Covers
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:IndiaProperty Times
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:
US Based monthly magazine
art director
Story
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:
Brief:
Project:
IndiaProperty Times
Tabloid formatrimony portal
US Based monthly magazine
art director
Covers
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:IndiaProperty Times
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:
US Based monthly magazine
art director
Story
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:
Brief:
Project:
IndiaProperty Times
Tabloid formatrimony portal
US Based monthly magazine
art director
Covers
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:IndiaProperty Times
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:
US Based monthly magazine
art director
Covers
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:BM Times
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:
US Based Bi-monthly magazine
art director
Story
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:BM Times
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:
US Based Bi-monthly magazine
Brides are also getting very serious about outfit sittings. They have realized that they need to look good on the
most important day of their life.
not been made with ‘her ’ (that is, the bride) in mind and may therefore not look good on her body.
With this realization, brides are now choosing to work with designers in the US itself. Designers who understand that it’ s about the look, using colors and cuts that have been customized for that particular individual bride. The biggest surprise in clothes? “Bollywood is not a big influence. Not too many people are coming in, saying, ‘I want that kind of outfit or I want that look’. T oday’s brides are exploring new colors, new cuts and are definitely being influenced by mainstream trends in their outfits,” says Geetanjali Singh of Khubsoorat Collection.
Think subtlety . Think understated and guess what, think lessons on how to elegantly carry an Indian outfit! Surprised? Don’t be. The US Asian Indians rarely wear Indian outfits as western outfits are more the norm. Which is why, for a wedding, they almost have to learn how to wear a sari or a chaniya choli, without tripping on it. It is a big deal. Another big deal? - understanding that its not just the outfit that makes the bride, it’ s about the whole look. Think make-up, think jewelry and of course, the outfit! T oday’s brides are planning their wedding, and hence their entire look, anywhere from six months to two years in advance. “Brides are also getting very serious about outfit sittings. They have realized that to look good on the most
BHARATMATRIMONY TIMES I OCTOBER 2008 I 25
Pic / Amish Thakkar of Fine Art Productions
cover storycover story
BIG Indian The
14 I BHARATMATRIMONY TIMES I OCTOBER 2008
elcome to the Big Indian Wedding. It’s bigger than ever before and the economy seems to have W
no impact on its size or the ‘glazmatazz’ that goes with it. The humble Indian wedding has come a long way in the past five years! Think long guests list – and we mean long! Long as in a regular wedding of 500 to 1500 people. Think different themes for different days as different color outfits for different events. And think colors that you would never have thought a bride might adorn on the most important day of her life. And guess what? Indian weddings in the US have become so big and so special that they now regularly feature in the platinum weddings section of Lifetime Television.
Larger than life. V ibrant. Colorful and oh so making-a-statement. Call it by any other name and the Indian wedding will still mean the same thing – big, bold and beautiful!
So here it is. The big, the bold and the beautiful trends of this exponentially growing market – The Indian Wedding. It’s all here. The trends. The clothes. The food. The pictures. The music. And, of course the jewelry!
Anika Sharma
Larger than life. Vibrant.
Colorful and oh so making-a-
statement. Call it by any other name
and the Indian wedding will still
mean the same thing – big, bold
and beautiful!
BHARATMATRIMONY TIMES I OCTOBER 2008 I 15
Wedding
as cancellations; dealing with too many people in the family without any clarity on who is the final decision maker on many important issues; not really understanding what a theme is and how it can be carried across various elements of the wedding and almost always making a trip to India to get most of the material for the wedding, including ill-fitting wedding outfits! And this entry of the professional couples has all our top-notch vendors extremely happy . Because not only do these couples expect everything to run like a well-oiled machine, they are ready to pay a lot of money for it.
This has also given rise to the use of wedding planners – leading to better planned weddings, more weddings sticking to a plan and a date schedule and making for happier , more relaxed couples on the most important day of their life – their wedding!
Food for thought
This professional trend can be seen in food as well. The Asian Indians in the US are a mixed lot. There are the 1st generation, the 2nd generation and those that have been here long enough to qualify as 2nd generation Asian Indians. And many of them have rarely gone back to India. So their only bonding with their mother country is food!
A couple of years ago, the hottest trend in Indian food, was fusion food! But now, it’s about authentic food (as authentic as possible) but presented in a contemporary setting. “Fifteen years ago, at Moghul Catering, we used to go out of our way to create an ethnic feel for Asian Indian weddings, with props etc. But not anymore. Asian Indian weddings have reached a league of their own. Today Mainstream America knows that Asian Indian W eddings
16 I BHARATMATRIMONY TIMES I OCTOBER 2008
In with the professionals
If there is one trend that can be called the biggest trend by far in the Indian Wedding Industry , it has to be the entry of the ‘professional brides and grooms’. Doctors, lawyers, financial experts and many other such professional Asian Indian Americans are the ones now making the decisions about their own weddings. They are busy working 20-hour work shifts, being 24/7 on their blackberries and expect everything to deliver in life. So the new mindset is, that if “I am paying top dollar for top vendors, I expect top notch work at the time promised and the way it has been promised”. It’s almost like they are bringing with them an ‘MBA approach’ to the Indian W edding scenario.
This is absolutely great news for the industry which till a few years ago was used to last minute weddings as well
The use of wedding planners leads to better planned weddings, more weddings sticking to a
plan and a date schedule and making for happier,
more relaxed couples
cover storycover story
art director
Online
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Banners
Brief:Online promo ads
Project:
BM.com, IP.com, Clickjobs.
art director
Online
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Banners
Brief:Online promo ads
Project:
BM.com, IP.com, Clickjobs.
art director
Advertising
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Ads
Brief:Artwork for variousNational & Intl Ads
Project:
India Vision, Vision Asia, TeluguTimesTimes of India etc
art director
Advertising
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Ads
Brief:Artwork for variousNational & Intl Ads
Project:
India Vision, Vision Asia, TeluguTimesTimes of India etc
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Innovative arts
Brief:
Project:
Conceptual artwork based on the articles
HR Meet, BM TimesPropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewslettere
art director
Freehand
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Freehand arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the subject
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewsletters
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Innovative arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the articles
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewslettere
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Innovative arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the articles
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewslettere
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Innovative arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the articles
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewslettere
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Innovative arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the articles
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewslettere
art director
Freehand
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Freehand arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the subject
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewsletters
art director
Freehand
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Freehand arts
Brief:Conceptual artwork based on the subject
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewsletters
51.10
First I searched
for Larry in
Yahoo,....
t hen Lycos, Excit e ...
and Info seek. ...
Eventually , I found him
in the bath room!
art director
Tracing
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Complicated tracing
Brief:Enhanced vectorising done from bitmap
Project:
HR Meet, PropertyBytes, Offline & OnlineNewsletters
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Penquin, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Creatives
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:Display Systems
Brief:Display items for Promotional
Project:
Hoardings, Canopy,Pull up, Expo-Fix, Fascia, PopupBackdrop banners
art director
Newsletters
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:HR MEET
Brief:News and views for HR people
Project:a promotional monthly newsletterclickJobs.com
art director
Newsletters
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:PROPERTY BYTES
Brief:Property market reviews for builders
Project:a promotional monthly newsletterfrom IndiaProperty
art director
Covers
U Kdhaya umarcreative designer
Title:TamilTimes
Brief:Tabloid forUS living Tamilians
Project:
Tabloid monthly magazine from Bharatmatrimony
art director
Covers
Title:DesiMatch
Brief:Tabloid formatrimony portal
Project:US Based Tabloidmonthly magazine
30/25, CPWD Quarters, K K Nagar, Chennai–600 078. Phone: 093826919464, 09380820940 e-mail: [email protected]
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