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Reportedly billed at Rs 140 crore, here's how the Florence wedding of Rohan Mehta, son of
Petrochem MD Yogesh Mehta, and London-based Roshni Khemlani was put together.
But for the fact that the zoo at Florence, Italy, could not spare an elephant, this multi-crore
wedding, held last month, was pachyderm sized in every way.
The groom Petrochem MD Yogesh "Yogi" Mehta's only son, Rohan drove a vintage
Rolls-Royce into his wedding, instead of making an entrance atop an elephant as he would
have liked to.
Rohan, whose family is based in Dubai, married London-based Roshni Khemlani, daughter
of Ramesh and Sharmila Khemlani. The groom is part of the family business while the bride
works in the fashion industry.
After the wedding the Couple went off on a "long, long honeymoon". They had been
planning the trip for over six months. The itinerary included Maldives, Madrid, Los Angeles
and Bora Bora.
The elaborate honeymoon is only fitting for a wedding that was based on the theme 'Alice in
Wonderland meets India'. The setting recalled the Garden of Eden and there were human
characters dressed as caterpillars and mushrooms.
A crew of 1,800 worked to put together the entire show. Six large cranes were hired to
construct the event settings. Personnel were flown in from London including 24 people to
iron clothes and 14 makeup artists and salon girls. DJs came from Dubai, singers from
Washington DC and dancers from India. Italian sopranos, mime artists and fire throwers
entertained the guests. There were doctors and ambulances on standby and police officers on
guard throughout the festivities.
The Mehtas and Khemlanis also ensured that their 500-odd guests enjoyed a global culinary
experience. The menu included cheese from France, fresh truff les from Alba, fresh milk
from Switzerland, condiments from London and tandoors from India.
The three-day affair included a mehendi, a sangeet, the pheras and a reception. Each event
had an elaborate decor and a buffet with over 75 dishes. The venues included palaces,
abandoned train stations and custom-built glass marquees.
Like any blowout Indian wedding, there was also song and dance. For the baaraat, the family
took permissions to go through the main streets of Florence. Some of the onlookers were at
first astounded by 500 people dressed in Indian wear but later joined in the revelry.
"The city mayor and police made special efforts to host the marriage in Florence," says
Mehta. Some tabloid reports peg the wedding's cost at Rs 140 crore. But Mehta laughs it off
and says, "The figure is highly exaggerated and I do not want to alert the taxman more than
we have. As parents, we simply wanted the best marriage for our children. I believe we
delivered that promise."
The 800-person party moved, on February 10, to the atmospheric lakeside Rajasthan town of
Udaipur - setting for the Bond film Octopussy.
Once people arrived in Udaipur, they were chauffeured around in an elite fleet of top class
BMWs, specially flown in from Mumbai. In order to reach their glamorous hotel, on an
island in the middle of the lake, 14 fully decorated boats were laid on.
Guests began with a cocktail party at the Manek Chow, inside the historic palace in central
Udaipur, followed by a poolside party to celebrate the "mehendi" ceremony - where the bride
is traditionally decorated with henna tattoos They then held a "sangeet" ceremony on the eve
of the big day, where Bollywood heart throb Arjun Kapoor performed in the grounds of the
palace, with a troop of dancers and a vivid lighting show. X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger,
from the band Pussycat Dolls, performed for a reported fee of up to 650,000.
On the day itself, the bridge and groom had flown in Jennifer Lopez, who performed for the
first time in India. Bringing her troop of dancers - among them ex boyfriend Casper Smart -
the 45-year-old performed several of her hits under the marble arches of the palace, for a
reported fee of 650,000. She was also given the finest suite in the Oberoi Udaivillas hotel,
which costs 3,000 a night.
It has been estimated that 16,000 people attended one of the many events accompanying the
main wedding celebrations.
Yet another party was reportedly planned for Mumbai, after their marriage
The culinary indulgences, an essential and lavish element of all Indian weddings, were laid
out in Barcelona against the backdrop of a recreated seabed by Michelin-starred chef Sergi
Arola. Over 200 chefs, butlers and assistants were flown into Spain from India and Thailand.
The wedding cake was a breathtaking six-tier construction weighing 60 kilos. The guests
were dazzled by a light and water display to the signature tune of Hollywood blockbuster
'Chariots of Fire' in the Montjuic district which was cut off for traffic. The mayor of
Barcelona, himself a guest, defended hosting the wedding and said it would boost the citys
profile and stir up economic activity.
In 2004, Lakshmi Mittal spent a then-record $65 million on the wedding of his daughter
Vanisha to Delhi-born, London-based investment banker Amit Bhatia. Over a thousand
guests flew in to France to participate in that five-day extravaganza that included an
engagement party at the Versailles Palace, a Kylie Minogue performance to fireworks at the
Eiffel Tower, a play at the Jardin des Tuileries that recreated the story of how the couple met
and fell in love, and a wedding ceremony at the Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte.
and film stars set to be in attendance at functions the Capital witnessed the most lavish
display of wealth as Congress leader Kanwar Singh Tanwars 26-year-old son Lalit tied the
knot with former independent MLA Sukhbir Singh Jaunapurias 26-year-old daughter Yogita.
The wedding extravaganza, comprising four functions, is tipped to be costing the two
families a staggering Rs. 250 crore. The main ceremony took place at Haryanas Jaunpur
village and was attended by 15,000 people, including all the villagers, who were reportedly
given a shagun of Rs. 11,000 each. They sent 1000 special invites to the VIP guests for the
At the lagan ceremony held last week at Tanwars farmhouse in Asola in the Fatehpur Beri,
all the 2000 guests were gifted silver biscuits weighing 30gms, a safari suit each and Rs. 2100
in cash. The grooms tika was done with Rs. 2.5 crore, and the families tika was done with
The lagan ceremony that was held on February 25 was attended by over 4000 guests from
eight different villages. All the guests who attended were presented a packet as return gift
which comprised a 30-gm silver biscuit, a safari suit set, a shawl and Rs 2100 cash. A villager
who attended the lagan ceremony said: "It was a huge event. There are around eight villages
in Fatehpur Beri area and people from each and every household were invited. This is one of
the biggest weddings we have witnessed in our lifetime." "During the ceremony, money
amounting to Rs 21 crore along with a silver dummy of a helicopter among other gifts was
offered by the bride's family. The family also promised that all demands of whosoever is
coming in the barat will be fulfilled. The groom's grandfather was also offered money
amounting to about Rs 2.5 crore during the lagan ceremony by the bride's family," a source
said.
Some of those who attended the lagan function also said that Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria, a
former MLA from Sohna and bride's father, even handed over a photograph of the gift - a 5-
seater chopper - to Tanwar. The ceremony was held at Tanwar's farmhouse in Asola, south
Delhi and was attended by several village elders besides politicians from rural Delhi
For a community reception on Thursday, Tanwar has invited the entire Gujjar community for
a musical night which may see performances by singer Gurdas Mann and actor Neha Dhupia.
Sunday evening will see a VIP reception at The Ashok Hotel in which political bigwigs,
including the Prime Minister, have been invited. During the ceremony, money amounting to
Rs 21 crore along with a silver dummy of a helicopter among other gifts was offered by the
bride's family.
Five thousand wedding invites were sent out, each of which cost Rs 5,000. The total cost of
just the invites came up to 2.5 crore. The invites were accompanied by super expensive gifts
such as solitaires, Sabyasachi and Satya Paul sarees along with carved idols of Lord
Special chartered flights had been arranged to fly guests from Mumbai and Delhi for the big
day. Apart from these a few air taxis had been arranged exclusively for the Bacchans and
Khans and arrangements had been made for them to take off with an hours notice.
The guest list comprised of business tycoons and a host of superstars from Bollywood. The
Shamshabad Airport Arena, Taj Krishna, Novotel and Hyderabad International Convention
Centre were booked to accommodate guests, while some high-profile guests were put up at
the Taj Falaknuma Palace where the cost of renting out the presidential suite is Rs 5 lakh per
day.
Bollywood stars not only attended the wedding but also entertained the guests. Hema Malini
performed at the sangeet while the King Khan Shah Rukh performed and was reportedly
paid Rs 2 crore for his performance. Priyanka Chopra and Mallika Sherawat danced while
Vivek Oberoi compered the whole show!
The dcor was regal in hues of gold and red with magnificent floral arrangements and
exquisite settings. The seating arrangement looked nothing short of a halveli. The couples
attire was designed by a host of designers for different functions, namely Abu- Sandeep,
Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahilliani and Shantanu and Nikhil.