The highly anticipated ICWF was truly one of the premier events that gave an opportunity to seamlessly connect with some of the top notch wedding planners, local and national vendors and other wedding essential suppliers and service providers. Being an ideal stage which brought the wedding fraternity together in association with Rixos Hotels, partnered and sponsored by EEMA, EY, Swarovski, The Gulmohar by Taluka’s, Camas, Taluka Tent Decorators, Kurl-on, and EMF and powered by Everything Experiential, the event was a perfect venue to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution by the great executors of celebration of love. Starting from the ravishing stage set-up to the very well managed and executed event to the very interesting and interactive sessions by the pioneers of the this industry to the very charming host Gitika Ganju, the 4th edition of ICWF surely raised the bar this time.
The event kicked off with a networking evening at Nahargarh Fort, followed by entertainment and dinner on the 4th of August. The day 2 of the event started with the unveiling of the curtains to have Mr. Sabbas Joseph, President, EEMA for the keynote, which set the right tone for the event. “We at EEMA have a pioneering role and we must fulfill that by being the Change Makers… We must be the evangelists, the one’s that will go forward in the search of tomorrow and set path for others”, says Mr. Joseph. He also shared the great news of 14 new members that have joined EEMA from Rajasthan and congratulated Mr. Siddharth Chaturvedi, EEMA Secretory for Rajasthan for a great start of his innings. EEMA extended a very warm welcome to Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Swishin; Ankit Srivastava, Occasions Entertainment; Anant Khandelwal & Kartika Sharma, Indian Wedding Planners; Ravindra Singh , RAVMEK Weddings & Events; Rahul Gaur, Rahul Gaur Endeavour; Amit Hooda, The Wedding Connections; Kuldeep Verma, Maya Events & Promotions; Deep Agarwal, Suchis Events; Gunjan & Shruti, Event Tokri; Abhishek Mathur, Lavanya Events; Shraddha Bihani, Utsav Décor; Amitesh Taluka, Taluka Tent Decorators; Shubham Khunteta, S K Patakhawala and Nitesh Ahana, Anandam.
Mr. Chaturvedi shares, “I've been a proud EEMA member for years now and had always felt that Rajasthan has some amazing agencies working in social and experiential domain who should join EEMA and represent Rajasthan to its true potential. I am so glad it happened today. We have 14 of our friends joining in today and this is just the beginning of this, as we shall have many more of us joining 'the apex body' of our industry in our country. We now plan to make the region more active and engaging henceforth.
The next power session on “Designing of the social space” with Ms. Geeta Samuel, Mr. Sumant Jayakrishnan and Mr. Sanjeev Shankar as speakers and Mr. Samit Garg as the moderator. With views on layout, elements, lighting, architecture, décor etc. to make an impact and transform a vision into realty, the speakers also the experts in their domain shared their valuable insights on what impact these factors have on the experience of an individual. The session was followed by the very interesting discussion on, “Effective use of social media in the space of private social events”. The session had Mr. Abbas Roshan, Mr. Siddharth Bapana and Ms. Ginny Kohli as the speakers and was moderated by Mr. Atul S Nath. With discussion by speakers from wedding and non-wedding fraternity, it reached a very relevant conclusion that every medium is a potential space, some use it beautifully and some do it terribly.
Next on stage was the very charming Ms. Veronique Dussault in conversation with Mr. Brian Tellis on “India's Increasing Appetite for International Entertainment”. With some great insights on how we can blend and merge the Indian sensibility and talent with the International market to create a magic, the discussions were not limited to how this mixing can develop new categories and products. The creative content designer on the stage, Ms. Dussault also shared some tips on how one can integrate the story line, so that we do not just create something, but actually live the moment.
The last but not the least session for the second day took the audience to the “New world of destination weddings”. With great insights on the destinations like Turkey, UAE, Hungary, Romania, Cyprus, Prague, Florence, Udaipur, Baku, Bucharest and so on; Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Aditya Motwani and Satish Ramnani shared their thoughts on how and why Indian weddings are a massive pie and every country wants to take some part of this pie. Ending the session on the role of ‘mathematics’ to be a very important factor in the final decision of choosing the destination of a wedding, the session took the audience through some criteria’s that the wedding planners keep in mind before finalizing the destination.
The third day at ICWF was equally energizing and full of learning, networking and fun. Setting the right tone of the day, the session ‘Planning for Perfection - the Business of Wedding Design’ by David Lee Beahm. David shared some very good insights on how and why collaboration is the key to success. Highlighting points like choosing the right creative partner, being aware of the challenges, knowing your clients, knowing the options, always having a plan A, B and C, always staying in your own lane, etc., David concluded with some great thoughts on how your experience and excellence can help you in planning for perfection.
Wedding photography being is a huge responsibility and every photographer has a unique style which is why no wedding album looks similar. With live photography not giving too much of flexibility in visualizing the frame, ICWF 2016 had Sephi Bergerson and Ashish Chawla share their expertise on “The Nostalgia of Lenses” discussing how a photographer can make a big difference. With discussions covering aspects like being open to experiments, evolution of conventional formats, new techniques and technologies in photography, skill set and creativity required for photography, a critique’s angle, coordination between the wedding planner and the photographer, etc. the session was all that you need to know how to be on the right place, at the right time and with the right equipment to capture every moment.
Having succeeded in the past and being acknowledged by others in the same profession is very rewarding. Imagine how great and insightful session will be coming from the past winners of “The Great Indian Wedding Awards 2015”. The session “From the Winners Table” was one of its kind. With great insights coming from Vijay Arora and Ram Bherwani on cost, kind of hotels, food, entertainment, safety, technology and techniques, unsolved war between the event planners and wedding photographers, new trends, pre-wedding shoot destinations, standard delivery times and so on, the session shared their success stories on how is that they were able to make a difference for themselves.
Hospitality is about making everything happen at the right time. No matter how big and grand a wedding is, one unhappy guest can ruin everything. It is also a matter of fact that as humans we always remember how warm we felt when we attend any event. A good hospitality makes us think beyond the look of event and also creates the right buzz of it. The next session had Mr. Toni Abou Ghazaly on stage and he very beautifully summed up saying any event has to be ‘FAMOUS’ i.e. Feasible, Appropriate, Meaningful, Organized, United and Supported. “Honing Hospitality & Inurement” was all about how hospitality makes the big difference at a wedding and how is that we can ensure that our hospitality partners surpass the expectation and leave a lasting impression so that u remember the wedding forever.
ICWF 2016 also showcased the fabulous work being done in the realms of wedding events in the regions of Gujarat, South & West Bengal. With a great content showcased by the representative teams at the event, the attendees truly enjoyed and appreciated the creativity and the hard work put together by the planners in their respective regions. Collaborating to succeed being the major theme of ICWF 2016, the platform enabled cross-pollination of thoughts from national and international members of the wedding fraternity.
When you plan and execute an event, whether big or small, a stunning and unusual arrangement enhances the look and feel of the event. Turning your ideas into something unforgettable and a perfect plan for execution of the event with the right coordination, theming, music and entertainment helps you host an amazing dream event on your big day. Coming from one of the oldest audiovisual communications industry, ICWF 2016 had Carla Marques and Anna Montorsi share their insights on creative and the business side of the industry. The session “The Big Bang Events” covered a lot of case studies in addition to discussions on how entertainment has to go come out of the stage and go into every one attending. The session opened insights on both the business and the creative side of an event planner.
The event concluded with the “Great Indian Wedding Awards 2016”. The 4th edition of ICWF was a heaven of knowledge and expertise along with an International exposure, networking, celebration and rewards. The great hospitality by The Fairmont, Jaipur along with the excellent execution by the team of 5 Guys Project; ICWF 2016 gave attention to every facet of this multidimensional industry and enabled the attendees have a closer look at the zeal and efforts they put in create memorable experiences. Not to forget the glamour added to this great event by performances by Harshdeep Kaur, Akhil Sachdeva, Talent Sqaure team, etc. along with the great experience with wines @rooftop, parties at the Grand Ballroom of The Fairmont were the not to forget moments at the ICWF 2016. The event fulfilled its commitment of focusing on a global approach and addressed the areas that will help wedding planners and everyone associated with this industry perform better not only at a national level, but at a global level.
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