Destination PARADISE

Destination weddings have picked up pace in Kashmir. Though it's an expensive affair, but that has not stopped people from pouring in to the Valley to do wedding recces

- Naseer Ganai

AS the bride emerges from Srinagar’s Lalit Grand Palace hotel, greeted by lush lawns, towering chinars and the distant Zaberwan Mountains in the backdrop. Reminded of the Bollywood song sequences shot on the verdant grounds, she heads to the serene Dal Lake. With loved ones by her side, she smiles, approaching adorned shikaras at Lalit Ghat.

As she awaits her groom in her bedecked shikara, he emerges from Taj Vivanta, overlooking Asia’s largest tulip garden. He heads to another ghat, boarding another flower-adorned shikara. Their boats glide to Bollywood melodies over the cold waters of the iconic lake.

The bride and groom’s shikaras head for the Sheri Kashmir Convention Centre on the lake’s banks, where they exchange vows in a ceremony filled with Bollywood melodies, sealing their bond at the mandap.

After the abrogation of Article 370, destination weddings have picked up pace in Kashmir. Last year, there was a sudden spurt in such lavish weddings, especially among wealthy industrialists from various parts of India who wanted to have their loved ones wed in Kashmir, long known for its iconic beauty.

“We arrange weddings in even more exotic locations than this one,” says Mohsin Bhat, 40, sitting in his office at Karanagar.

Bhat used to specialise in organising smaller events and gatherings, but in 2019, before the abrogation, he transitioned to hosting weddings, starting with a mammoth wedding event for Dubai-based non-resident Indian (NRI) families in the Valley.

While the trend of hosting elaborate marriages in Kashmir has picked up pace, Bhat admits there is a common concern in the inquiries, they receive about hosting wedding events in one of India’s newest union territories—fear.