Plans B, C and D

Over time, Patel has deliberate multi-day celebrations throughout India in addition to internationally, together with the French Riviera, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Europe, and Italy, and now Japan, the place they’re curating celebrations that fantastically mix Indian traditions with Japanese tradition. Inside India, she has labored extensively throughout Rajasthan, Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mussoorie, and several other different cities.

After 13 years, Patel, 33, says she nonetheless approaches each marriage ceremony with the identical pleasure she had when she deliberate her “very first one”. “I feel that’s what has saved this journey so fulfilling,” she provides.

Edited excerpts:

Q: What made you begin your personal luxurious marriage ceremony planning firm at 19 years of age?

Devanshi Patel: My journey into the world of weddings started lengthy earlier than I realised it could turn out to be my life’s work. Whereas I used to be nonetheless in faculty, I interned on large-scale occasions and productions, which gave me a robust basis in planning, logistics, and execution. Throughout that point, I had the chance to witness an extravagant marriage ceremony in Jodhpur, and it utterly modified the way in which I checked out celebrations. What stayed with me wasn’t the grandeur; it was the emotion. Watching generations of a household come collectively, celebrating traditions whereas creating new reminiscences, made me realise that weddings have the ability to inform tales in contrast to some other occasion.

At simply 19, I took a leap of religion and based Shreem Occasions. What started with a dream has developed right into a luxurious marriage ceremony planning firm that has curated celebrations throughout India and internationally, working with entrepreneurs, enterprise households, international Indians, and celebrities.

During the last 13 years, I’ve had the privilege of planning a whole bunch of celebrations in locations starting from Rajasthan and Goa to France, Italy, Japan, Thailand and past. Each vacation spot and each household has taught me one thing new, however one philosophy has remained fixed—no two weddings ought to ever really feel the identical.

Q: Take us by way of Anshula and Rohan’s marriage ceremony.

Patel: Each marriage ceremony begins with one query for us: not what it ought to seem like, however what it ought to really feel like? That turned the muse of Anshula and Rohan’s celebrations. Over eight months, we labored carefully with them to grasp their personalities, their households, their reminiscences, and the experiences they needed each visitor to take house.

Nothing was added as a result of it was trending. Each design determination, each leisure factor, and each meals expertise had a private story behind it. Their largest temporary was to recreate the heat of house. Company entered by way of a conventional jharokha impressed by Anshula’s childhood house earlier than arriving at a big grazing desk that celebrated each Punjabi and Gujarati cultures. Household reminiscence partitions celebrated generations on either side. In the course of the pheras, friends participated utilizing handcrafted ghungroo sticks, symbolising blessings, pleasure, and optimistic vitality, slightly than merely witnessing the ceremony.

The cocktail night mirrored one other aspect of their personalities. We recreated one among their favorite bars, launched nostalgic snack stations, interactive audio-video cubicles, and included refined references to Rohan’s love for cinema all through the area. None of those experiences existed for spectacle; they existed as a result of they mirrored who the couple really are.

That’s what made this marriage ceremony particular. Luxurious immediately isn’t about scale; it’s about authenticity. When friends go away saying, “this felt precisely like them,” that’s the largest praise a planner can obtain.

Their temporary was refreshingly easy. They didn’t need one thing designed for social media or pushed by developments. They needed each visitor to really feel welcomed into their world, virtually as if they have been getting into their house. What stood out most was how concerned they each have been all through the planning course of. They’re extremely detail-oriented, and each dialogue revolved round visitor expertise slightly than appearances. Whether or not it was meals, music, personalised experiences or household traditions, each determination was intentional.

Anshula is splendidly organised, a planner’s dream in some ways. She at all times introduced exceptional readability to discussions, whereas Rohan balanced each dialog with considerate concepts and a robust artistic perspective, and numerous pleasure. Collectively, they made each planning assembly collaborative, making it simpler to remodel their imaginative and prescient into actuality.

One considerate element that Anshula insisted on was creating fantastically stocked powder rooms with necessities similar to hairspray, perfumes, style tape, security pins, band-aids, mints, and different emergency objects. It might sound like a small gesture, however when friends are celebrating and dancing for 5 or 6 hours, these considerate conveniences make a exceptional distinction. It turned some of the appreciated parts of the marriage.

Q: Take us by way of your interactions with actor Arjun Kapoor and the Kapoor household.

Patel: Whereas this was the primary time we labored collectively so carefully on a marriage, it wasn’t our first skilled interplay with the Kapoor household. Over time, I’ve had the chance to work on a few of India’s largest stay occasions.

Throughout my early years with Wizcraft, I labored on initiatives such because the IIFA Awards. Later, by way of varied large-scale celebrations, together with leisure administration on the Ambani marriage ceremony, I had the chance to work together with a number of members of the movie fraternity in an expert capability. These experiences taught me the significance of discretion, precision, and delivering beneath strain—qualities that proceed to outline how we strategy each marriage ceremony immediately.

What made Anshula and Rohan’s marriage ceremony totally different was that I bought to witness the Kapoor household past their public personas. All through the planning course of and the celebrations, they have been utterly invested in making certain the marriage mirrored Anshula’s imaginative and prescient and that each visitor felt welcomed and cared for.

One of the vital memorable moments for me was watching all the Kapoor household welcome the Thakkar household in the course of the baraat. There was no sense of superstar or protocol—it was merely a bride’s household warmly receiving the groom’s household with immense love, heat, and emotion. Each member of the household got here collectively to make the welcome really feel heartfelt, creating an environment that was deeply private and exquisite to witness.

Regardless of the difficult climate situations in the course of the marriage ceremony, Boney Kapoor ji and Arjun Kapoor personally walked by way of the venue with us, discussing visitor motion, manufacturing changes and methods to make sure the expertise remained seamless regardless of the heavy rains. Their precedence was by no means simply the occasion; it was the consolation of each visitor attending the celebration.

It was equally particular to witness the household of their private roles. Arjun Kapoor strolling Anshula down the aisle and delivering an emotional speech, Janhvi and Khushi celebrating each second with their sister and internet hosting the mehendi occasion, and all the household coming along with such real affection mirrored what weddings are really about: household, love, and togetherness.

Glimpses from Anshula Kapoor’s marriage ceremony (Photograph: Epic Tales)

As planners, these are the moments that stick with us. Behind each superstar marriage ceremony is a household celebrating some of the vital days of their lives. Being trusted to convey that imaginative and prescient to life is a accountability we worth deeply, and it’s experiences like these that proceed to encourage us.

Q: What was the largest studying from this marriage ceremony?

Patel: One of many largest classes in luxurious weddings is that regardless of how detailed your planning is, stay occasions will at all times shock you. Anshula Kapoor and Rohan Thakkar’s marriage ceremony coincided with one among Mumbai’s heaviest rainfall durations. Regardless of months of planning and a number of contingency plans, the town was positioned beneath a purple alert. Roads have been flooded, logistics slowed down, and even elements of the venue infrastructure have been affected.

At that second, planning was about fast decision-making. Our staff, together with each manufacturing companion, lodge staff and vendor, labored virtually seamlessly as one unit. We constantly tailored layouts, adjusted visitor motion, protected experiences from the climate, and ensured that the celebrations continued with out friends ever feeling the strain behind the scenes.

That’s why I at all times say that the true take a look at of a marriage planner isn’t how fantastically they execute Plan A, however how confidently they navigate Plans B, C, and generally even D. Company ought to by no means see the chaos behind the scenes.

This marriage ceremony additionally reaffirmed one thing we’ve at all times believed: visitor expertise ought to at all times take priority over every thing else. Lovely décor and leisure definitely create pleasure, however what friends bear in mind years later is how comfy, welcomed, and cared for they felt.

Equally, one other memorable expertise was at a big superstar marriage ceremony the place the visitor rely finally grew far past the unique estimates. Together with the rise got here extra security protocols, VIP actions, and government-level preparations that needed to be accommodated in actual time. Conditions like these can’t at all times be predicted—they need to be managed with expertise, calmness, and teamwork.

Q: How was it planning actor Allu Sirish and Nayanika Reddy’s marriage ceremony?

Patel: It was an exquisite expertise as a result of from the very starting, the imaginative and prescient was extremely clear. They needed a celebration that felt intimate, elegant, and deeply rooted in Telugu traditions slightly than one thing created purely for spectacle. The affiliation got here collectively by way of conversations with the household, and from our very first interplay, there was a robust alignment in values. They needed a marriage that mirrored who they have been as folks, whereas honouring their tradition and bringing each households collectively in a significant approach. That’s precisely the form of temporary we take pleasure in probably the most.

All through the planning course of, each households performed an vital position in shaping the celebrations. Our accountability was to translate their imaginative and prescient into experiences that felt seamless, private, and genuine.

Q: How do celebrities stability privateness with creating Instagram-worthy marriage ceremony moments?

Patel: Privateness has turn out to be one of many best luxuries for superstar {couples}. Folks usually assume superstar weddings are created for social media, however in actuality, they’re before everything intimate household celebrations. {Couples} need the liberty to chortle, cry, and have fun naturally with out always feeling like they’re performing for the digital camera.

Inside Anshula Kapoor’s marriage ceremony (Photograph: Epic Tales)

Mockingly, that’s precisely what creates probably the most memorable content material. The moments that audiences join with most are hardly ever staged; they’re real feelings, heartfelt speeches, spontaneous laughter, and actual household interactions. As planners, our accountability is to create an surroundings the place {couples} really feel protected sufficient to be themselves. When that occurs, stunning pictures and viral moments occur organically. The perfect Instagram second isn’t deliberate—it’s genuinely lived.

Q: What’s subsequent for you?

Patel: Sooner or later, our focus is on creating fewer however much more significant celebrations. Moderately than measuring success by the variety of weddings we undertake, we’re deliberately changing into extra selective, selecting initiatives the place we will really make investments our creativity, time, and strategic planning to ship one thing distinctive.

From understanding a pair’s journey to weaving their personalities into each touchpoint, I imagine one of the best concepts come when there’s time to assume, create, and collaborate. That’s the form of work we need to do.

We’re additionally persevering with to develop our presence within the worldwide marriage ceremony area, bringing Indian celebrations to distinctive locations whereas thoughtfully integrating native tradition, hospitality, and experiences. Each vacation spot has its personal story, and our position is to make sure the marriage feels deeply linked to each the place and the folks.

Finally, our imaginative and prescient is straightforward: to create signature celebrations that would belong to nobody else. What’s private to at least one couple can by no means be replicated for an additional, and that’s why personalisation will at all times stay the best type of luxurious for us.

We’re not making an attempt to create extra weddings; we’re making an attempt to create extra unforgettable ones.