Aarti and Sarin: Indian Wedding at Oheka Castle

A gorgeous bride, a gorgeous day, a gorgeous venue... there is so much goodness to share with this wedding, I hardly know where to begin!

Look at this bride.... Aarti absolutely glowed in her perfectly ornate sari and spectacular jewelry.  I loved how she put aside her simple day-to-day style and really went for it on her wedding day - like every bride should!

As is tradition for many Indian weddings, Sarin, the groom, approached the bride's family riding on a very well-dressed white horse as friends and family cheered him on and danced to the music of traditional hand drums.  When he invited his adorable nephew to ride with him on the horse... well, let's say that Aarti's heart was not the only one melting!

Aarti approached the mandap (Indian ceremonial wedding canopy) on a throne carried by her dear friends and family members.  She played it cool as a cucumber even though some of the men were fairly anxious about a potential misstep!

The bride and groom exchanged vows in a Hindu ceremony under the mandap decorated with flowing purple and white fabric along with white floral garlands and strands of sparkling crystals.  Behind the mandap are the breathtaking formal gardens of Oheka Castle. 

After the ceremony, a private stroll amongst the trees.

There are so many beautiful spots to decorate throughout the Oheka mansion - this is just one of several entry experiences for the guests. 

The huge ballroom showcased three centerpiece styles: tall white cherry blossoms, lower purple and white floral collections and tall manzanita branch arrangements detailed with a floral base and cascading phaelonopsis orchids.  I love how the bride wanted to step away from the traditional palette of an Indian wedding and embrace her favorite colors and styles.

After guests were seated, the bride, groom and bridal party wowed the crowd with a Bollywood inspired choreographed dance.  So, so fun and so, so good! And look at that well-branded white dance floor we snuck in there for good measure!

When the dance floor cleared, Aarti and Sarin also shared a beautiful first dance moment with friends and family looking on. 

And one last surprise... the bride's father and I conspired for months to surprise EVERYONE (yup - even the bride and mother of the bride!) with some of the best fireworks ever! It started to rain just before we were to invite guests outside for this final wow factor, but the wedding gods cut me a break and the rain cleared seconds before this big moment. 

So much goodness, right?  Thanks to the magnificent Susan Stripling for these beautiful photos. 

To really get a feel for this wedding, take a look at the breathtaking video captured by Unique Visions Studio. 

:-) Lindsay

Counting down.... 5, 4, 3, 2....

This time between Christmas and New Year's Eve is, I think, a universally great week, regardless of what holidays you celebrate. Time off from work, time to be with family, vacationing somewhere warm or maybe on the slopes, a few extra dinners out with a few extra glasses of something to keep the holiday spirit going... And I do love this time for all of those reasons, however, I have a major confession to make - my absolute FAVORITE thing about this week is the release of every possible configuration of a "best of" or "countdown" list reliving the highlights from the past year.

I could watch the top 10 music videos of the year on VH1 on repeat, having not seen even one of those videos the entire year - nor even knowing what channel on which to find VH1. I made my family wait an extra twenty minutes for me on December 26th as I perused CNN's top 100 images of the 2013 - one of them was a horse itching his back on a gravel path (???) but I was, nonetheless, glued to my screen. And don't even get me started on the top 25 celebrity breakups... at least 10 of which I had to Google since, evidently, being a step-child of a Housewife makes you a celebrity. Top 100 songs, 10 best political bloopers... you name it, I love it!

So, since I'm a forever sucker for every countdown list known to man, I figured I'd give it a try and make one of my very own. This was an amazing year for LLE, so it is hard to choose, but take a look at the Lindsay Landman Events' 2013 Top 10 Moments of "Wow!"

Click on the photos to enlarge

10. Rainbow Soda Station for Milo's Bar Mitzvah

Milo was sweet and shy and had few requests... but a soda bar of some sort was one of them, so we created this eye-catcher that kids and adults loved just the same!

photo by Sharon Schuster

9. Custom Aisle Runner for Soumya and Aditya's wedding

Soumya sent me a Pinterest board loaded with images of Meenakshi Temples from the South of India that had simple stone structures and then the most stunningly colorful and elaborate chakra patterns all over the ceilings... so we recreated the look on the aisle runner to incorporate a touch of her culture. 

photo by Gustavo Campos

8. Alissa and Josh's Escort Card Display

The American Museum of Natural History was the inspiration for this unique display. As this sat in the shadows of the giant and iconic T-Rex skeletons, the bride specifically requested these dark manzanita branches to mimic the dark bones of the dinos. The table itself, like all of the tables in the cocktail hour, "displayed" flowers on the inside just as museum cases display artifacts. 

photo by Gustavo Campos

7. "Drive Thru" Food Station at Aaron's Bar Mitzvah

For a skater-kid having a Bar Mitzvah at a luxury car dealership, what else can we say but, "Roll With It?" We incorporated wheel installations and graffiti art in the bars and buffets, but the highlight was definitely this "drive thru" where kids could roll up, check out the menu [backdrop] and get their take out box for dinner. 

6. {Just} Fab Flowers for Hannah and Tim's Wedding

2013 marked the year that we began offering straightforward floral design for a select number of engagements per year and this lovely wedding at Studio 450 was a perfect way to kick it off! 

photo by Silk Studios

5. Escort Card Display Sculpture for Soumya and Aditya

Who knew PVC pipes could look this good? I had a fantasy that involved building a one-of-a-kind sculpture to set this escort display apart, so my team of wedding elves helped me to cut, paint and assemble 100 sections of PVC pipe and adorn the sculpture with fresh fall blooms. Just in case it wasn't funky enough, we set it on a copper sequined linen for good measure!

photo by Gustavo Campos

4. Compound Foundation East Hampton Gala

This is the view of the spectacular tent from behind the hosts, Ne-Yo (left) and Kevin Hart. The night sky effect on the ceiling of the tent brought the outside in, but with a major dose of glitz and glam.

photo by DJ D-Nice

3. Alex and Yaniv's Horah

This Brooklyn Museum wedding was amazing in a million ways with gorgeous details and a truly stunning couple, but this moment took the cake for me. This was an insanely busy and stressful setup (not so unlike any of the others!) and the bride wasn't feeling well (ack!) and by the time the ballroom opened for dinner, I was sweatin' the small stuff... but just for a second, I looked to the dance floor and caught a glimpse of two truly happy people completely and totally enjoying their wedding day, and I felt their joy to the bottom of my soul. And there's no better "wow" than that.

photo by Cava Weddings

2. Dining Under the Sea at Alissa and Josh's Wedding

There is nothing that isn't cool about having a dinner of any kind in the Hall of Ocean Life in the Museum of Natural History. But, to make sure sure wedding guests got the full effect, we brought in a white dance floor and lit it like the sparking ocean on a crystal clear night.

photo by Gustavo Campos

1. Shanique and Frantz's Oceanside Wedding Dinner

After some daunting summer rain on the island of Anguilla, the skies cleared just in time to set the warm, glowing dinner tables on the patio of a private villa set on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean. Need I say more?

photo by Allan Zepeda

There really is no greater honor than to be invited to share in the intimate details of someone's special event. Whether it is a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah or a gala celebration, I am touched and excited each and every time I am tapped to make it happen and make it beautiful. After more than twelve years, you would think it gets old, but I assure you it does not. I extend my most sincere thanks to all of the families this year and in years past who have shared their celebrations with me and who have helped to make my dream job a reality - and a career. 

Wishing you a new year filled with joy and goodness and many, many reasons to celebrate!

A Look Back: A Magnificent Indian Wedding

I can hardly believe that it has been a whole year since my amazing experience in Bangalore, India planning and designing Rushmi and Vikram's wedding. It was a project that was exciting and challenging in so many ways, from the solo international travel to learning the religious and cultural customs of a South Indian wedding to deciphering the services and talents of wedding vendors who had never pushed their own limits in the ways I was requiring. I know for certain that this whole project could have fallen flat had I not had the unwavering trust of the bride and groom and both of their amazing families. They took a risk by hiring a White, American, Jewish New Yorker who had never even been to Southeast Asia to plan a traditional Hindu wedding with a little Western flare, and I will forever be grateful. It was an experience that made me a better designer, a better planner and a better person. I eagerly await the next opportunity to explore a new part of the world and a new part of myself. You can read my original posts here(1), here(2), here(3) and here(4).

Take a look at this beautiful couple and enjoy...


This is the traditional entrance gate at the front of the property. Notice that in between the two doorways we hung a large mirror to ward off evil.

The venue is called The Tamarind Tree, aptly named for this magnificent tree just inside the entrance gates. We enhanced its beauty with strands of lights and hand-strung flowers.

This is the view of the front of the property from the entrance. The pond was home to hundreds of floating lotus flowers on lily pads and the steps were lined with varying sizes of pillar candles. The large structure was set for cocktails upon guests' entrance, but was later transformed into the dancing area.

The groom was escorted on the patterned petal aisle by the bride's brother and followed by her family. In the background, you can see the mandap created with gold, red and amethyst fabric and adorned with strands of jasmine.

During the traditional Hindu ceremony, the bride is showered with rice under the mandap.


This is the interior property at a glance. Because of the rain that followed soon after this photo was taken, we don't have any pictures of how this looked when the sun went down and the candles and the lights started to glow. The head of my Indian production team, upon first seeing it all illuminated, said it looked just like heaven. That was just one of many times that the amazing, talented, and earth-shatteringly hard working Geethanjali Santosh melted my heart. The structure on the right with the flower strands on the poles housed the dinner buffets. The rotunda in the center was where the band played and the structure on the left was the bulk of the dinner seating.



The long tables were adorned with a landscape of pieces... tall branch arrangements with hand-strung orchids and hanging candles, low vases with red mokara orchids, small glass with submerged orchids and floating candles and low pave'd collections of vibrant flowers.

Bangalore's first ever 6-tiered wedding cake was decorated with chocolate by Henna artists to create the authentically Indian motif.

The bride and groom's fathers embraced under a sky illuminated by fireworks. This was my first time ever facilitating fireworks at a wedding - and it was amazing!

Amidst 500 guests and a lot of excitement, this wedding was warm, intimate and full of love. Strangely enough, I found that to be true of my entire experience in India. Certainly, it is busy and crowded and a tad chaotic, but I cannot remember ever being embraced as warmly and openly as in my time in Bangalore. Now, it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

All photos by Sudhir Ramachandran

Happy anniversary, Rushmi and Vikram! And a very happy and healthy New Year to all of you!

Bangalore Wedding Adventure: Part 4 (The Wedding!)

Well.... we did it! The wedding is over and despite some of the worst rain in the history of Decembers in Bangalore, the bride and groom and their friends and family had an amazing evening. I only wish I had time to take photos of the finished site before the rain began, but as is the problem with being both the planner and a designer on the job, there was no time to step away and indulge. So.... here's what I have... I hope to get photos from the professional photographer very soon and will then, of course, post a full recap.

This is the petal pattern for the aisle being created. If you look just beyond where the women are working, you can see the wooden bridge that we built for a little extra drama and to get everyone over the firepit that was built into the ground on this spot.

This is the view of the center of the property from the lower entrance gates. These tables in front of the gazebo are the ones that couldn't be used due to the rain. Such a shame... but when the candles were lit and the sun went down, they twinkled beautifully.

In this shot, you can see a little bit of the structures on either side. To the left was an open-sided pavilion where we had 6 long tables beautifully set in the same style as those on the lawn, but with full place settings. Thank goodness for these because that was the area where most guests ate their dinner in a slow rotation as the staff set and re-set each seat. On the right was the structure that housed the dinner stations (or food counters as they are called in India). That building had a long porch with a bar and became an impromptu dining area. Can you see the amazing flower curtains that framed each "doorway" - in person they were stunning!

Here you have a glimpse of the covered dining area while it was being set up. Guest walked through this dining pavilion to reach the ceremony. When the sun went down, the orange, red and gold lighting cast an amazing glow in and around the pavilion.

One of my favorite elements of the design were the beautiful 6 foot elephants made of flowers. This is one of two which flanked the entryway into the main part of the property.

I didn't have a chance to photograph any of the entrance gate or pond area which was where cocktails and dancing took place, but I am going to try to scrounge some up from the other vendors and then I can post them because that area was spectacular - even in the rain!

What I find the most amazing about this wedding is that while I was having an internal panic attack about the rain and the wet chair covers and snuffed out candles (100s of them!), the family and guests were relaxed and lauding mother nature on her timing as rain at a wedding is considered to be the most auspicious blessing on a wedding day. Most guests continued to sit, stand and walk through the property in the rain and no one complained about there being fewer seats available because of it (I lost 72 seats on the outdoor tables!).

So, after years and years of telling my brides not to stress about rain because there is nothing they can do to change it, I, too, was reminded that a perfect wedding comes in many forms. This day was not how I imagined it, but it was what was intended - a memorable, beautiful, poignant and emotional day for a couple and their families that will be forever remembered.

I can only hope to have many more opportunities like this that challenge me in every way - as a designer, planner and person. It is an experience I will keep with me for my whole life and will always be amazed at how my perspective on the world was forever altered by one wedding.