Zunu & Sid
“I think I knew then, subconsciously, that she would be one.” says Siddhartha, when the California born and raised met Zunu, the girl from Ranchi for the first time. She was the girl of his dreams and this Cross Atlantic Wedding was a memorable one for the couple.
Siddhartha (Sid) was having dinner with one of his closest business school buddies from Stanford University , when his friend mentioned about a girl whom he thought Sid should meet. His friend mentioned about Zunu and suggested that Sid should meet her. Sid felt that Zunu is Smart and Cute and inspite of the distance he decided to abridge the gap and meet her. Zunu recollects the day when Sid went down on his knees to ask for her hand in holy matrimony. She was ecstatic and mentioned the moment just out from the book of a fairytale. It was the best day of her life.
Sid and Zunu wanted it to be a destination wedding. They instantly fell in love with the place when they visited The Leela, Kovalam in South India. As both families are true foodies, hence the menu included various cuisines to meet the requirement of their guests from all over India, the US and Australia. The destination wedding in Kerala, India, was a 3 days event, which was amalgamated with Kerala theme and Rajasthani theme. Zunu’s family is originally from Rajasthan, but live in Ranchi, and Sid’s family is from Delhi but live in America.
On day 1 most of the guests arrived by afternoon. They were traditionally welcomed by Kathakali followed by Kalaripayattu and the guests who arrived on the 2nd day were welcomed in Kerala style Panchavadyam welcome for them. The venue was decorated with diyas, something that Zunu felt was an outstanding decoration. She was dressed in ivory lehenga, a collection by Anita Dongre.
Mehendi was held in the morning based on Rajasthani market theme and so the décor was bright and beautiful. Rajasthan folk dances performed, and there were bangles and purses for the women and brooches for the men. Zunu was cladded in a sharara from the collection by Shaymal and Bhumika for this event. The sangeet was organised at the beach. For Sangeet, Zunu was dressed in bridal creation by Sabyasachi. There was a huge screen set up to telecast the video of any song that the DJ played, which was immensely liked by the guests.
On the 3rd day of Haldi ritual 2 beautiful haldi stands were set up for the bride and groom by the poolside. This was followed by Kerala style Sadhaya Lunch, where 300 guests were served lunch on banana leaves. Gajras were offered for all the women. On her wedding day Zunu wore a lehenga from Manish Malhotra’s collection that won Zunu’s heart the moment she had set her eye on it. From normal to myriad, the venue was transformed into something extraordinary, where North Indian elements were brought to South India. Zunu mention the decoration was “just out of the world” and she mentioned that the wedding was just perfect. There were speeches from bride and groom after the ceremony, finally followed by dinner.
