The 2021 Edition: Guide to Host Home Weddings
2020 called for big changes, small moments of appreciation, and eye for the tiniest of details. The prospect of a home wedding for the majority of us is invigorating yet intimidating. Indian weddings are known to exude all the palatial and splendidly lavish feels, but things are on the verge of a slight turn. We’re on the path to a minor change, making homes the prime location for sealing eternal bonds.
Personalization
Like they say, home is truly where the heart is. To festoon your abode and make the most of a home wedding, it’s crucial for the designer/planner to wear their heart on their sleeve. Each nook of a home has its own little story to tell, and it’s only when these stories are woven together to create a moodboard, that unique and unforgettable experiences can be created for family and friends.
One of our clients had a special memory of their grandmother making achaar for them. To bring this memory to life and be able to share it with the attendees of the wedding, we incorporated it into the decor in the dining area, with achaar barnis that we borrowed from the client’s loft. These barnis, once adorned with festive flowers and raw mangoes, uplifted the space instantly, allowing family and friends of the couple to get a glimpse of their grandmother each time they went to pick up a snack or looked past the table - an exemplar of simple yet effective, value-adding personalization.
Simplicity
One of the most undemanding yet beautiful ways of creating a desired atmosphere in a home is by using flowers. Not only vibrant but also diversified and efficacious, flowers add a sense of warmth to every occasion, enhancing the affair. Adaptable to any space, they can be bunched on tables to add a delicate and subtle touch, or even perched in a corner for a splash of colour and vibrance. Be it in vases, on runners, sown into backdrops or hangings, laced onto curtains or tied onto chairs, one can’t go wrong with floral decor. Always remember, less is more!
Moodboards
Employ all the hues of the existing furniture, linen and curtains to the moodboard. This will assist you not only in shortlisting the colours you can use, but also in matching additional pieces and decoration for your home. Flowers, available in a plethora of shades, can be used in tones that best compliment the existing furnishings. They are delicate and can be used to mellow down or spruce up corners, but can’t change them. So don’t forget to weave in the stories and create a connection through the decoratives, for that’s what makes it most special!
Use it all
Having smaller spaces from what you may have had at a hotel/banquet venue, it becomes of utmost importance to use all you’ve got. Create sections for different activities, adjust the positioning and grouping of your home furniture to create space, and add soft carpets for maximizing seating in smaller areas. Feel free to get rid of loose chairs around dining areas that may cause clutter, and use stand-alone vital pieces of furniture as a part of the wedding setup, be it as usable seating or uplifters for floral decoration and props. A perfect time to use those stored photo frames and albums, adding photographs of the family and friends and any mementos/memorabilia creates a cosy and hospitable vibe.
Seating arrangement
Theatre-style or lounge seating isn’t the best option anymore, given that it adds to the struggle of maintaining social distancing among guests. With seating capacity reducing drastically, a round, rectangular, U-shaped, or even zig-zag style seating arrangement will be preferred. Allowing each guest to sit and eat their meal while enjoying the celebration is a privilege that comes with having fewer attendees, so amplify the experience by pre-planning seating charts, creating aesthetic and innovative name tags, shaping your own stirrers and having personalised table layouts. It’s a new dawn for Indian weddings, and these are all the trends that will prevail this season!
(The article is contributed by Namha Malhotra, founder of Castles & Coasters.)
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