More than 500 guests, over 40 artists and three days of celebrations. The numbers could be way less for a typical Kerala wedding. But, what if all the entourage took a flight and went to Thailand, just for the wedding? This is the story of one wedding, and as Rainmaker wedding group from Kochi claims, the first international themed wedding from Kerala.
While it was the dream wedding for the Kochi-based couple Sasikala Kaladharan and Britto in Phuket, it was a mammoth exercise for the wedding planners to organise it at a distant at a place, where the language was not even English. “Yes, there are lot of destination weddings that happen in Kerala, but this one was quite different. As we had to take care of the venues, three days of entertainment, RSVPs, guest accommodation, wedding decor and coordination with artists, guests, vendors and the list doesn’t end,” Joel John, one of the lead planners of Rainmaker wedding group.
The massive wedding celebration embraced all the aspects of both the Kerala culture and that of Thailand. It had the flavour of Naushad’s famous biriyani and traditional Kerala sadhya served, for which they took the chefs to Phuket.
Leading musician Stephen Devassy and the Thaikuddam Bridge band were there to entertain the foot-tapping guests, and to cream it all, there was a Mehendi night, too. A Lungi night for the party-goers and a Sangeeth ceremony for the traditionalists made the menu full.
The couple got married in the traditional Hindu way in the tropical paradise and the event was followed by a Thai Water ceremony — the traditional Thailand wedding ceremony facing the aqua blue waters of Phuket.
“Everything would have been washed away but the rain-gods were kind enough to hold themselves back,” said Joel.
“The rain showered on July 9 and the 11, but not on 10, the day the wedding took place. It was quite a moment because there was such a massive effort behind the entire planning. There was tremendous support from the people in Thailand, and despite the language barrier, they did a fantastic job for the decor and other arrangements. And thanks to them, too, we were able to arrange a fairy tale-kind of wedding for the couple,” concludes Joel.
