'From Miss to Mrs' for Soha Ali Khan

Indian weddings have always been popular for their grandeur and energetic atmosphere, but when it comes to planning them, it's a whole different ball game.
Its overwhelming for the 'bride-to-be' to imagine herself walking down the aisle, seeing the love of her life who stole her heart with arms wide open and then holding his hand for lifetime. She dreams of those unlived moments of love and togetherness that actually begin its journey from the wedding day itself.

 You might be wondering why I'm sharing this gyaan today ;)
Well!! since the day I have kicked off my monotonous corporate job and took up my passion of 'Wedding Planning' as my profession for last 2 years, there is a still cherished desire in my heart to showcase my talent to someone special...

Engrossed in similar thoughts one fine day, I was sipping my evening coffee on terrace that my mobile vibrated in my pocket.

After the general exchange of greetings and some lovely admiration for my previous projects, the person on other side inquired about whether I would be able to plan a BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING the coming month??

My spontaneous reply was "Sir, lets meet up tomorrow morning to discuss the details so that I may work out the dates after checking my schedule..."

Now, the person said "and what if I say that it can be your dream project to plan for wedding of none other than 'Royal Daughter of Pataudi Family'!!"

My heart almost jumped to my throat and i could utter just these words "You mean Soha Ali Khan .... yes, yes its a thumbs up from me, whenever is the wedding date"  :) 

I had read that Soha was proposed by Kunal Khemu in the City of Love Paris, but never ever expected myself to be associated with the GRAND EVENT  in any way :) That night, I could not sleep ... coz the scenes of dhol, music, laughter, twirling dresses, dancing in Soha's wedding in full desi glory had already started flashing in front of my eyes ;)

 I was planning to meet Soha the next morning with a minutely detailed blue-print so that her extravagant and elaborate wedding affairs could be invested for a greater good by me...

Digging the search engine on my lappy for few hours, I zeroed upon a fantabulous web portal baggout.com that was showcasing the li'l thumbnails of almost everything I was looking for...
I decided to list the major tasks in advance, so i started with...

1. Wedding Ring for Groom and Jewelery for the Bride herself 

Thinking of Kunal's chrismatic yet down-to-earth personality, my preference was to pick a elegant finger band for the groom that he might wear 24x7. Baggout had arranged awesome cashback deals from wonderful sites like jewelskart and suratdiamond...I was flattered by the alluring designs and finally loved this timeless wedding ring to be shown to Soha for her Soulmate :)

http://www.jewelskart.com/myraa-jkdt004gr056-18-k-gold-men-s-diamond-ring.html

My next thought was to shortlist which jewelry types Soha will favor for herself.  Suddenly my mom's usual statement "If there is one thing we know Indians love, it is gold. Illustrious, shining and charming gold sweeps every woman off  her feet " brought smile to my face and then i knew it exactly .... I came down to a decision based on her royal taste, family traditions and wedding attire. I had a gut feeling that  Soha would love the Queenly look, so I must opt for jewelry that features epic  polki diamonds, jadau or kundan for the Wedding Day. And might pick other favorite pieces of ornaments from a variety of styles that coordinates with their dresses on pre pr post wedding events. The Indian Solah Shringar  that includes everything from the top of the bride's hairline down to her toes, so I made a long list of ornaments for her...

2. Bridal Attire n Closet
I could now imagine Soha adorning a flashy lengha blinged out  with rhinestones, beads, zari work in a mixture of textiles like velvet and lace. Bridal lenghas are traditionally maroon or red with blue or green accents as well as gold embroidery. Baggout once again proved its versatility showing me some cool websites, where classy ethnics as well as modern outfits were being sold at great cashback offers ... some nice stores I could see there were ShoppersStop, Fashionara, Zovi, Fashion And You
but my eyes were struck on amazing collection by IndiaRush whose designer clothing range was just perfect for Soha's taste and could match up family background of bride too. So the post bridal closet was a mix n match of varied styles of outfits.

and a traditional motifs embroidered multi-hued lehanga was kept at the top of list for approval of the princess ...

Some handpicked classy Anarkalis for Soha from Fashion And You are real must have to pep up her wardrobe ..

3. Venue Decor for Green Wedding

oops, I forgot to share with u that 'one' special instruction by Soha's representative that day on phone... He conveyed me the message that the couple wanted their wedding to have least harmful effect on the planet without compromising the charm n elegance of the event. And it really filled my heart with respect for both the families.

Since the wedding venue 'Pataudi House' was pre-decided, I had already woven my ideas for earth-friendly decor for the same..

The Ferns n Petals store and FlowerAura Store on Baggout gave me the amazing deals to decorate the whole venue with non-pesticide ridden flowers rather had so many variety of organic, sustainable and seasonal flowers arranged in lovely bouquets and centerpieces :)

I could imagine the lovely flowers conveying the sentiment "The Earth Laughs in Smiles" so beautifully with a lasting message to guests "Green is Serene".
But here a unique suggestion was added by my mom to send the wedding floral arrangements to child care homes, nursing homes and old age centers just to share a smile on their face :)

4. Guilt Free Indulgence (Return Gifts)

No celebration in India is complete without a boxful of tempting sweets. But in the present scenario, most of the health cautious people are missing that sweetness rolling down our mouths. But I knew where do I get an answer for this. I explored some sweet stores at Baggout  that might be preparing and serving sugar-free sweets. Indiatimes.com had numerous options for every sweet-tooth :)

I shortlisted a mithai ka dibba containing sweets made from sugar subsitute (for elderly people) and packed beautifully in a reusable wooden box covered with colorful satin.

And those naughty li'l guests must be gifted their favourite sweet i.e. chocolates :)

 5. Romantic Honeymoon

Last but not the least, When two people decide to stay together for lifetime, they should begin their journey with a loving note. Indian weddings are such big social occasions that the married couple need the time to just kick back and be together.... "just two of them";So that they could open up to the most important person in their lives and get to know each other in-and-out.
So I worked upon the idea of an exotic honeymoon location for Soha n Kunal. There were various sites listed on Baggout but I was mesmerized by great offers provided by Yatra.com
I was in love with luxurious cruise packages including air-fare of round trip, delicious food, visits to scenic locations and comfortable accomodations etc.

 

Now, after pondering much attention to all important aspects for Soha's wedding, I was feeling quite chill out and could just smile thinking about what would be my first words to greet the lovely bride-to-be........ "Hey Soha', Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming nuptials... Wishing U every happiness u deserve when you become Mrs. from Miss !!"

                                                                                               
P.S. This post is a part of Blog n Win activity on Baggout.com and is entirely a work of fiction.

Lucky 111 calls for a Giveaway (CLOSED)

Hey everyone!!

My FB page completed 111 followers and I want to thank each one of u for being the strong foundation of Alive n Kicking. So here is yet another giveaway where i'm offering --

• A Loreal Paris Contour Kohl in Green
• A Nail Art Sticker pack from Ayesha Accessories 
• A dual string bracelet (that can be used as single anklet trending these days)

 Look at the cute li'l gifts ...

 

 Mandatory Rules:

1. Follow my Facebook Page here
2. Follow my blog via GFC (Google Friend Connect) that you may find as a blue button in the right sidebar.
3. Subscribe to my blog via email and make sure to verify your subscription to be eligible.
4. Share the giveaway post publicly on your wall tagging Alive n Kicking and 5 friends of yours (sharing daily is not mandatory) and post its link.
5. Post a meaningful comment under your favourite post and share the post's link here.
6. Leave your complete details in the format given below in the comment section under this blog post-

Name
FB name
GFC name
FB Share link
Answer to question: What is your honest opinion about Alive n Kicking as a blog?
email id


Terms n Conditions
The giveaway stands live starting from 12 Aug, 2014 to 31 Aug, 2014 and is valid for Indian residents only. There will be ONLY ONE winner. I will select the winner whose answer impresses me the most (so be genuine, not flaterring). Winner announcement will be made on 1 Sept, 2014. The winner will get 24 hrs to acknowledge the winning via FB message, else a new winner will be selected.

For any queries / doubts, please DM me on FB and you will get a reply ASAP.
So here we go... start commenting !!

(P.S. Its not a sponsored giveaway.)

Jabong's IOFW Climax

Jabong Online Fashion Week” witnessed its climax on July 30, 2014 at Hotel Le Meridian, Delhi as it announced the final winners across three categories - Hair, Makeup, and Photographer. The panel of highly reputed jury including supermodel Carol Gracias and renowned hair and makeup artist Samantha Kochhar not only mentored the artists; but the final decision to crown the winners rested upon them as well. 

All the cameras at the grand finale turned their flash on when Bollywood’s new chocolate boy Aditya Roy Kapoor and Girl-Next-Door Yami Gautam added the extra glamour and pranced onto the ramp with élan. 

Aditya Roy Kapoor looked dapper while walking the ramp for Nitin Bal Chauhan and Yami Gautam looked absolutely stunning as she strut the ramp for Rajdeep Ranawat. The event also saw the who’s who of the fashion circuit present in the audience hooting for the contestants and the show stoppers, Aditya and Yami.  

 The presence of such high octane celebrities provided the contestants with much needed motivation in the last few ticking moments as the winners were being announced.

The Grand Finale of Jabong Online Fashion Week finally gave the fashion industry three aspiring artist across three categories--

The winner of Photographer category Ashish Gurbani has studied mass media, advertising, journalism and Photography to reap the most benefits of his knowledge, expertise and innovation as a collab product of art. Indeed an impressive profile :)

Ashish Gurbani (Best Photographer) 

• Vipin Arora, the winning Makeup Artist, has obtained his Fashion Design credentials from IIFT Delhi and worked with A-list celebrities associated with Star TV. He regularly works with established Photographers and Fashion Agencies

Vipin Arora (Best Makeup artist)

Arvind Sharma winner of BEST HAIR STYLIST category has been a part of Bollywood movies Murder 2 and Desi Boyz. He got to style A-list celebrities such as Jacqueline Fernandez, Karishma Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin , Yami Gautam, Chitrangada Singh, Amrita Rao and Aditi Rao Hydari. He was a part of multiple ramp shows including Lakme Fashion Week, Wills Fashion Week and Couture Fashion Week and also worked with Editorials such as Elle, Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

Here's team Revlon adding more glamor to the world !!

Team Revlon India at the grand finale of IOFW.

Elucidating on the thriving success of Jabong Online Fashion Week, Mr. Praveen Sinha, Founder and MD of Jabong said, “When we came up with the idea of Jabong Online Fashion Week, the only thought process was to bring upon a radical change in the online fashion industry. Our sole motive was to polish the gigantic amount of talent our country has and present it to the world to see. I am elated by the unprecedented response this initiative has received in its first season itself. Through this, we hope to change the dynamics around which the fashion industry functions and make it adept to the new-age eccentric talent that we have pooled. These young artists are now ready to take the fashion industry by storm”.

And that's a wrap! We hope you all enjoyed the show as much as we all did! Looking forward to next year’s IOFW.

Today's Quick Breakfast - Kulcha with stuffed Tofu

Getting up late in the morning is one of the most troublesome situation a working woman has to handle :/

And when I face this situation (like I did today morning), I really get my mind in almost frozen state...not exctly knowing what to do on higher priority. The long list of morning chores like taking care of breakfast, ironing kid's uniform, packing tiffins and then getting yourself ready for work soaks away all the energy in the morning  itself...

Juggling between similar confusing state today morning, I found myself lacking time to cook usual breakfast consisting of stuffed paranthas n veggie, so on my junior's suggestion I just served him Kulchas with Tofu Stuffed in it.

Here's is how he relished its simple preparation...

1. I cooked Plain Tofu with sliced onions and tomato puree with li'l chilli sauce in the preration. Sprinkled some origano flakes for that special aroma and flavour.  

 2. Shallow fry the kulcha on griddle with butter.

 3. Slit the kulcha, spread a layer of Mayonnaise and filled a generous stuffing of cooked tofu.

 4. Served the yummy breakfast :)

 So does it sounds delicious to you!!
Share ur valuable views in comments below...
 

Winner Announcement for Take Me Home Giveaway

Hellloo Everyone,



Here is the moment that you all might be waiting for ... yes my first giveaway has ended today.
 I got some entries with improper details and till the last minute, there was no correct details provided to me after reminders. I'm feeling really sorry for such participants who could not qualify for eligible entries.

But some of the participants were quite enthusiastic during the giveaway period and been really active. A special mention for Bhavani Sekar, Neeta Dam and Jhilmil Saha is well deserved :) Thank you so much ladies!!

So now I take the privilege to pick the lucky winner via Random.Org  without much delay ;)

Yeyy, many congrats dear Kanchan Advani for winning the Loreal Paris Nail Stickers (Python Prints). Kindly DM your postal details to me within next 24 hours and I'll dispatch your prize ASAP. Hope you enjoy your prize...

To all other participants, I promise another giveaway sooner than you expect.. So keep following, keep inviting and keep particpating  :)

Skyscanner gave me wings ...

My summer vacations just got over ... I have no such wonderful memories of the month-long vacations as I spent the entire month at home with my junior just surfing internet, doing some craft work  and spending enough time socializing on FB, Twitter or IG :/

Hubby dear, the dedicated dynamo, had been busy enough to even talk about holidaying or  waste any second lollygagging around.

And me, the understanding better-half, didn't like the idea of enjoying without my soulmate and cheating my ideal plan of FAMILY GETAWAY... So finally I resumed working again one fine day,  realizing a deep sadness making a place in my heart for ruining my precious time :(

It was just yesterday that I got to receive a mail from hubby with a link in the subject line itself saying -"hope it can help you find your lost smile http://www.skyscanner.co.in/"

Clueless to what he actually wanted to show me, I clicked on the link expecting yet another ONLINE SHOPPING SITE to open up from where he wants me to buy some nice stuff ;)

But actually what appeared on my screen was this

I promptly dialed him asking straight forward "Iska kya karu main" and the loving voice from another side replied "Kuch haseen pal phir se aapke saath jeena chahta hoon. Apni pasand ki jagah chun lo, bas budget ka zaraa dhayan rakhna. Ek lakh tak hi manage kar paya hoon main " ;)

I knew good fortune has smiled on me and my dream vacations is on cards now.

OMG, the magic wand of http://www.skyscanner.co.in quickly listed the whole set of available airlines and travel agents in fractions of seconds, the moment I typed in my preferred departure and arrival airports i.e. from Delhi to Malaysia along with the flight prices sorted in ascending order showing the most economical prices on the top.

The selection of an economical airlines coud never be easier than this ever and that too with a LIVE AIRLINES COMPARISONS, PREFERRED DATES, DIRECT OR STOPPAGE PREFERENCES and NO EXTRA CHARGES FOR BOOKING :)

I started flying with the wings of imagination letting me soar higher n higher ... Suddenly I realized what about our accomodation now !!

A li'l thumbnail at the bottom of the Flight Booking window caught my attention asking for "Need a hotel in Kuala Lumpur?"

Oh Yess!! again Skyscanner came to my rescue  when i clicked on "Search Hotels" ... The massive list of hotels with elaborated features of each accomodation got displayed with their respective price tags. I was rolling my eyes to look for some place hiring which doesn't dig a hole in hubby's pockets ;) So I chose to sort the hotels on PRICE and booked a TRIPLE ROOM at very affordable price of INR 4779 with amenities like free parking, complimentary Wi-Fi access, hot shower and safety deposit box etc. What else could one ask for !!

The last requirement on my wish list was to opt for right type of private transport for which I used the CAR HIRE facility on the site itself. I booked a campact, small family car for INR 2931 per day basis which can be called as per my site-seeing schedule.

Now relieved to fly off to a Classy, Luxurious, Magnificent journey to Malaysia; I packed my essentials and made a list of attractions we were going to witness at the location. 

Batu Caves

Bird Park

  The opulent design of the Kuala Lumpur Tower tells the story of its glory and reminds you of its accomplishments every time you look at it.

Kuala Lumpur Tower

Once you enter the Crystal Mosque, a grand spectacle of opulence awaits you. Seems like it is designed to give you that feeling of magnificant adrenaline rush

Crystal Mosque

Now I could read my hubby's expressions saying "Thank you for not burning holes in my pockets and giving each of us an experience of lifetime"  <3 coz we had successfully managed to enjoy the trip in less than planned budget of INR 1 lakh.

Flight : Rs. 57632/-

Hotel: Rs. 14337/-

Transport: Rs. 6000/- 

We had some surplus cash in hand, so  a nod from hubby for shopping was not that tough job ;) We explored the local markets and grabbed some awesome deals ...

  After a glorious experience with skyscanner, we were ready to step in the same chaotic world; but definitely with a richer feeling of positive vibes of that classy lifestyle and impeccable taste for every moment spent at Malaysia.

This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com

My Shopping Extravaganza at Lifestyle OFFSale season

Lucky are those who have their bday this Sale Season, and its more enjoyable when the not-to-miss discounts are raining at Lifestyle Store :p

My li'l bundle of joy is one of those lucky chaps as his excitedly preparing for his 8th bday coming week :) While driving to my office, I was attracted towards Lifestyle STore's #offSale banner again n again, so decided to walk in a nearby store last weekend to shop for bday boy's outfits for his special day :)

As we stepped in, my son almost dragged me to the kids section upstairs to have a look at the wonderful collection where almost every fantastic brand had great discounts to offer.

I had planned to buy one pair for the bday boy, but looking at the not-to-miss deals, I practically failed to resist picking some lovely pieces for myself n hubby too :P

Have a look at what all we got to buy from Lifestyle OffSale

Red Trouser for my son Brand JUNIORS MRP 899/-, Discounted Price 476/-

Mustard Yellow Trouser for my son, Brand JUNIORS, MRP 899/-, Discounted Price 476/-

Round Neck Tee for my son Brand JUNIORS MRP 250/-, Discounted Price 212/-

Men's Collared Tee, Brand FAHRENHEIT MRP 899/-, Discounted Price 572/-

White Men's Shirt, Brand CODE, MRP 1299/-, Discounted Price 689/-

Ladies Kurta, Brand MELANGE MRP 999/-, Discounted Price 529/-

Total Purchase : Rs. 5245/-
Bill Amount : Rs. 2954/-

Thanks Lifestyle Stores for irresistable discounts and fabulous product range !!

The staff at the billing counter as well as display sections n dressing rooms have been so co-operative and polite to make my shopping experience a pleasant one.

Everyone of us was smiling at each other holding shopping bags in our hands.