Indian weddings: Lavish event becomes booming business in South Florida
Rakesh and Madhu Anand of Anand Photo & Video specialize in Indian weddings. Their full service company also includes wedding planning and decorating with such traditional items as these Welcoming Lady and Lord Ganesh statues. (Susan Stocker, Sun Sentinel / May 27, 2009)
How do you get a groom riding an elephant to his wedding in South Florida traffic?
Or, transform a parking lot into a colorful, yet regal, setting fit for a Hindu bride and her 500 guests?
Think planning a traditional Western wedding is difficult? In South Florida, where the Indian and Indo-Caribbean communities are booming, the demand for Indian wedding planners has also spiked.
Lavish by design, a typical Hindu wedding revolves around festivities that typically last about three days, but can span up to 10.
These wedding planners often have to make sure the proper statues are in place, the fire rituals have the necessary clearance, and authentic Indian foods are prepared.
For years the Indian wedding market was untapped in this area, said Raj Shah, editor of the Indian magazine Desh-Videsh. For the first time, he will host a South Florida Indian bridal expo on Sunday at the Hilton Deerfield Beach/Boca Raton.
"Non-Indians are finding out that the market is huge,'' said Shah, who expects at least 50 vendors peddling everything from wedding-planning services to traditional Indian wedding wares and jewelry.
The Asian-Indian community in South Florida is made up of about 40,000 people, according to recent census surveys, but community leaders say those numbers are low and don't take into account the growing number of people from the Caribbean who are of Indian descent.
One sign that more local banquet facilities are trying to cash in on the market is their well-placed ads in ethnic newspapers and magazines. Some boast of having authentic Indian caterers on call, and Indian-American planning consultants on site.
Over at their Plantation office and warehouse, Rakesh Anand and his wife Madhu, owners of Anand Photo & Video, are getting ready for the expo.
The Anands have been in the Indian wedding-planning business locally for about two decades. In the beginning they would transform Western wares into Indian-looking wedding objects. Now they fill their showroom with imported Indian statues, fabrics and pillars.
Their 6,800-square-foot showroom has tall columns with intricate carvings, used to set up a wedding mandap, a canopy under which traditional Hindu weddings take place.
Life-sized turban-wearing female statues, known as greeters, meet visitors at the showroom's entrance. In almost every row are a variety of bronze elephants, known as Ganesh, a widely worshiped deity almost always present at a Hindu wedding.
The weddings they plan and shoot range from $5,000 to $50,000, the couple said.
"Traditionally, as soon as a girl is born the parents start saving for this event,'' said Madhu Anand.
Rakesh Anand said he's had to get an elephant transported from Ocala to Miami for a groom who didn't want to use the traditional white horse.
"It took a lot of coordination,'' said Anand. The groom--and the elephant--made it to the wedding site, a convention center, on time.
Getting every detail down is also a priority for Jilna Patel Jasani, who parlayed her experience planning her own traditional Hindu wedding into a full-time business.
Jasani was born in Kenya, but since her parents were North Indian, she grew up rooted in her culture. Her wedding in 2007 was held at her family's motel in Homestead, where the parking lot was transformed into an authentic Indian setting with a stage and a tent. The festivities lasted four days.
Jasani was dressed in red and blue, fabric she purchased in India. Her uncles wheeled her to the wedding in a kind of carriage; her groom rode in on a white horse.
Through her business, Suhaag Garden Inc., several times a month she transforms nondescript sites into the setting her clients have dreamed of.
"It's such a big celebration,'' said Jasani. "The wedding for any Indian person or their parents comes before any other milestone.''
Georgia East can be reached at geast@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4629.
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