A promise ceremony with pride

When Chaitanya Kulkarni and Chandrika Reddy of Alankaran Events were approached for an LGBTQI wedding in Hyderabad, the duo was to create a memorable event for the couple – SupriyoChakraborty and Abhay Dang .

The excitement, however, came bundled with challenges. Chaitanya says, “It was a wedding (LGBTQI) that is not common and the couple asked for ‘no benchmark that was style.’ The duo wanted a wedding that’s stylish but not cheesy. It was a special occasion for not just the couple but for us as well. Every occasion in the two-day event had to have the Pride theme.”

The couple had met on a dating app. When the duo was hit by COVID in 2020, they decided to get married. It wasn’t an easy decision. “Initially, there were challenges with respect toapproval from family, but later they welcomed our decision and accepted our choice. The other challenge was with respect to finding a venue. Many resorts refused us a venue, claiming they don’t have dates.” (as told by Supriyo to Chaitanya).

The event planners say, “We had to educate people about what is legal and what is not. (Section 377 has been repealed. There is no bar for a wedding but no rights flow out of their marriage) So officially we chose to call it a ‘Promising Ceremony’ rather than a wedding. A promising ceremony is a special event celebrating a couple’s commitment to one another. It was officiated by their friend Sophia Davidwho belongs to the LGBTQIcommunity. For the ceremony,the couple wrote their vows and declared their loveand affection loud and proud.”

Chaitanya and Chandrika focused on designing the events to meet traditions and stood out without missing the fun factor. The couplefelt their pet(dog) Kajucompletes their family. “So we created a floral structure ofKajuto the photo booth so that guests can have a memory of the complete family. We incorporated a pridecolourtheme for the mehndi occasionwith a star prop . The rice grains used to bless the couple was in pride theme. The same goes with the cake,” explained Chaitanya.

Planning started a couple of months before the wedding. During the rehearsals, everyone was briefed on their role and positions. Photographer Himanshu Sahni, who says he focused on capturing candid moments through the ceremonies says, as the wedding couple made sure they stood out in their fineries and also looked very much in love without indulging in the usual candid poses. ’The props also made a huge difference to the shoot.”

The entire shoot was to be done without interacting with the couple or guests.

Chaitanya says wedding preparation aside. the lack of any reference made it a daunting task.