How Wedding Planner Shaivya Agarwal Makes Pati Patni Aur Their Vows Special

In a world of entwined hearts and lifelong commitments, the role of a wedding planner is paramount. They are the heroes behind the scenes who wed creativity with meticulous planning, to ensure there is no fuss in making a couple’s nuptials special. In an interview with SheThePeople, wedding planner Shaivya Agarwal spoke about the art of transforming a couple’s romantic vision into reality. Based in Dehradun, Agarwal’s venture Unik Experiences has become well-recognised in Uttarakhand for curating opulent celebrations.

Along with co-founder Ayush Kanojia, Agarwal has made the dream weddings of over 150 couples come true. While ensuring each event looks seamless at the forefront, Agarwal and her team manage a jumble of logistics, inspirations, creatives, and a mix of emotions. 

Diving Into Wedding Planning

Shaivya Agarwal always envisioned herself in a creative and self-sown career. The Symbiosis (Pune) MBA graduate found her calling in event planning. Despite her family’s apprehension, it did not take Agarwal long to embark on a pursuit of her own.

I have always been inclined towards creative arenas; be it while I was in school or college, I have been inclined towards decor and colour combinations. So, I knew that if given a chance, I would be able to do something of that sort. Initially, I was working for an event company but I had always wanted to create something of my own, for myself, so I could give employment to people around me. That’s when I pitched this idea to my friend Ayush and we started Unik Experiences in 2018.

Her idea was to make her home, Uttarakhand, an ideal destination for dreamy celebrations. “We started working from Jaipur, Udaipur, and Goa before seeing that the place we are from has the potential for creating destination weddings too, in places like Mussoorie, Corbett, or Rishikesh. These places are loved by people but there were not a lot of people working here (in events), and that’s when we saw the opportunity."

Wading Through Challenges

Agarwal was only 23 years old when she birthed Unik Experiences. Despite the daunting complication of starting a venture from scratch, she was relentless in making clients and other facilitators believe in her capabilities. 

“When you're growing as a company, it is difficult to get clients or (vendors) to trust you and give you your first breakthrough. Many more wedding planners that we admire have been doing great work, so competing with them and doing something different was challenging. But they (clients, vendors) realise the fact that a company that is only four or five years young and is sustaining itself in the demanding market must be doing something right,” she said.

Aside from professional challenges, the physical and mental toll from the stimulating career came as a rude shock to the rookie entrepreneur. “The kind of burnout that you face after doing weddings is unreal,” exclaimed Agarwal. She elucidated planning weddings calls for sleepless days that sometimes go without time and energy to even eat properly. 

She even described a time when she was down with a fever but had to get back on her feet to ensure no stone was left unturned in exceeding the client’s expectations. “There was a time at one of my weddings when I was down with a very high fever and I standing at the event area, thinking that I was probably not able to do justice to the decor because of my health," Agarwal said.

She continued, "But then the bride gave me a beautiful look; I can never forget her face when she said ‘Everything looks so perfect, why are you worrying so much?’ That was one of the moments that I will always cherish for my entire life,” Agarwal exclaimed, adding that such appreciations from clients make her feel reassured about their efforts.

New-Age Wedding Traditions

Indians have been steadfast about preserving generational traditions, especially when it comes to sacred occasions like weddings. However, today's couples have found loopholes around these time-honoured customs, finding innovative ways to reflect their personality and ideologies.

Describing some examples of these evolving traditions, Shaivya Agarwal said, “There have been a lot of changes in the way weddings happen these days. For example, I see brides being more involved in wedding planning. Sometimes even if the initial meetings are done by the families or the groom, the final decision is of the bride. Not just in dresses, but also in how they want their wedding to be. Brides have been well-researched and very particular about the decision-making process.”

Agarwal also added that inter-community couples are conscious about ensuring that all cultures are equally respected and represented at the wedding. She also added that several couples are opting for an eco-conscious ceremony, with re-wearable lehengas and sustainable decor. Moreover, couples are now letting go of regressive practices and attempting to be more inclusive. “A huge change I have seen is that a lot of couples have been opting for female pandits,” Agarwal said.

Earlier, Sangeet used to be known as ‘ladies' night’, where only women would come together, sing songs, and celebrate. The haldi ceremony for the bride and groom was also done separately and after that, the couple was not allowed to see each other until the jaimala ceremony. But now families are busting these myths, mingling, and celebrating these events together. It's like an icebreaker for both sides of the family before the wedding day. These functions are now more about the fun than the (regressive) traditions.

As Shaivya Agarwal described, while a wedding was once a hodgepodge of customs and ceremonies inattentively passed down several generations, couples these days are finding ways to allow their identities and choices to reverberate on their special day. To give their vision a tangible structure with little to no hassle, wedding planners take the helm.

Agarwal’s aim with Unik Experiences is to not only make their clients’ utopia come true but also exceed their expectations with a touch of some extra sparkle. She attempts to connect with the couple on a personal level to ensure their personality shines through the ceremony. With this, she has been able to make a couple’s day all the more precious, as well as work a job where she truly feels content. In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at the Uttarakhand Investors' Summit mentioned how people willing to have destination weddings must opt for Uttarakhand instead of travelling abroad because it would not just feel like home but also help grow India's wedding market which massively contributes to the Indian economy. Agarwal and Kanojia, who carry this sentiment both with their passion and their business, are taking forward the state's cultural and economic with one band baaja baraat a time.