"Being a Russian, the Hindu wedding ceremony was a very unique and enjoyable experience for me. Thanks for making this event an enriching experience for my family and friends from all over the world,''  writes Tatyana,  the wife of Avinash, an NRI from New York. The couple came to India on a whirlwind holiday and were able to have an elaborate Indian wedding roped in. Making this possible were marriage planners, Occasionz Unlimited, who handled the A to Z of their big day. Ditto for New Zealander Michaela who married Kishore from Mangalore in a traditional Indian weddding without a hassle about its arrangements, ``They ensured that we enjoyed ourselves with friends and families. They were friendly, understood our requirements and accordingly, blended our cultures,'' gushes Michaela.  Her wedding had a lot of guests (since the groom was from Mumbai),  appropriate mehndi,  sangeet and ceremonies the Manglorean way.``They initially wanted to have the marriage somewhere in Goa with the beach as their theme. We picked up a joint on Chowpatty beach and it had its own ambience. The lights were subdued and the outcome classy,'' informs Occasionz Unlimited partner Sneha Tejwani. 
  
Like them, there are many couples looking to getting married as elaborately as can be and without getting tired and worked up. Ask those who did it on their own and they will confess that looking after the nitty-gritties can be harrowing. Hence to cater to this burgeoning market is the band of weddings planners who will do nearly everything for you. Add to it the razzmatazz of giant weddings in the past three years like the Saharas, the Mittals and Chatwals and even the glamour of a lesser mortal like Liz Hurley and you know the end result. This booming industry has been given a boost with wedding exhibitions held all over the world as one-stop shops for all wedding provisions.

"From a fledgling industry it has grown leaps and bounds. Barely a decade ago, chachas, mamas and elders decided how the celebrations would take place. Today's couples are hands-on when it comes to their marriages. They know what they want and threadbare discuss it,'' says Gurleen, who runs the business in her name and specializes in décor. Adds Tejwani, ``What strikes you is that no matter what is spoken about modernization and of old traditions being thrown to the wind, couples want to go through the entire ceremonies and take a ritualistic approach.'' Right from conceptualizing the events to its execution, wedding planners do everything. Be it creating a particular ambience or theme or arranging trousseau for the couple.``Meeting the couple and getting to know their personalities is important,'' says Tejwani. She says some want it elegant, classy and subtle and others like the event to be flashy and glitzy celebrations. ``Then among them there are those who like a bit of Bollywood and Page 3 events thrown in,'' Tejwani adds. Theme weddings are very popular. If the theme surrounds a particular flower, the planner has to ensure everything surrounding it matches. So be it getting imported anthuriums or even orchids!  Also some just want a part of the events to be handled by the planners. ``It is here that my creativity comes in. I may just have to create that special corner to stand out,'' explains Tejwani.     
                                                                                    
Better still, I asked Shital Nahar,  a bride-to-be who runs four fitness centres, and is  hands-on for her November wedding. She had a different take. ``I am doing everything from engagement to reception. I have created my concept, theme and sourced persons to execute,'' she says. Nahar who comes from a family in the construction business says three marriages in the family have made her learn from mistakes. Hers is the last marriage. ``I have experience and hence been organizing, planning, meeting chefts, planning the menu . I know on my big day I am not going to scream to get work done,'' she adds. While the family marriages were traditional Jain dos, Shital has decided to make hers a comparatively simpler.``I am going to do what makes me happy,'' she says, explaining that she has selected the concept of Mata Bhakt for her wedding and will have a Mata ki Chowki ambience replete with bhajans and kirtans. ``After all, a new life begins for us and we want to start on a good note,'' she reasons. Her fiancé  Sunil Agarwal is in sync.

Before the big day, Shital plans to throw a Moroccan party for friends with themes from 60s to 90s that includes Arabian dance, English, DJ music, dancers , seesha and hukka.``It will be a fun thing,'' she exults. Gurleen will handle the décor of the Moroccan Party at the Taj Mahal, reception at the Turf Club, pheras at Oberoi Hilton reception. Guests are being sent his and her ittar roll-ons.

Aditya Mochwane, of Percept D'mark who are in multiple events businesses, and were project managers for Sahara weddings of 2004 says the wedding business is definitely booming.``It is estimated that the valuations on Indian weddings alone is Rs 30,000 crore annually and growing at 25 percent. This is phenomenal.'' Mochwane may be off the mark because some other estimates put the figure four times ahead and again others say its hundreds of billions. It is not a regulated industry. Mochwane whose firm has done 100 weddings in the past five years including those for in-house clients says event planners come into picture if the celebrations go on for four days and more. ``Since we are into multiple events we get good deals for trousseau from fashion designers and other artists and vendors which we pass on to our clients,'' he explains.

If a regular wedding is monotonous, then there are destination weddings where you fly to a destination within India or simply take the baraatis abroad to places like Dubai, Malaysia Singapore, among others. Places like Goa for its beaches, Kerala for its backwaters and Rajasthan for its palaces are popular destinations and even farm-houses and resorts there are sought after. ``Destination weddings are indeed the in-thing today,'' confirms Mochwane. He should know having handled a guest list of 15,000 for two days for the Sahara marriage in Udaipur alone. ``Handling crowds is not a problem for us. We are a 100 plus team and various departments coordinate operations of logistics,'' Mochwane. He says the other extreme would be to have it small and compact, adding,`` A diamond merchant from Antwerp (Belgium) may just want a couple of hundred persons to be flown to a destination  in India for a different experience''.

Tequilla Wedding Planners  Stephen Lobo, who also runs an a live band with the name,  says over the past 40 years, weddings, mainly Christian, have changed from what ``was essentially a black-and-white affair.'' ``There is no limit to imagination that can be put to use to create themes and decors for a complete wedding replete with compere, backdrop, center piece and caterers — all in a package,'' he adds.

To this joyous tale is a black side. That of rip-offs. Shital, one enlightened to-be bride, tells us some marriage planners can do just that. ``Decor which is repeated at several weddings can be used for you. You can be charged for it as if it is the first time,'' she cautions. Tejwani  says she's had people who came to her after realizing they were being taken for a ride when saddled with hidden costs that were never mentioned about at the onset. ``People have regretted their experiences. This industry is not structured and has few players. Mostly it is word-of-mouth that gets us our clients,'' says Sneha.   

NRIs, for whom the time is short, come on a brief holidays wanting the best laid out for them. Just a handful of planners handle the crème de la crème where the cost can be Rs 4-5 crores upwards. Wedding planners are cagey on details as they claim clients swear them to secrecy and are unwilling to discuss expenses openly. 
All said, like in the movies despite glitches there is always a happy ending to Indian marriage ceremonies. And when one day's wedding is over, the next day, the  toast is raised to the next one.