Wedding Shopping in Mumbai

Wedding shopping can be quite an expensive affair, but if you know the right places to shop, you can get some great deals that look and feel like a million dollars without costing you that much. While places like Surat in Gujarat and Jaipur in Rajasthan offer a plethora of indian wedding dresses at affordable prices, if you do not have the time and want to shop in Mumbai, here's a list of places you need to go to, to get great deals.

1. Dadar Market - One of the oldest markets in Mumbai for wedding shopping. Here you will find wedding dress shops like Paaneri (http://www.paaneriindia.com/web/index.asp), Lazaree (http://www.lazaree.com/), Rangoli,  which have been famous and synonymous with wedding sarees and dresses for years. Dadar Emporium is of course the biggest saree shop in Dadar.You will find a wide variety of sarees especially Maharashtrian Paithani sarees.
2. Nataraj Market, Malad (West) - This too is one of the oldest markets in Mumbai. It is very famous for Gujarati Panetar and Rajasthani sarees. There are hundreds of saree shops here. Rajhans, Sakhi, Roop Niketan and Rajkamal especially have the latest trends and a beautiful collection.

If you are looking for branded and designer label sarees, there are many wonderful boutiques in Mumbai that also have online shopping websites and showcase galleries.
1. Seasonsindia has its showroom in Santacruz (West). Check out the website for the latest trends.  (http://www.seasonsindia.com/)
2. Sheetal showcases designs from renowned designers like Hemant Trivedi and Aki Narula. They have quite a large collection of bridal wear online as well. (http://www.sheetalindia.com/web/shoponline/shop_searchresults.aspx?Sect=2) Sheetal has many stores across Mumbai in Oberoi mall (Goregaon East), Inorbit Mall (Malad West), Grant Road and across the globe.
3. Manish Malhotra - One of the most famous and most wanted bollywood designers has his flagship store in Khar (West). His website showcases bridal wear collections from his designs in the past years. (http://www.manishmalhotra.in/).
4. Vikram Phadnis - The newest designer known for his bridal wear collections. Katrina Kaif walked down the ramp in Vikram Phadnis bridal wear at a recent couture event. (http://www.vikramphadnis.com/home_inner.htm). He has his stores across the world. In Mumbai, you can find the Vikram Phadnis showroom at JVPD in Andheri.

Wedding Planning

Once you are engaged, you start getting a lot of free advice from family and friends about planning the wedding. Planning a wedding is not difficult but it seems so because you have never had to plan such a large-scale social event before.
While there is no right or wrong way to plan a wedding, it can be overwhelming with the seemingly endless choices being offered, stressful and time-consuming when it does not really have to be.
Wedding planning can be an enjoyable journey altogether. It is just about identifying the essential elements, breaking them down into simpler, achievable tasks, and organizing them in the right sequence. As the Wedding Bible puts it, wedding planning is about answering the Big 5:
How? Where? When? Who? Budget?
How? - How do you want your wedding to be? A simple religious ceremony. A religious ceremony with a grand reception or an out-and-out extravagant social event.

Where? - Where will the wedding and reception be held? Will they be in the same location? Having an idea about the wedding venue helps to plan things better.

When?- When will the big day be? Have the tentative date and month in mind. Always check for wedding venue availability and always book in advance.

Who? - Who will you be inviting? Your guest list depends on how big a wedding you want to have, your budget and how many people the wedding venue can accommodate. It's a good idea to create a guest list so you can have an approximate number in mind when selecting the wedding venue and planning the reception dinner seating.

Budget? - Finally, how much money can you afford to spend? Remember that weddings are joyous occasions that are about getting together, friendships and celebrating with family and friends and not about the money. So there is no need to go overboard.
Once you have the answers to these questions, you can take informed decisions that you are comfortable with. To read more useful tips from the Wedding Bible click on the Google Preview link in the right panel.

Beautiful wedding cakes

For the perfect wedding, all you need is a great man, a great dress and a great wedding cake, nothing else matters! The traditional three-tier wedding cake was conceived by a Victorian fleet street baker who baked a cake for his daughter's wedding based upon the spire of St. Bride's church. The cutting of the wedding cake symbolizes the sharing of the first meal as husband and wife. Today, the wedding cake options are endless: chocolate truffle, black forest, pineapple cheese cake, sponge cake, strawberry short cake, carrot cake, rum-soaked dutch truffle, Ferrero rocher, lemon cake, coffee and walnut cake, chocolate orange... the list goes on. If you can't decide, choose a different cake for each tier of the cake covered with a luscious dollop of icing or meringue and have as many tiers as you wish! This has become increasingly popular with couples. So whatever style of wedding you are planning for any number of guests, make sure you have a spectacular wedding cake for your fairytale wedding.