The first time I realized I was actually a wedding planner was when Rashmi called me at 2 AM crying. Her Jaipur wedding was supposed to happen in three weeks. The venue had just told her they were overbooked. The caterer had backed out. Her parents were fighting about guest lists.
She’d been trying to manage everything herself for six months and was completely falling apart. I remember her saying, “I just want to get married. I don’t want to become a project manager.” That’s when I decided—this is what I’m going to do with my life.
That was 2009. I was working in corporate event management back then, and I started taking on destination weddings on the side. I helped Rashmi pull her Jaipur wedding together. We found a better venue, negotiated with a caterer who actually understood wedding timelines, and I personally went to Jaipur three times to oversee setup.
When I saw her face during the ceremony, when her husband cried during his vows, when I watched her mother embrace him like he was her own son—I knew I’d found my calling.
Fifteen years later, I’m still in Gurgaon, still planning weddings in Udaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan, Goa, Himachal Pradesh. I’ve done weddings in Bali, Dubai, even one crazy destination wedding in Portugal. And every single time, I see that same transformation in couples—from stressed-out, exhausted people to couples who can actually enjoy their engagement and look forward to their wedding instead of dreading it.
Why I Started This Business and Why It Actually Works
When I first told my friends I was leaving my corporate job to plan weddings full-time, they thought I was insane. “You’re going to plan parties?” my boss said. He meant it as an insult. But here’s the thing—I wasn’t planning parties.
I was solving incredibly complex logistical problems while managing the emotional needs of families, navigating cultural traditions, and creating experiences that would define a couple’s most important day.
The reason I’m based in Gurgaon is simple. This city is full of people who understand business. They understand project management, timelines, budgets, risk assessment. When I started getting clients from Gurgaon—mostly IT professionals, real estate executives, finance people—I realized they were perfect clients for destination weddings.
They wanted things documented, timelines created, contingencies planned. They didn’t want to deal with vague promises or “we’ll figure it out” approaches. They wanted what I could deliver: precision execution.
Over the years, I built relationships with vendors across India. I know decorators in Udaipur personally. I’ve worked with caterers in Rajasthan so many times that they know exactly how I want things done. I’ve got photographers in Goa who understand that wedding photography isn’t about random beautiful shots—it’s about capturing the specific emotional moments of that couple’s day.
These relationships are worth more than anything else in my business. When a vendor knows me, trusts me, has worked with me on fifteen weddings, they don’t just give me better prices. They give me better service, more flexibility, more willingness to solve problems creatively.
What Really Happens When You Hire Someone Like Me
When a couple calls me, the first thing I do is listen. I don’t pitch services or talk about my portfolio. I ask questions. How did you propose? What’s your budget? Who’s paying? How many people? What’s your relationship with your parents—are they going to want input or do they trust you? What’s your aesthetic? Are you doing this for Instagram or for your family? Are you a planner or a spontaneous person?
Vedavati came to me once wanting a wedding in Manali in December. Beautiful idea, right? I had to tell her that Manali basically shuts down in November. The good vendors leave. Hotels cut staff. If something goes wrong, you can’t fix it. I watched her face fall.
Then I asked, “What is it about a December wedding in Manali that appeals to you?” She said she wanted snow, mountains, and an intimate feeling.
I suggested October in Himachal, and we found this incredible property in Narkanda. Same vibe, but logistically actually possible. If I’d just booked Manali and taken her money, the wedding would have been a nightmare.
This is where a lot of planners make mistakes. They just say yes to whatever a couple wants and then scramble to make it work. I learned early on that the hard conversations upfront save everyone heartache later.
Once we settle on a destination, I take the couple to visit the venue. This isn’t optional. I don’t care if they’re busy. I book flights, I take them to the property at different times of day. I walk them through logistics.
Where do guests go when they arrive? How do we get 300 people from the parking area to the venue? What happens in the monsoon? What’s the cell phone reception like? Can the venue actually accommodate the number of guests you want? I’ve had couples change their minds about venues after actually visiting them, and that’s exactly what should happen.
The Work Nobody Sees
Venue sorted. Now comes the vendor selection. This takes weeks. I’m calling decorators, emailing caterers, reviewing photographer portfolios. For every wedding I take on, I probably interview fifteen decorators and pick one. I’m not just looking at pretty work. I’m looking at someone who can handle the specific challenges of that venue, that weather, that guest count.
Anuj wanted a wedding in a Rajasthan fort in July. That’s hot. Like 45-degree-celsius hot. Traditional food would spoil. Guests would be uncomfortable. I found a caterer who specialized in hot-weather outdoor events. He understood how to keep food fresh, how to provide adequate shade and water for guests.
Anuj would never have found that person himself. That’s my job.
Then comes the budget negotiation. This is where couples actually start saving money. I recently worked with a couple who had a 50-lakh budget. The florist quoted 8 lakhs.
I knew from my relationships that this florist usually does work at that price point for hotel weddings, not destination weddings. I negotiated them down to 5.8 lakhs. The caterer was asking 10 lakhs. I got them to 8 lakhs by promising other weddings in the future.
The venue had a rental fee that seemed inflated, and I negotiated a 20 percent discount by committing to a multi-night stay package. Before any other work, before I’d even created a single design element, I’d saved them 4 lakhs. That’s not luck. That’s relationships and experience.
The Stress I Handle So They Don’t Have To
Two weeks before one wedding, the bride’s mother had a health emergency. The bride was falling apart. Should they postpone? I spent an entire afternoon with her family, mapping out options. We ended up scaling back slightly—fewer events, tighter timeline—but the core wedding happened.
That bride got to marry the person she loved. Without someone managing the logistics while she dealt with family stress, that wedding would have fallen apart.
I’ve had grooms confess to me that their parents wanted a bigger wedding than they did. I’ve had brides cry because they felt like they were planning their parents’ fantasy, not their own celebration. I’ve navigated these conversations carefully. Sometimes I’ve helped couples stand up to their families.
Sometimes I’ve helped families understand their children’s vision. My job isn’t just logistics. It’s managing human emotions and family dynamics.
Three days before a Udaipur wedding, the resort’s main generator failed. Backup generator failed too. I got on the phone, found another resort that could provide generators, negotiated emergency delivery, and had everything installed by the next morning. The couple never knew there was a crisis. They just showed up and their wedding happened perfectly.
On another wedding, the vintage cars I’d hired for the baraat broke down on the highway. I had called around that morning—something just felt off about them—and had arranged a backup plan (which I always do, but most couples don’t know about). We switched to different cars. The baraat was delayed 45 minutes, but nobody was stranded on the side of the road. That’s what backup plans do.
The Conversations Nobody Enjoys But Everyone Needs
I had to tell Priya that her Instagram-perfect venue didn’t have adequate electrical capacity for the lighting design she wanted. I had to tell Rohan that his budget of 20 lakhs for 400 guests was genuinely not realistic in Goa. I had to tell Divya that her chosen date in Rajasthan coincided with the hottest week of the year. These conversations suck. But they’re necessary.
When couples hear these hard truths from me, they get upset sometimes. But afterward, they’re relieved. They’d rather know the problems now than discover them in the middle of wedding planning. I’m the person who tells you the truth instead of just taking your money.
Why People Recommend Me
Couples talk. When Rohit and Aisha’s Jaipur wedding went smoothly—even though we had to reschedule a pre-wedding event because of unexpected guests—they told everyone. When Isha’s family dynamics were handled so carefully that divorced parents both felt respected and included, she referred three of her cousins to me.
When Vikram’s budget was managed so well that his wedding felt like it cost twice as much as it actually did, his entire friend group started calling me.
I’ve done weddings where I’ve worked for three years. One couple got engaged in 2018, they needed time to plan, and we finally did their wedding in 2021. During those three years, I was on their team. I went to their engagement party. I helped with pre-wedding events. I managed family drama. I was genuinely invested in their happiness.
I’ve also had couples book me six months before their wedding. Those are high-stress projects. Six months to find a venue, select vendors, create designs, manage logistics. But I’ve learned how to compress timelines without sacrificing quality. I have vendor relationships that let me move quickly. I have templates and systems that I’ve developed over years of doing this.
The Money Conversation
People ask me what I charge. It varies. Some weddings I charge 3 lakhs flat. Some I charge 4 percent of the total wedding budget. Some I charge a combination—a base fee plus percentage. A 25-lakh wedding might cost 3 lakhs in planning fees. A 75-lakh wedding might be 4 lakhs base plus 2 percent of anything over that. The point is—the fee pays for itself multiple times over through vendor negotiations alone.
But here’s what people don’t understand: the fee isn’t just for the logistics. It’s for my stress management. It’s for me being available when things go wrong. It’s for my relationships with vendors who won’t screw you over. It’s for my experience knowing what’s possible and what isn’t. It’s for the 200 decisions I make on your behalf so you don’t have to think about them.
Why This Work Changed My Life
I could have stayed in corporate event management. I’d probably be making more money. I’d probably have less stress. But I wouldn’t get to see couples cry happy tears as they say vows to each other. I wouldn’t get to watch families celebrate together in beautiful places. I wouldn’t get to problem-solve in creative ways that actually make a difference in people’s lives.
Last month, I did a wedding in Udaipur. The couple had been together for ten years. They were finally getting married. The bride’s father walked her down the aisle, and I watched him cry. I watched the groom’s mother hug the bride like she was her own daughter. I watched 250 people—friends and family who’d traveled from all over India—celebrate this couple’s commitment.
And I knew that none of it would have happened the way it did without the work I’d put in. Without finding the right venue. Without negotiating with vendors. Without managing timelines. Without handling all the logistics that let the couple actually focus on the meaning of the day.
That’s why I do this. That’s why I started this business fifteen years ago when everyone thought I was crazy. That’s why I’m still here in Gurgaon, still planning weddings, still answering calls from stressed couples at 2 AM. Because at the end of every wedding, I get to witness something magical.
I get to see two people promise to spend their lives together. I get to see families from different backgrounds come together.
I get to see joy in its purest form. And that’s exactly why Wedding Planners in Gurgaon like me are so dedicated to this work—because we understand that we’re not just organizing events; we’re creating memories that will last a lifetime.
When couples come back to me months later and tell me their wedding was the best day of their lives, when they show me photos and I see the genuine happiness on every face, when their parents tell me they’ve never seen their child so happy—that’s when I know I made the right decision leaving corporate America.
Finding Someone Like Me
If you’re thinking about a destination wedding, you need to find a planner. Not because the planner is a luxury—because the planner is essential. You need someone who’s actually planned weddings in the destination you’re considering. You need someone with vendor relationships.
You need someone who’s dealt with monsoons, generator failures, vendor drama, and family politics. You need someone experienced enough to anticipate problems before they happen.
When you’re looking for destination wedding planners in Gurgaon, ask for references and actually call them. Ask if the planner was accessible. Ask if things went wrong and how they were handled. Ask if the planner stayed within budget. Ask if the couple would hire them again.
Meet the planner in person. If they’re not excited about your vision, if they’re trying to push you toward their standard package, if they’re not asking you good questions—keep looking. You need someone who actually cares about your wedding, not just someone collecting a fee.
The right destination wedding planner in Gurgaon will transform your engagement from something stressful into something magical. They’ll handle the details so you can focus on the love. They’ll solve problems you don’t even know are coming. They’ll deliver a wedding that exceeds your expectations.
That’s what I do. And that’s why couples keep calling me, even fifteen years later.