The Kingdom of Bahrain Hosts Its First Ever Desi Wedding; Managed By Seven Steps and Tamarind Global

by  Kanika Mehta Weddings | June 5, 2017 | News

Seven Steps Four Seasons Ritz Carlton Tamarind Global

The Kingdom of Bahrain was an undiscovered destination for Indian Weddings. However, with this recent 3-day extravaganza being hosted successfully, it's likely Bahrain has opened its door to the gigantic world of Indian weddings.The celebrations as part of this wedding  took place from April 26 to 29, 2017 at the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotels.

The Mehendi, Arabic Fest and the Wedding took place at the Four Seasons and were executed by Seven Steps. While, the Sangeet took place at Ritz Carlton and was produced by Tamarind Global.

Kainaz Sethna, Director, Seven Steps exclaims, "Right from the Royal Family to the government, the tourism board to the hotels and everyone involved at every level, did everything possible in their means to make the working experience a very smooth and memorable one."

Here’s a detailed round-up of all the celebrations that were hosted by the client.

The Welcome Lunch: The festivities started with an intimate welcome lunch for close family and friends of the couple. Attendees enjoyed a delectable lunch over speeches along with a performance by Jessica Manuputty’s Amsterdam Band; a great beginning to a fun filled 3-day celebration. 

The Beautiful Mala Mehendi: The Mehendi was the beginning of the auspicious ceremonies. The design for the Mehendi, was ideated based on the setting of a Palatial courtyard. A pastel palette of a lovely peach, pink and olive green was accentuated with gold. A candle-lit niche wall made for the main stage adorned by a center panel made of a custom-tailored gold zardozi peacock backdrop.

Encircling the entire ballroom were sheer, hand embroidered drapes, offset with bejeweled hand-crafted panels dotted intricately with pearls and jewels. The ballroom ceiling was covered with 160,000 feet of floral drops, interspersed with hand embroidered zardozi tassels.

Vedic chants were sung through the ceremony by the inimitable folk singer Kishore Manraja. This was followed by a fantastically choreographed family sangeet and the traditional Gujarati, Raas Garba.

The Amazing Arabic Fest: As the family wanted to give guests an authentic Bahraini souk experience, Seven Steps brought in the best of Bahrain at this Arabic Fest.  The unique experience saw authentic food vendors, spice stalls, trinket sellers and a myriad mix Arabic talent like Oud players, Sufi whirling dervishes, swirlers and more. To add to the fun, magicians, tarot readers, palmists and illusionists were also brought in to keep the guests engaged.

Speaking of the event design, Baneet Marwah, Group Head - Design, Seven Steps explained, “'Make it simply unforgettable' as a one line brief is not as easy to curate; but with a client who shows belief in your approach and doesn’t refrain from the idea of taking risks, it could only be a designer's dream come true. Our design scheme was to give the Royal Indian wedding a Bahraini twist: old and rare design motifs, colour palettes and structures of both Royal India and Bahrain were interwoven to create a magnificent  design board. It was a beautiful, unforgettable wedding celebration."

The Stunning Sangeet: One of the highlights of the wedding was the glamourous and fantastical Sangeet which started at dusk and went on till dawn! With a theme of white and crystals, the mesmerizing venue was beautified by 4 magnificent crystal clad pyramids of a 24-foot height enclosing white lounge seating. The walkway to the island was dotted with various experiential artists such as a steel percussionist, wind dancers, pixel poi and many more, all leading to an exquisite art deco tunnel opening onto the island. There was decking of 20,000 square feet with a stunning Venetian carousal bar lit up with life-sized horses. 

The Royal Indo-Arabic Water-side Wedding: If the Baraat was a riot of fun with the groom’s best buddies dancing the day away, the Bridal entry on a 400-year old dhow, with ceremonial beats from the Bahraini Talking Drums and Jonita Gandhi’s soulful songs was truly ethereal.

The wedding décor was a stunning conception of a royal Indo Arabic water-side wedding. The bride entered through a 150-foot long floral carpet on the pier. The Varmaala dome was a beautiful garden portico with Indo-Arabic mosaic patterns while a traditional Bedouin tent made for the bridal lounge.

However, as it should have been, the wedding mandap was the showstopper – a spectacular mirror mosaic open dome, with Indian and Arabic design detailing, built in the infinity pool to depict a floating mandap, combining the auspicious elements of water and fire! A fireworks display, choreographed to the couple’s favourite track, was like no other ever seen in Bahrain as it culminated the wedding ceremony.