Intimate indoor Hindu wedding in Florence
Michael and Nicole are a lovely couple from the US. Nichole has a French and Irish background while Michael has an Indian background, his parents coming from a large Indian community from the Fiji islands. In fact, it was Michael’s parents who contacted us here at Best Indian Weddings Italy to organize the Hindu wedding for their son in Florence.
The wedding venue had already been decided when we were contacted; it would be held at an historic villa which was turned into a 5-star hotel located in the rolling Tuscan hills overlooking the city. But the family needed an agency not only experienced in organizing a traditional Indian wedding and pre-wedding ceremonies, but one which would also leave all the guests coming from abroad speechless. It needed to be an intimate family gathering for about 35 people. We started planning in September when we met the couple and their parents in Florence and selected a villa which served both as accommodation for the family and also as the location for the pre-wedding events.
All the planning was done together with the groom’s parents to assure that the traditions and their wishes were respected. We provided a Gujarati Pandit to perform Hindu ceremonies on both days, Indian musicians to play at the wedding, Indian food for both days, and all the planning for the ceremonies and reception setup.
Indian ceremony with WOW factor
Despite the having chosen the beginning of May for their wedding in Italy, the weather this year was uncooperative. Everyone hoped for good weather; however, it rained the day of the pre-wedding events, as well as the morning of the wedding. But as a Wedding Planner, my duty is to foresee such a possibility, which is why we decided to use the indoor ‘plan B’, option which I had made sure to stabilize before the wedding.
Our florist is experienced in making floral decor for our Indian weddings and has many Mandaps to choose from. Therefore we were able to exchange the original one which was too tall for the indoor space to a shorter, yet equally impressive one. And we still maintained the “wow factor” effect requested by the groom’s family. The Mandap was absolutely stunning, and all the setup was grand. Our Pandit conducted the ceremony both in Gujarati and in English, explaining to the bride’s family and guests the meaning of the rituals. All this together with the beautiful accompaniment of tabla and sitar players. After the Vidaai, the party moved to an Indian restaurant which opened exclusively for the event. There was a beautiful floral setup in the garden with tabla and sitar music as well as the finest Indian food, assuring the success of the wedding reception for this lovely couple.
It’s a pleasure to write about my son’s Hindu Wedding Planner. Planning a destination wedding from abroad, Seattle, Washington, USA for Florence, Italy was no easy task especially when the groom was also living in Paris, France. I had interviewed several planners whom I had found online and easily made my choice after 3 interviews. I chose Svetlana Krasnova because she was professional, very knowledgeable about everything and anything; patient; flexible and most importantly, she was well apt; knowledgeable and had a lot of respect for
the Hindu Wedding Ceremony we were hosting in Florence. Svetlana Krasnova was the best thing that happened for us. She was always available to counsel and advise us from the get-go about finding a Hindu Priest; the best Indian Restaurant in Florence for the reception; musicians and providing us with options for the Mandap; wedding garlands and just the logistics was done very professionally. Imagine, planning from abroad – we had to put all our trust in Svetlana who also had gone beyond our expectations to fly in from Rome to meet us in Florence to assist us with a Villa for lodging; planned and tasted the food menus for two days; dinner for guests after the Haldi Ceremony; transportation to and from the wedding and reception venues; and all the logistics needed by the Hindu Priest and musicians. Svetlana and her team were available at every moment since our arrival in Florence; the Haldi Ceremony and the Wedding Ceremony. Svetlana and her team came dressed for the occasion(s) and never missed a bit throughout the entire process. The wedding was a great success; cost effective and well executed.
Doran Young & Sarwant Singh
Seattle, Washington, USA.
