care of.
The Vogue Wedding show will be held at the Taj Palace from August 1 to 3. If you’d like to attend the show, you can register ahead at www.vogueweddingshow.in or call on 99202 74470.