A Traditional Melbourne Wedding with A Bollywood Touch: Kanika + Roneel

Melbourne bride, Kanika had always envisioned having her Indian wedding combine the best of eastern and western design aesthetics. What made this traditional Melbourne wedding celebration all the more special though, were the little Bollywood inspired touches.

Kanika and her beau, Roneel’s vibrant summer wedding took place across two beautiful and popular venues in Melbourne amongst close family and friends.

We’re looking forward to sharing today’s big fat Bollywood wedding!

These two soulmates met at the ripe old high school age of 18. As bride, Kanika explains, it took several attempts for Ron to court her.

“We met at the young age of 18 and 19! Ron spent months trying to get my attention and when I finally agreed to go out on a date, we hit it off straight away and there was definitely an instant connection.”

The proposal was special and included brilliant skyline views of Melbourne.

“I was invited to what I thought was a small intimate dinner to celebrate one of my friends’ birthdays. We were on our way to the beautiful Sky High restaurant on the top of Mount Dandenong which overlooks the Dandenong ranges and Melbourne city skyline.

Little did I know that Ron was actually proposing to me on the same night. I walked into the restaurant and to my surprise there was a red carpet lined with rose petals and candles and our favourite songs were playing!

I followed the red carpet and Ron was standing at the balcony waiting for me. After he proposed, we were treated to a lovely private dinner. I spent most of the night crying tears of happiness and joy. Ron outdid himself and I have no idea how he managed to keep this a secret.”

Kanika and Ron’s traditional Melbourne wedding was totally inspired by Bollywood. Ambrosia Floral Design added a lot of life to this theme with life size cut-outs of the couple, replicating a scene from Bollywood classic, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.’

The sangeet party looked like it was a riot, full of colour with backdrops provided by leading mandap decorator, Bollywood Mandaps.

Manor On High in Melbourne’s north has been one of the premiere destinations for numerous South Asian weddings for over 10 years. Likewise, for Kanika and Roneel, this particular venue tied in well with their traditional décor theme. The Hindu wedding ceremony took place under a classic mandap design.

In contrast, the reception, held at the inner city Melbourne venue, The Park, had more of a contemporary feel.

“I wanted our ceremony to be traditional, followed by a classic and contemporary reception look.

The minute I walked into my reception hall I knew it was the one for us. I was inspired by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beautiful Albert Lake and I ensured that the décor on the reception night did not take away from that.

The night was topped off by the most incredible summer sunset, which lit up the entire reception room.”

In true Bollywood, “filmy” style, Kanika and Ron danced to one of the most romantic tracks, ‘Tu Chahiye.’ 

In terms of Kanika’s wedding trousseau, she wanted each and every one of her look to complement the theme and she looked absolutely stunning. She handpicked all her outfits.

“For the Mehndi function, I wore a blush pink flowy sharara from designer, Megha And Jigar. It was love at first sight for this outfit, with the intricate beading and netting on the back, it was just what I was looking for.”

“The Haldi outfit was a floral mustard yellow lehenga and this is outfit was gifted to me by my in-laws. For the Sangeet, I wore a vibrant blue, Astha Narang lehenga paired with some traditional jhumka earrings.”

“Both wedding and reception outfits were purchased from Frontier Raas. My wedding lehenga was the perfect red shade. I was so in love with it and of course the reception lehenga was also sparkling perfection.”

“All wedding jewellery was purchased from Raabta By Rahul. Their pieces are stunning!”

Like most brides to be in Australia, Kanika travelled to Delhi for her trousseau shopping.

She mentions the challenges she had to face whilst navigating through Delhi’s ridiculous traffic. It took several trials before she settled down on each outfit.

“My biggest challenge was finding my bridal lehenga. Over the 2 weeks in Delhi, I had probably tried over 50 outfits before finally choosing “the one.”

I wasn’t too sure about what exactly I wanted before setting my eyes on this bridal lehenga.

One of the other challenges was the Delhi traffic. Wedding suppliers aren’t all situated in the same area. They are spread all over the city which makes travel extremely difficult.”

The wedding festivities went off without a hitch. Both of Kanika’s two sisters and her besties stepped in as bridesmaids and all were in matching, floral pink sarees.

“It meant so much to me to have all of the girls by my side, throughout every little process of the wedding. Our family and close friends were imperative to making our wedding week go off without a hitch. Although I was in charge for most of the planning, our incredible families were also so supportive and the key to executing all the events.”

There were moments when Kanika felt as if she would run out of time, but in true spirit, Ron stepped in and came to her rescue.

“I thought I was fairly organized until I just simply ran out of time. The moment I started to feel a little swamped, Ron swooped in took over. He ensured that all the remaining tasks were completed without any last minute unexpected issues. I am so glad he was involved in the planning stages. His support meant everything.”

The most memorable moment for Kanika came when she walked down the aisle.

“I loved seeing Ron’s face with the biggest smile. I couldn’t help myself and did exactly the same thing!

When I reached the top of the aisle, he gave me his hand to help lift me up into the mandap and he simply said “You look beautiful.”

After the ceremony, Kanika and Ron took a drive through McDonalds and that’s when it actually dawned on her that they were finally married!

The couple had absolute praise for all the Melbourne wedding suppliers, but special mention went in particular to their DJ, Anmol of Enigmatic Entertainment.

“All of our suppliers were absolutely amazing and the week would not have been a success without them.  

Two of our suppliers went above and beyond in particular. The first was our DJ, Anmol from Enigmatic Entertainment. We had the pleasure of working with him for 3 events during the week at our sangeet, wedding and reception. He was so professional and took control of absolutely everything. We spent most of the reception night dancing away. He definitely knew how to read the room and keep the party going!

Another special mention goes to our reception venue team, The Park who went above and beyond. They were a delight to work with!”

The couple did have their fair share of challenges as well of course with Melbourne’s bipolar weather proving difficult to deal with during the photoshoot.

“Prior to the reception, during our photoshoot, Melbourne was hit with wild windy weather. I had Hollywood style curls in my hair and they literally blew away with the wind. I was so sad I almost cried. I just shook it off, gathered myself and realized that the night must to go on. I got to the reception and adjusted the hair the best I could.”

After a hectic few days, the honeymoon in Maldives provided much needed R&R for Kanika and Ron.

“We knew that right after the crazy 5 day wedding we would want nothing more than to relax by the beach with a cocktail in hand. It was a memorable trip and well worth the wait!”

Advice given from Kanika was to savour every moment!

“While planning the wedding, I couldn’t wait for it to be over an done with and now that it’s done and dusted, I wish I could do it all over again! It’s so important not to sweat the small stuff. Everything finds a way and will fall into place.”

Many thanks to Kanika and Ron for sharing your wedding festivities with us and we just love those last words of advice too. If you would like to share your wedding with us, please head over to our submission page here. Happy weekend maharanis!

SUPPLIERS

Photography/Videography – ROLLING CANVAS // Venues – SPIRIT OF INDIA (sangeet), MANOR ON HIGH (wedding) and THE PARK (reception) // Décor – BOLLYWOOD MANDAPS, ABRACADABRA EVENTS // Florals – AMBROSIA FLORAL DESIGN // Stationery – OZEL DESIGN // Cake – ABFAB CAKES // Catering – AANGAN and TANDOORI FLAMES // DJ/Entertainment – ENIGMATIC ENTERTAINMENT // Transport – CK’S LIMOUSINE SERVICES // Priest – PREM BHATT // Bride’s outfits – MEGHA AND JIGAR, ASTHA NARANG and FRONTIER RAAS // Bride’s jewellery – RA ABTA BY RAHUL // Bride’s shoes – LOUBOUTIN // Bridesmaids Outfits – FRONTIER RAAS // Hair and Makeup – HELLANA MAKEUP and ELLA’S BRIDAL HAIR // Mehndi – ALISA PARVEEN // Groom’s outfits – MANYAVAR // Rings – JANAI JEWELLERY