To most Indian parents, organising the wedding of their son or daughter is a traumatic exercise, involving a host of activities, ranging from religious ceremonies to social get-togethers, accounting for hundreds of guests.
Over the years, the urge to conform to Indian traditions and customs has placed further pressure on brides, grooms and their parents. Apart from the anxiety to ensure proper compliance of the religious procedures, the need to entrust the relative responsibilities to the right agency is cause for concern and anxiety.
But organisers of weddings anywhere in New Zealand, more so in Auckland have the benefit of the experience and expertise of Soni Mudaliar, who brings high notes of authenticity, cost-effectiveness and genuine settings for weddings entrusted to her organisation and care.
From Sikh, Muslim, Hindu and Christian weddings, Soni has the knowledge and material to create wedding scenes that captivate everyone – from the bridal couple, their families and friends to guests from abroad.
“I realise the tension and anxiety that every person organising an Indian wedding experiences, to obviate which I established ‘0800 Mandap’ to enable parents and relatives to enjoy the wedding of their children rather than be caught up in organisational wrangles. With contacts developed throughout the wedding industry, I am able to offer the best of products, services and facilities to my customers,” she said.
In more ways than one, Soni is the ‘One-Stop-Shop’ for wedding organisers. Except for choosing the bride and the groom, she provides the most comprehensive package tailored to individual needs and budget.
Best laid plans
“The services begin with the choice of a venue for the wedding, a detailed wedding planner with day-to-day schedule, interior decoration, special lights and sound effects, invitation cards, catering, wedding procession, religious ceremony at places of worship, music and dance performances, hotel accommodation, car hire. We can also arrange priests to conduct weddings according to the choice of our clients,” Soni said.
Justifiably called, ‘The Madap Queen,’ Soni is known for her high level of professionalism in every project that she undertakes, irrespective of the disposition of her clients. She was the chief organiser of the ‘Big Fat Wedding’ held in Auckland in January last year – a multi-million dollar event that brought together Chicago born Vikram Aditya Kumar and former Miss Earth Pooja Chitgopeker in matrimony.
She has also organised modest weddings in the Indian community.
“Everyone has dreams of organising the wedding of their dear ones in as grand a scale as possible but may not have the finances to do so. We try to make their dreams come true with cost-effective measures,” Soni said.
Commitment and passion
A self-motivated woman with a passion and commitment towards any job or project that she undertakes, Soni is a maverick among businesswomen.
Ten years ago, she started her company in her modest home in North Shore City, with the objective of providing the best possible interior designs for social and religious occasions. Her creativity has helped scores of weddings, engagement ceremonies, birthday parties, mehandi gatherings and other social occasions sparkle with colourful textile and floral designs.
Her hard work and sincerity was soon acknowledged and rewarded with increasing number of clients, to cope with which, she moved to a larger premises with additional products, services and facilities.
Soni has been involved with a number of projects other than ‘real’ weddings. They include a screen wedding for Shortland Street, musical shows of the late Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Kunal Ganjawala, Sonu Nigam, Manna Dey and Roop Kumar Rathod.
New Service
“The market has undergone significant changes. Our people are getting more and more sophisticated with varying demands. In order to meet their needs, we now provide on hire a number of services including props, stage settings, fabrics, flowers and interior decorations; this is the emerging Do-It-Yourself Culture’ among the members of the Indian community,” she said.
