The Secret to Putting a Modern Spin on Age-Old Cultural Wedding Traditions

Lauren Megerdichian
June 29, 2019
Categories: Cultural Beauty, Modern, Real Weddings, The Blog

From the fashion, to the vibrant blooms, to the architecture, to the meaningful cultural details – the beauty of this elopement inspiration from Bonnie Sen in Calcutta is truly limitless. With a little styling help from Bridelan, Bonnie and the amazing team of vendors drew inspiration from the venue, the Raj Bari – a historic elite mansion turned luxury hotel! Trust us, your jaws are going to DROP when you see the breathtaking ceremony location dressed in colorful blooms by Orchid Garden Banquet. Don’t miss the full gallery for some major inspiration!

From the Photographer, Bonnie Sen… I partnered with Bridelan (an Indian styling company), we went on a Calcutta trail, partly to rediscover my own roots (and Nisha Kundnani’s too, the founder of Bridelan) and partly to bring the Calcutta of our collective consciousness to the contemporary lens. I trained as an architect, so I wanted to marry architecture with fine arts. This elopement editorial is about Calcutta and its decadent beauty. It’s titled Aamar Bari, which is Bengali for ‘My Home.’

As we all know, Calcutta was the British capital of India and is a cradle of culture, films and creativity in all walks of life. The Bengali life is full of nostalgia. Life hasn’t moved on there much and people still live for art, music and cinema. We are trying to capture an aspect of this perspective in our shoot. We took our inspiration from the venue, the Raj Bari, a historic elite mansion turned into luxury hotel on the outskirts of Calcutta. The house is located in the shadows of a local temple, and lots of lush, tropical foliage and even ruins of old ‘Baris’ in that area. The antiques used to decorate the property hint at the East-meets-West history of a city like Calcutta, now Kolkata. I find that my Bengali roots often inform my work and this shoot is by far the best expression of my roots and identity even though I am American and completely multicultural.

We styled two bridal looks by Sabyasachi, India’s most famous bridal designer and couturier and an Instagram legend. The dress is made out of Kantha embroidery, a technique special to Bengal. Being a quintessential Bengali bride she had to wear a Sabyasachi outfit for the ceremony, donning a traditional mukut, or headgear made of sholapith (soft wood, handi-craft of Bengal). In India, brides from Bengal traditionally wear red for the Hindu conjugal ceremony. However, in a departure, we kept it white. Our inspiration was the white wedding dress made in Indian style, paired with red accents of Bengal. Our muse, the bride, is wearing fine uncut diamonds jewelry popularly termed as polki in India, a craft that belongs to Rajasthan but coveted by brides across the country and now even in the States. The jewelry is by Raniwala Jewellers, Jaipur.

The second look is by Naeem Khan, who has an ability to bridge cultures in an elegant and understated way. Naeem dressed Michelle Obama for the Indian state dinner at the White House. We have paired with Indian emeralds and diamonds as a interpretation of East-meets-West. Since this couple is eloping they asked their friend to officiate the wedding, keeping the event well dressed and intimate. The friend is wearing much-acclaimed designer Anamika Khanna’s three piece set comprising a lehenga skirt, cape and crop top. The florals were simple and pulled inspiration from the colors of the environment. Bright fuchsia greeted guests in the main hall of the Bari (villa) and we used those colors to create the tablescape colors and ceremony backdrop.

Colorful flowers are always a must have in any Indian wedding, so many bright flowers were used to adorn the antique rickshaw, and to create the floral arch. The invitations by NYC based stationery designer Niru & Baku were designed to be traditional, yet modern and sophisticated. Instead of traditional red colors as the accent we took inspiration from the terracotta ground to use as the accent color and wax stamps and Fuchsia accents for styling as a nod to the bougainvillea that was growing at the venue. The cake design was inspired by the celebration of the most important goddess to Hindy locals, Durga. The minimalist cake design by the Rogue Cafe was a beautiful blend of cultures. Desert also consisted of local Indian sweets from the best local shops. A welcome basket was provided for guests, filled with local goodies such as Mysore sandalwood soap, local sodas, peanut snacks and a copper water bottle to stay hydrated in.