My first encounter with Komal, our beautiful Indian bride was back in December of 2022, the date was the 7th, I won´t forget as it was my birthday and she sent me a message on email, (I didn´t answer that day), but she didn´t give up, she then sent me a text message on WhatsApp. I never leave messages unanswered on WhatsApp, because most of the time I forget to go back and answer.
Komal contacted me after seeing fireworks show at one of our weddings, so wanted info on entertainment. She had her wedding all booked up with PTI, and the venues booked, so she simply just wanted info. I duly gave her my input and put her onto one of our suppliers for the entertainment. During our conversations, I asked if she had décor all figured out and booked, knowing the industry and knowing Indian weddings, I was sure she had it all sorted, but asked nevertheless. Of course, her answer was “Yes, all sorted, just needing entertainment like fireworks, dancers and drum players” So, after giving her the contact details, that was my part done. A few days later, K, as she is known on her WhatsApp profile, sent me a texted message asking me if I had her dates free, and if I could quote her for her 3 day, 4 events stationery décor. My answer was, yes, of course, as Indian weddings are a must for me, I love the décor part of my job, I love the vibrant colours, the wow factor that must be produced for every event. We started exchanging emails and exchanging ideas on stationery. All of a sudden, the stationery turned into a full-blown wedding décor from flowers, to stationery, to furniture, to props, etc etc… The sleepless nights and the excitement began! We exchanged 100´s emails, even more WhatsApp messages, calls, and K & S come to Portugal for a quick 2-day visit to meet and run through the motions of the vision and the different venues. We met, together with their catering team, and their planner from Lisbon.Nothing Komal & Shanil wanted was impossible, at first, I must be honest, I wasn´t sure how to make it happen, certain requirements were quite big and extravagant, but nothing frightens me and I love a challenge, so it was my job to make it happen. Came back to our premises, exchanges lots of ideas with my team, exchange lots of ideas with my technical team, and I had a plan in my head what had to be done.My biggest challenge was a suspended flower garden that K wanted over her dance floor, Portugal wasn’t ready to have one of these built locally, so I started my hunt for international suppliers.Many hours of drawings, many video calls, and many many communications between my team and the production team. It took 2 months to make and 2 months to ship and in between these months, it took my technical team 3 months to design and make the structure that would holds the suspended garden. It was intense, but it was all worth it in the end.
Day 1 – Event 1 – Sangeet/Henna welcome partyThis was vibrant, full of bright and beautiful colours, with lots of décor, 150 Indian umbrellas hanging from the ceilings, tassels hanging, different styled furniture set out around the venue, a swing with a personalized neon sign for photos, and lots of amazing gifts at the gift stall that we created and built. The flower arrangements had to be the focus point, as that was the entrance hall where guests would arrive, and we wanted a WOW factor from beginning to end. Enjoy the photos…
Day 2 – Event 2 - Mayan & Choora ceremonies & Haldi EventYellow – is the colour- and of course its my colour, my favourite colour so it was amazing to create this décor design. Yellow was the main colour and then we combined the Portuguese blue tiles to the décor and if I may say so myself it was beautiful.Lemon square was the location, so lots of lemon trees, again the yellow was there … water – the blue combo. The furniture again had to be well thought, so I decided to go all white leather furniture and create lounge areas within the lemon square, leaving space for dinner tables for the older group. Dance area was created, a full decorated bar area was also carefully thought through, a photo shoot backdrop wall was also created, and of course the entrance to the lemon square was the beginning of a fairytale walk through entrance. Let me know what you all think….
Day 3 – Event 3 – Mandap religious ceremony followed by lunchRomance was the main aim here, soft pale pink and peach colours with white for purity.The day began extremely early, 5am so that all was ready by 9:30am, as guests started arriving for the arrival of the groom.A large, beautifully decorated mandap, all carpeted with beautiful floral décor. No chairs… K & S did not want chairs for ceremony, they wanted everyone to be seated on the grass, but inn style so we carpeted the ceremony grounds with white carpet. We used almost 230meters of white carpet, hundreds of nails and many meters of double-sided tape, it looked amazing. The view at Tabu Garden of the ocean is breathtaking, the morning sun of June is to die for… it was the perfect setting.
Day 3 – Event 4 – Evening Gala Reception Here the magic came to life.. my creation came to life and it all became a reality.3 days to setup the suspended garden and the 12 black large lamp shades created especially for the venue.This location, Solar do Paço, was the main event and the cherry on top of the cake… the selected colours was gold & black, the flowers all white and with a bold statement.Small and big details were added to this event, from black serviettes, to black and white menu cards, to the gold circular name tag for each guest, to the different centrepieces created – some tall, some low but all matching and creating the elegance that K & S wanted.I will allow the photos to speak for themselves…
