Announcements of Bollywood tying the knot

Spot two Bollywood stars together and gossip tends to take its rounds. Bollywood couples have always been under the scanner from the beginning of their affair to its culmination into marriage. And all the more popular than their affair is the wedding ceremony they plan. Mostly being an extravagant affair (which they like to talk about as a close knit family gathering) these weddings have all the nuances that a big fat Indian wedding should. From sangeet to the reception, these weddings have inspired many couples to plan their wedding in innovative ways.

The Indianweddingcards industry too has a lot to owe to the creative streak Bollywood has inspired, changing the old, boring, flat invitation cards with mithai boxes to exciting invitation boxes with a whole lot of goodies. Trends like personalizing invites, including souvenirs, going eco-friendly, employing technology etc. all root from such high profile Bollywood weddings.

Let’s take a look at Bollywood’s most alluring wedding invites –

What started as a rumour was confirmed with the formal of announcement of the ‘Abhi-Ash’ wedding. With the consent of their parents, the Bollywood biggies decided to the tie the knot on April 20, 2007. As special as it was an occasion in the tinsel town, so was the style in which the guests were invited. The invitation card was personalised with the big entwined ‘As’. The symbol was embossed on red in white gold on the cover of the card. The second page of the card had a Ganesha painting and a few shlokas printed in golden letters. On the third page was a poem in Hindi by the famed poet and the groom’s grandfather, HarivanshRaiBachchan. The rest of the pages had details of the events to take place. The invite was sent out in 3 golden boxes that also contained the ‘AA’ symbols. The first box had the invite, the second contained 24 pieces of mithai made from chocolate imported from Switzerland and the third box held an idol of Lord Ganesha. The three boxes were held together with a red ribbon.

The first Indian winner of Bigg Brother and the popular British Indian businessman tied the knot on November 22, 2009. This was a long awaited affair in the tinsel town. The wedding invitation was a true representation of their royalty and style. The couple decided on a square-shaped golden coloured wedding card that was personalised with a special royal crest that displayed the initials ‘RS’ on it. The invite was placed in the invitation box with lord Ganesha’s face imprinted in the middle and shlokas were printed on the flaps of the card. Details of the wedding ceremony were mentioned in a booklet in this box. Along with the invitation box another box that contained customised chocolates was sent to all guests. Both the boxes were held together with a gold satin ribbon that was personalised with a vinyl logo which was cut on acrylic.

Bollywood’s famed couple Dharmendar and Hema Malini’s eldest daughter tied the knot with businessman Bharat Takhtani. The wedding was a grand affair as one would think fit for the Bollywood’s yesteryears star child. To announce the grand event, the couple chose to send out wedding invites in a beautiful golden and cream re-usable box. A personal touch was added with their gold plated initials placed inside a lotus motif with symbols of Om and Swatika. The card also contained some wonderful images of Radha-Krishna making it as elaborate as the event in store. Along with the invitation card, guests were sent moti-choorladoos and dry fruits.

Heartthrob Imran Khan broke the heart of millions of his female fans when he announced his wedding with childhood sweetheart Avantika Malik. Guests expected this function to be a reflection of the couple’s cheerful and bubbly personality and they were definitely not disappointed. In fact the guests got to see a glimpse of this in the wedding invitations itself.

Employing their creative streak and imagination, Avantika an Imran decided on a card that was absolutely path breaking. The wedding invite contained two black and silver boxes with 2011 written on them in words.One of the boxes was filled with customised chocolates, the other has a year-planner diary and a potpourri fragrance. One of the most innovative features of their wedding invite was a pinwheel which contained all the details of the event on a yellow tag attached to it on the stick.

Gate crashing is a serious issue that high profile events like these have to take care of. Hence, for security purpose, the box also included a swipe card. On the reverse side of the card was the map of the wedding venue. The couple tied the knot through a registered marriage, which was followed by an extravagant reception arranged by the couple’s uncle, Aamir Khan.

Now let’s talk about Bollywood’s most expensive wedding invitation. Take a guess, what would make a wedding card the most expensive feature of a wedding to talk about? VivekOberoi and Priyanka Alva made the announcement of their special day in a style unmatched by most of the celebrated weddings in the country. The credit of the unique wedding card arranged for the couple goes to the bride’s brother who suggested they revive the fast dying art of Karnataka,Ganjifa.

The invite was a two-tiered box with chocolates and the invite enclosed a limited-edition piece with a Ganjifa painting in it which makes it a collector's item. Moreover, crushed gem stones and real gold were used to make the painting. As per a source, the sale of a painting provides one family with food and other necessities for a month. Indeed the Oberois made the kindest gesture by including such a creative thought in their wedding invite. The couple ensured that the invites were sent out in gold bags made from handmade herbs with ‘Oberois’ imprinted on it. In the attempt to make the card absolutely eco-friendly, the scrolls were also fashioned from 100 per cent recycled material.