Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding festivities recently concluded and the world had no words due to the spectacular show it was. The couple married on July 12, 2024, following four months of pre-wedding celebrations. The festivities have sparked global interest, with a star-studded guest list and rare performances. The bride wore a special floral dupatta with 90 marigold flowers and countless jasmine buds as part of the celebrations. Here's more to know about the wedding of the year and why flowers were such an important part of her attire.
The Wedding of the Year Featured Radhika Merchant in a Floral Dupatta
The bride avoided a linear approach to her trousseau by selecting a variety of couturiers and silhouettes. Radhika Merchant swapped her flashy outfits for Anamika Khanna's simple yellow lehenga for the haldi ceremony. The bespoke design featured a modest sleeveless blouse and a diaphanous skirt. It's a classic Anamika Khanna piece, cut from rich silk and embellished with floral thread work in an easy silhouette. The waist and hem were embellished with multicolored embroidery, and a dupatta made of fresh flowers elevated the look.
Whereas it is common for brides to adorn themselves in floral jewelry for the pre-wedding event, you can't expect Merchant to take things lightly. In addition to fresh floral jewelry, she wore a 'phoolon ki chadar dupatta' by Floral Art by Srishti Kapur.
A Floral Dupatta Made to Perfection With Marigolds and Jasmine Buds
Srishti Kapur and the team behind Floral Art worked with stylists Rhea Kapoor and Anamika Khanna on Radhika's haldi to create her vision of the classic and archetypal Indian bride. Her floral dupatta was created with the freshest 'tagar kalis' (jasmine buds), yellow button daisies, Thai rui flowers, and marigolds, and features a perfect cascade of lace-like work. The dupatta alone required over 90 marigold flowers and countless jasmine buds.
Srishti Kapur shared:
"The jewellery also featured the same flowers including earrings with kaanphool, tasselled tops, a double necklace, haathphool, and kaleeras."
Several Bollywood brides and Hollywood stars have upraised their haldi and mehendi looks with floral decorations and pieces. Starting with Priyanka Chopra wearing a spectacular yellow-orangish-toned dress showing embroidered flowers, along with her husband, Nick Jonas, complementing his outfit with a floral boutonniere made of crystals
Katrina Kaif, like Merchant, displayed the delicacy of jasmine buds. She wore Tagar Kali earrings with Sahara strings. In contrast, her ring and bangles were made from dried flowers.
Alia Bhatt paired her uncut diamond jewelry with floral pieces for her home party. She kept it simple, only wearing corsage-style hand adornments made of Indian flowers and baby's breath flowers.
Bipasha Basu, too, used fine and floral pieces to complete her mehendi look. She chose a dainty pearl saatlada necklace and jadau jhumkas from Jaipur Jewelers. She punctuated it with a white and pink flower haathphool, matching armband, and headband to make the look her own.
Further Details of the Wedding of the Year
The Hindu ceremony began with the traditional jaimala, where Anant and Radhika exchanged garlands symbolizing acceptance of one another. That was followed by the 'kanyadaan', or, the official moment where Radhika’s parents gave Anant their blessing to marry their daughter. Then came the 'phera', or, the actual wedding ceremony where the bride and groom take circumambulations around a ritual fire. Radhika describes the act as 'somber yet charming.'
Afterward came the 'sindoor daan and mangalsutra' ceremonies, where Anant put vermillion in Radhika’s hair and tied a 'mangalsutra', or sacred necklace, around her neck. This can be likened to the exchange of rings in a Western wedding. The ceremony concluded with the 'aashirwad', where they sought blessings from their elders, ensuring their good wishes for their future.
Photo: @brides
For this holy moment, Radhika wore a one-of-a-kind couture look by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla in red and white, honoring the Gujarati tradition of panetar. Her ghagra was adorned with elaborate floral patterns, precious stones, and sequins. Upon her head was a six-foot veil that had a delicate jaali pattern and cut-work.
Every culture has a way of seeing flowers for intimate celebrations and gatherings, marking a very special symbolism in every one of them. In this extremely extravagant and over-the-top wedding, flowers were seen as part of attires made especially for the bride, groom, family members, and even celebrities, all the way to incredible floral art installations designed by Preston Bailey inside the wedding which according to many were a world of its own. Stay tuned to see a full display of his floral art installations for the wedding of the year!
