‘Entertainment’ in Weddings – Celebrate the ‘Celebration’

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         ‘Entertainment’ in Weddings – Celebrate the ‘Celebration’

In the past half a year or so, the weddings hauled as the most grand celebrations of the year were all peppered with some striking performances by the celebs and the renowned artists from around the world. The highlight is to give the best entertainment and some memorable evenings to the esteemed guests. It wasn’t even a surprise when a friend of mine told that her sister had an award ceremony at her wedding to add the punk and fun element. Well, who says that only the couple has to be the center of all attention during the wedding?Accepted that it is their special day, but now the endeavor is to make the day equally special to cater to the expectations of the guests who have taken their time out for the occasion.

Entertainment and guest activities have become an inseparable part of any wedding celebration.  Reema Gupta, Director of Red Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., says: “People want visually attractive activities such as the acrobats, ballets and music performances. These activities offer great value for money. The very high-end weddings prefer international shows that are now available in India. The unique concepts and ideas from U.K., in this regard, and some Hollywood essence are fresh entertainment preferred by people.

Different evenings for different celebrations help the to-be-wedded couple to enjoy every ritual and add some extra element of fun to each one. However, the activities vary accordingly. Mr. Bhavnesh Sawhney, Director, Wedniksha Wedding Planners Pvt. Ltd. shares, “While dance and singing performances by Bollywood A-listers is a common phenomenon at weddings, interactive acts are becoming the ‘it’ thing at weddings. Stand-up comedy is slowly and steadily finding its way into wedding functions and why not? It’s always super fun to have people make jokes about the kind of exuberant weddings people have these days and to pull the leg of the family! Acts like that of illusionists and mentalists are also becoming increasingly popular.”

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The rising trend has brought a bunch of refreshing feel to the marriage ceremonies and celebrations. One such is setting up a casino for the guests, and in which Mr. Premal Topiwala of Aces Casinos, the only casino company that organises such entertainment, specialises. Sharing his novel idea, Mr. Premal Topiwala says, “The idea came to me when I was in Las Vegas for a trip and learned how to play the card tricks. I set up a real life casino for the family and the guest’s enjoyment. For example, if the bride’s family decides to set up a casino for the wedding then the bride’s family would fix the deal at a certain amount with me and would expect me to get a margin above what has been fixed. The groom’s family and the guests would buy tokens which our team provides (of different values like in a real casino). With these tokens the guests would play at different tables with our team members. My aim is to make them lose as my team and I are playing from the host’s side. This way it becomes a very interesting set up and entertainment option for the families. It is completely
unique and different from what the usual weddings offer to the guests.

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While casino is a new concept, acrobats and similar performances during the weddings have been in for a while. Mr. Gaurav Gondal, CMD & Creative Director of the popular group Yogi’s Angels shares about this rising trend. He tells, “International entertainment acts are gaining popularity in India during the wedding seasons. Our most popular acts are ‘Hello Angels’ and ‘Quick Angels’. Besides these, our ‘Lazer Angels’ show and the Shooting Star act are also very popular. At weddings, the ‘Shooting Star’ act is often used for handing over the varmalas or Engagement Rings for the bride and the groom.” The group can be reached at their website www.YogisAngels.com.

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Reshmi Desai performs in a Big Fat Indian Wedding

Wedding planner duo Divya and Vithika of Divya Vithika Wedding Planners share the following suggestions:

  • Think Outside the Box – From magicians and street performers to dance teams and acrobats, you can entertain your guests whichever way you like.
  • Choose a variety of entertainment and don’t limit yourself.
  • Keep the age group and the number of guests in mind – At the sangeet you can start with a ghazal or old Hindi songs for the early part of the evening and then move on to a DJ and the latest numbers as the evening progresses.
  • The entertainment should be more universally appealing.
  • If you have a huge guest list then pick out entertainment like live singers and musical bands.
  • However, for an intimate wedding, choose something where every guest feels involved.
  • Add local entertainment – Choose puppet shows and kalbeliya dancers if you are getting married in Rajasthan, add dhol kunita artists to your baraat if you are getting married down South, dip into the rich heritage of classical music depending on where you are getting married.
  • Photo session – Put aside some time for a family and friends’ photo session. The culture you follow needs to have an activity that highlights this element.
  • Also, have the décor in sync with the entertainment, like a shehnai, dholak, bazaar like scenes, Sufi singing for a traditional look or a western décor for a DJ evening or a bar setup.

All you need to know is what interests your guests or what they expect the wedding to be like. Bring your own ideas and concepts to reality; still, it is always good to have some conventional entertainment which is the soul of the marriage celebrations.