India has become the chosen destination for NRI weddings and why not, celebrating your wedding with age old customs, traditions and rituals is a matter of nostalgia for many. Here’s a glimpse of one such lavish and extravagant wedding of NRI couple Roshan Pujari

and Alisha Vaid.

Big Fat Wedding

India as a wedding destination continues to woo Non-Resident Indians with its extravagant and over-the-top arrangements,

which has strengthened the $42 billion tourism industry. The affluent NRIs are redefining concepts of opulence, grandeur and magnificence in India. These high net-worth individuals have given an impetus to destination weddings in India by as much as 300% in the year 2013.

The reason can be attributed to the need to connect with their Indian heritage, culture and traditional roots. Their ancestry is what harkens them back time and time again. Maybe that is the reason NRI couple Roshan Pujari (32), an investment banker and Alisha Vaid (24), a business consultant decided to come back to Indian soil to tie the knot.

India has taken centre stage in Oklahoma, Pujari’s state of residence. After setting up an emerging markets investment advisory firm, VIKASA Capital in Oklahoma, which is also the first Foreign Institutional Investor to

set shop in the state, Pujari has become one of the noted foreign nationals at his place of residence. No doubt, Christina Fallin, daughter of the Governor of Oklahoma Mary Fallin, had some nice words to say about him. “This is a great opportunity to celebrate one of Oklahoma’s favourite sons but it is also a celebration of India. We look forward to building more bridges between our communities and countries,” Christina said.

Having made several friends during his long years in Oklahama, his wedding was definitely an event to look forward to. Pujari’s friends, family and colleagues and a wide array of civic and business leaders made their way to New Delhi for his special day.

The Love StoryPujari met the love of his life, Alisha Vaid in London, when she was visiting the capital for a job interview, incidentally, at Pujari’s firm. Both knew right away that they felt special about each other, and there was no looking back thereafter. Instead of a professional relationship, their meeting snowballed into an intense romantic affair, which eventually led them to marriage. Thereon began their planning to implement their dream Indian wedding with its entire colour, glitz and a special evening to entertain business clients thrown in.

The Grand WeddingThe wedding, which was held on October 3rd in New Delhi, was unique in many ways. “Roshan and I come from very different backgrounds, he being a second generation American and I being a true blue Punjabi, we decided that the wedding will have lots of colour, music, and dancing,” Vaid recalls.

The wedding kicked off a week before the D-day with a traditional meal at Bukhara, Maurya Sheraton, followed by a visit to the magnificent Taj Mahal, which was organized keeping in mind the guests who would be coming from all across the globe.

“Weddings are no longer a family affair; it is much more than that. We feel that a meal together is a great way to connect and engage with business clients and guests travelling from different countries,” says Khaver Ali Khan, Director of sales and marketing at Secrets of India. The firm, which organised Roshan and Alia’s wedding in India, is an inbound travel company and forayed into wedding planning recently.

“Having worked with foreign nationals and NRIs, we understand their tastes and preferences.

Combined with our in-depth knowledge of the country we manage to come up with something, which is appreciated by our clients,” adds Khaver.

While the sangeet ceremony was planned with an authentic Indian bazaar theme, complete with lots of street food, chudiwalas, mehendi walas, tarot card reader and a comedy show; the lavish reception at the Imperial Hotel was based on a Mughal theme with antique props, mogra flowers, qawali and food inspired from that era. For the total Indian experience the groom arrived on elephant’s back for the wedding and there was a medley of South Indian classical dance performances for the guests.

After the wedding, the couple took a two-day break and whisked away everyone to the beautiful city of lakes, Udaipur. The dinner was hosted on board the famous Gangaur boat, which was extensively featured in the classic James Bond Film, Octopussy.

PhIr BhI DIl haI

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58 | Wedding VoWs april 2015

For the total Indian experience the groom arrived on elephant’s back for the wedding

and there was a medley of South Indian classical dance performances for the guests.