Michelle Rago, Ltd.—Blog

As I reported in an earlier posting, in December we had the privilege of designing a beautiful wedding in New Delhi. A unique aspect of this destination wedding was that although the bride is Indian and was having her wedding in India, she did not want the overall design of the wedding to be too traditional. One of the biggest challenges, as well as one of the benefits, was that most of the final planning and design was done once we arrived in India-just 3 weeks before the wedding. I like to call that commando design!

The ceremony and luncheon were held outside at a private residence and we constructed 3 tents to protect guests from the sun. The tents were made of hand lashed bamboo! I was in awe of how natural and beautiful these tents were. My other favorite design element in both tents was a 3 foot fringe around the entire perimeter of hand-strung tuberose. It was a refined detail that made the entire yard smell like heaven. We also had a prayer tent for guests in the front yard.

We rigged thousands of white ribbons from the center of the tent. They swayed quietly in the breeze- not only functional but beautiful. 

Just need to say it again….a tent constructed of bamboo!!

The bride chose a beautiful and intricately embroidered wedding lehnga and wove fragrant white tuberose into her hair.

The application of mehndi or henna on the hand is the sign of a joyous occasion. The temporary tattoo is often applied a day or so before the wedding  –  the purpose is to make the bride feel like a princess.

On the wedding day, the couple’s monogram was incorporated into a celebratory banner.

The varmala (in this case a garland of roses) plays an important part of the wedding ceremony. The fresh flowers represent beauty, color, happiness, and harmony. You can also see we did a curtain of the tuberose where the ceremony took place.