Straight out of Bollywood: Vruchi and Shankar's Indian sangeet

Before their big day, Sydney’s Vruchi Vasudevan and Shankar Vasudevan brought a bit of Bollywood to their traditional Indian sangeet.

As bride Vruchi, 26, explains, the sangeet is the celebration held before the ceremony and involves plenty of singing and dancing to help build the excitement before their traditional Indian wedding.

“Having lived in Sydney most of our lives, we wanted our sangeet to have a funky, quirky twist,” Vruchi says.

“Most sangeets are a night-time affair. We scratched that and the name; called it a ‘High Chai’ event and had it during the day.”

The theme was kitsch, funky Indian with plenty of Bollywood inspiration.

As Vruchi and Shankar, also 26, did some performing at university, they ensured there was plenty of it at their celebrations, which were held on January 23, 2016 with 150 family and friends at The Gardens at Urban Tadka Restaurant, Terrey Hills.

“The high chai started with a bang – a dance medley by practically everyone that was invited! Everyone had their little moment of fame as they introduced themselves through dancing to the rest of guests,” Vruchi says.

“We had music performances (by the Vishwaas band), dance performances, surprise items for the bride by the groom, lip-sync battle between the bride and the groom, a skit making fun of the couple and a high-energy dance floor to finish the crazy event!”

Photos courtesy of Pannila Photography.

Marry Me Movies captured all the action of the big day.

“I knew I wanted ivy trails all around the walls and Indian kites on the ceiling – reflecting both the high tea nature, but also sticking to the Indian chai tradition. To finish it off we decided to have a brilliant village-themed backdrop to our stage,” Vruchi says of the styling.

“We wanted our décor to reflect the event – High Chai. The name itself says, that the event would be funky, different, relaxed, laid back,” the bride says.