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Wedding Planning Indian Style!
2011-04-19 13:20
Frank Damgaard of
Monte-Carlo Weddings is used to creating beautiful events in beautiful locations around the world. But even he was faced with a new kind of challenge for his latest undertaking: the largest destination wedding ever to hit the Principality of Monaco. 600 guests flew in from all over the world to attend this four-day extravaganza which made international headlines and kicked off the wedding season here in Monte Carlo.
So, Frank, the "Big Fat Monaco Indian Wedding" of Kajal Fabiani and Gaurav Assomull is now behind you. How did it all go ?
"Well, first and foremost I am pleased to report that the clients and the guests were extremely, extremely pleased. Obviously as a wedding planner that is my main priority and it makes me happy when clients make it very clear that they are going to recommend Monaco as a luxury wedding destination. This is also good news for the Principality, because hosting this wedding was part of an overall plan to bring more and more high-end weddings to Monaco in the future. "
Why do you think people in Monaco will remember this particular wedding?
"I think that the Baraat (wedding procession) on Monday 21st March will definitely be recalled as the most memorable event. Since the procession went around Casino Square and then up Avenue des Beaux Arts towards the Hotel Hermitage it did end up causing a bit of a traffic jam! However, those spectators who were lucky to see it all unfold certainly witnessed something never before seen in the Principality: hundreds of guests singing and dancing to Indian music, celebrating the couple’s union and creating a scene straight of a Bollywood movie!
Yes - it was an incredibly visual experience, and clearly an astonishing undertaking - can you tell us some of the statistics?
"Well, without even counting the hotel, bar and restaurant
personnel who worked tirelessly to cater to the 600 guests over the four
days, we had 251 staff: a 48-member strong team of decorators and builder, 35
hostesses, 31 DJs, entertainment staff, musicians, singers and
choreographers (including the world-renowned Akon), 27 drivers, 23
Indian chefs, 18 Indian and local hairdressers, 16 professional henna
artists, 13 members of the floral decoration team, 12 people from the
Indian event and wedding planning company, Percept D’Mark, 11 personal
assistants, 8 photographers, 3 driver coordinators, 2 pandits (religious
officials to conduct the wedding ceremony) , 1 white horse, 1 elephant,
dressed in red and gold, majestically overseeing all events on Casino
Square and brought in to symbolize good luck and the couple’s
long-lasting and happy marriage... and of course
one elephant trainer,
shown in the picture below!
What did you and Monte-Carlo Weddings as a company learn from this experience?
"I think that in addition to the cultural aspects of this wedding - which were completely new to us (like the Mehndi party illustrated in this picture) - the biggest lesson for us was how to juggle the complexities of planning a mega-wedding (this is actually a term used for large-scale weddings held over more than two days, and a new trend in the luxury destination weddings industry): liaising with the local authorities, coordinating so many arrivals all at once and dealing with additional security measures because of the fact that we had so many wealthy guests all in one place at one time."
And the Principality as a whole was able to profit from the experience?
"Sure - 600 visitors over four days meant 2,400 room-nights at the Hotel de Paris and the Hotel Hermitage, in addition to the revenue created by all the events held over the four days. Last but not least, I think that seeing so many Indian visitors in the luxury shops certainly brought home the message to the Monaco shop owners that the Indian luxury market is certainly an important and lucrative market to court as far as Principality is concerned."
Frank, thanks very much and good luck with your future projects.
To contact Monte Carlo Weddings, click here
To see all of CityOut's photos of the wedding, click here!