“Don’t be stressed. Whatever happens, it will happen for the good. Trust me, everything will flow.” These placatory words are usually spoken by a wedding planner to calm a jittery bride.
But in this case, there was a role reversal of sorts.
Such inspiring pep talk tumbled out of Bollywood A-lister Anushka Sharma when she landed in Italy for her low-key, high-style wedding with top cricketer Virat Kohli. At the airport, the soon-to-be-bride learnt from her wedding planner Saurabh Malhotra that the wet weather in Tuscany could play spoil sport and that some her wedding events would have to be shifted indoors.
But Sharma was the picture of cool, said Malhotra from Shaadi Squad, the Mumbai-based boutique wedding planning company specialising in destination weddings.
“The day she landed, I was stressed out about the situation, but she looked at me and said: ‘don’t be stressed … In the end, everything turned out to be superb and everybody was happy,” Malhotra told Gulf News tabloid! over the phone.
Actress Sharma, whose dreamy destination wedding has captured the public imagination of India, was no bridezilla. She was switched on and was involved in every detail of her wedding including what went into the return gifts to her guests.
On December 11, Virushka, the moniker for the glamorous couple, took off to Italy along with fewer than 50 guests for a three-day extravaganza.
“Each and every detail including the decor, flowers and food was finalised by Anushka. She was very clear about the brief about what she wanted in her wedding. Everything was approved by her,” said Malhotra.
According to Malhotra, Sharma had met him and his team – comprising Tina Tharwani and Manoj Mittra — in July and July and vaguely discussed her wedding plans. But they took her seriously after she came back to them with the options of wedding venues. The couple got married in a palatial heritage property called Borgo Finocchieto in Tuscany. The decision to get married was made only after they visited the actual wedding venue. It was a one-day trip to Italy.
While the wedding venue was post-card perfect, it presented a few challenges.
“The property is in the middle of nowhere. Even if I had to get milk, I had to travel for two and a half hours. The logistics was difficult, but we had cushioned ourselves and padded ourselves to such an extent that we have met all the requirements. We were stocked upon the medicines, diapers, football… We planned it in such a way that we didn’t have to get out to get anything,” said Malhotra.
A catering team, a photography team and a decor team were flown in for the big day.
“We had seven different chefs from all over the globe. The key chef, Ritu Dalmia, who is based in Delhi was in charge of that… Every function had a different cuisine and for every cuisine we needed a different chef… A kitchen was specially transported from Milan to Tuscany because the property didn’t have a proper kitchen set-up,” he added.
Guests were treated to local delicacies along with Indian specialities such as vegetable pakodas (fritters), khichdi (rice-lentil dish, considered a comfort food in India) and South Indian breakfast.
“Everybody was there just for three day, four nights and we knew we had to plan different food at every function and high tea,” said Malhotra.
It wasn’t just the wedding function or the rituals that triggered the interest of the bride and groom. Sharma was personally involved in handpicking the return gifts for her guests who had flown in.
“We bought gifts from all over India. For the mehendi ceremony gifts for the guests, the bindis were from Lucknow and the kaddas were from Mumbai. In the rooms, we kept goody baskets filled with locally sourced cheese, olive oil and custom-made floral bouquets.”
Ask him about his favourite part about the wedding and he says: “The best part about the entire function was the way in which the entire family of Virat and Anushka treated us. They treated us like their family rather than outsiders.”
While the big chunk of the wedding planning is done, Malhotra and team are now planning the receptions in Delhi on December 21, followed by a star-studded party in Mumbai on December 26. But Malhotra is keeping a lid on the details.
“Let’s wait and watch. 21st is not too far away. Let it be a surprise. We have been working on it for six months and we have kept it very special,” he said.
