How Vivaah India orchestrated a five-day, 280-guest NRI palace wedding at Oberoi Udaivilas — from a London-based couple''s first call to the final farewell on Lake Pichola. Every detail, every challenge, every unforgettable moment.
When Priya and Arjun — a London-based couple with roots in Rajasthan — first called me in January 2025, they had one clear vision: a wedding that felt like a fairy tale set in the most beautiful city in India. Udaipur was the only option they had ever considered. Oberoi Udaivilas was the only venue.
What followed was eighteen months of meticulous planning, three site visits, forty-seven vendor meetings, and five extraordinary days on the banks of Lake Pichola. This is the story of how we brought that vision to life.
The Brief: A Five-Day Celebration for 280 Guests
Priya and Arjun's guest list spanned four continents. Their families were based in London, New Jersey, Mumbai, and Jodhpur. The wedding needed to work for guests who had never been to India and for grandparents who had never left Rajasthan.
The brief was ambitious:
- Five days of events: welcome dinner, mehendi, sangeet, pheras, and a farewell brunch
- 280 guests, with approximately 120 travelling from the UK and USA
- A colour palette of ivory, gold, and deep marigold — "Rajasthan in its purest form," as Priya described it
- A mandap on the lake-facing lawn, with the City Palace as the backdrop
- Live classical music throughout, with a Bollywood performance on sangeet night
- Entirely vegetarian menu with a dedicated section for guests with dietary restrictions
The total budget was ₹3.2 crore, inclusive of venue, décor, catering, entertainment, and logistics.
Venue Selection: Why Oberoi Udaivilas
Oberoi Udaivilas is, by any measure, one of the finest wedding venues in the world. Built on a 30-acre wildlife sanctuary on the banks of Lake Pichola, it combines Rajput architecture with Mughal garden design and contemporary luxury. The views of the City Palace and Jag Mandir across the lake are unmatched.
For Priya and Arjun, the choice was emotional as much as practical. Arjun's grandfather had stayed at the original property decades earlier, and the family connection to Udaipur ran deep.
From a planning perspective, Oberoi Udaivilas offered several critical advantages:
**Exclusive buyout.** For a five-day celebration of this scale, we negotiated a full property buyout — all 87 rooms and suites reserved exclusively for wedding guests. This eliminated the friction of sharing the property with other guests and gave us complete control over every space.
**Multiple event spaces.** The property's lawns, courtyards, and indoor ballrooms allowed each of the five events to have a completely distinct setting and atmosphere. No two evenings felt the same.
**In-house catering excellence.** Oberoi's culinary team is among the best in India. We worked with their executive chef to design a menu that honoured Rajasthani tradition while accommodating the dietary needs of international guests.
**Proximity to the lake.** The ability to arrange boat transfers on Lake Pichola — for the sangeet evening and for private moments between the couple — added a dimension that no inland venue could replicate.
The Planning Timeline
### Eighteen Months Out: Venue and Date
The first task was securing the venue and date. Oberoi Udaivilas books out eighteen to twenty-four months in advance for full buyouts. We confirmed the November 2026 dates in January 2025 — and even then, we were competing with two other enquiries for the same weekend.
I always advise couples: if Udaivilas is your dream, do not wait. The venue's availability is the single biggest constraint in Udaipur wedding planning.
### Twelve Months Out: Vendor Assembly
With the venue confirmed, we began assembling the vendor team. For a wedding of this scale and complexity, I work only with vendors I have used before and trust completely. The team for Priya and Arjun's wedding included:
- **Décor:** Ferns N Petals Luxury Division, with a dedicated team of 60 for the five-day setup
- **Photography:** A two-photographer team from Mumbai, supplemented by a local Udaipur videographer for aerial drone coverage
- **Entertainment:** A classical sarangi and tabla duo for the welcome dinner; a Kathak troupe for the mehendi; a live band and Bollywood performer for the sangeet
- **Catering:** Entirely managed by Oberoi's in-house team, with external mithai specialists for the sweet counter
- **Transportation:** A fleet of vintage Rolls-Royce and Ambassador cars for the baraat, supplemented by electric golf carts for elderly guests
### Six Months Out: Guest Logistics
Managing 120 international guests requires a level of logistical precision that most couples underestimate. We created a dedicated wedding website with a custom travel portal — flight recommendations, visa guidance, Udaipur arrival instructions, and a day-by-day itinerary.
We also arranged:
- Block bookings at three overflow hotels for guests who could not be accommodated at Udaivilas
- A dedicated shuttle service between all hotels and the venue
- A WhatsApp group managed by our team, providing real-time updates throughout the five days
- A welcome kit delivered to every guest room: a hand-painted miniature of the City Palace, a personalised itinerary, and a selection of local Rajasthani sweets
### Three Months Out: Décor Finalisation
The décor brief evolved significantly over the planning period. Priya's original vision — ivory and gold — expanded to incorporate deep marigold and terracotta as the wedding approached. The final palette was richer and more authentically Rajasthani than the original concept.
The centrepiece of the décor was the mandap: a 40-foot structure of carved white marble columns, draped in ivory silk and marigold garlands, positioned on the lake-facing lawn with the City Palace directly behind. It took the décor team three days to construct.
The Five Days
### Day One: Welcome Dinner
The welcome dinner was held in the Kohinoor Courtyard — Udaivilas's most intimate outdoor space, surrounded by carved stone screens and lit by hundreds of diyas. The mood was warm and unhurried: a chance for families meeting for the first time to find their footing.
We served a traditional Rajasthani thali — dal baati churma, gatte ki sabzi, ker sangri — alongside a contemporary mezze spread for guests less familiar with Indian cuisine. The sarangi and tabla duo played throughout.
### Day Two: Mehendi
The mehendi was held on the main lawn, under a canopy of marigold and jasmine. Twelve mehendi artists worked simultaneously, ensuring every guest who wanted henna received it. The Kathak troupe performed in the afternoon, and a DJ set followed in the evening.
One of the most memorable moments of the entire wedding happened on mehendi day: Priya's grandmother, who had travelled from Jodhpur and had never seen a Kathak performance, wept with joy during the opening invocation. It is the kind of moment that reminds you why this work matters.
### Day Three: Sangeet
The sangeet was the most logistically complex event of the five days. We transformed the main ballroom — a 10,000-square-foot space — into a concert venue, with a professional stage, lighting rig, and sound system installed over two days.
The evening opened with family performances — both sides had prepared dances and skits — followed by the live band and, as the headline act, a Bollywood performer who had the entire room on their feet for ninety minutes.
We had planned for 280 guests. 312 attended. The additional guests — friends of friends, extended family who had travelled to Udaipur independently — were accommodated without incident. This is why we always build a 15% buffer into catering and seating plans.
### Day Four: Pheras
The wedding ceremony itself was held at sunrise — a decision Priya and Arjun had made from the beginning, and one I strongly supported. The light on Lake Pichola at dawn is extraordinary: soft, golden, and utterly still.
The pandit began the ceremony at 5:45 AM. By the time the saat pheras were complete and the sun had fully risen over the City Palace, there was not a dry eye among the 280 guests seated on the lawn.
The post-ceremony lunch was a celebration in itself: a lavish spread of Rajasthani and Mughlai dishes, served under a canopy of white and gold, with the lake shimmering in the midday light.
### Day Five: Farewell Brunch
The farewell brunch was deliberately understated — a chance for guests to linger, exchange contacts, and say their goodbyes without the pressure of a formal event. We arranged boat rides on Lake Pichola for those who wanted them, and a local artisan market in the courtyard for guests to purchase last-minute gifts.
Priya and Arjun departed by boat — a private vessel decorated with marigolds — to begin their honeymoon in the Maldives.
Challenges and How We Overcame Them
No wedding of this scale is without its challenges. Here are the three most significant issues we faced, and how we resolved them.
**Challenge 1: A key vendor cancellation six weeks out.** Our original photography team had a family emergency and had to withdraw. With six weeks to the wedding, finding a replacement of equivalent quality was extremely difficult. I activated my network immediately and secured a team from Delhi who had worked with us previously. The transition was seamless — and the final photographs were exceptional.
**Challenge 2: A monsoon extension.** November in Udaipur is typically dry and clear. In 2026, an unusual monsoon extension brought rain to the region in the first week of November — exactly when we were setting up. We had contingency marquees on standby, and the décor team worked through two nights to complete the setup before the weather cleared. Every outdoor event proceeded as planned.
**Challenge 3: A guest medical emergency.** On the morning of the pheras, an elderly guest suffered a cardiac episode. Our on-site medical team — a requirement I insist on for all weddings of this scale — responded within three minutes. The guest was stabilised and transported to hospital, where they made a full recovery. The ceremony proceeded on schedule, and the guest's family was kept informed throughout.
What Made This Wedding Exceptional
After eighteen years and over 200 weddings, I am often asked what separates a good wedding from a truly exceptional one. For Priya and Arjun's wedding, the answer was simple: intentionality.
Every decision — from the sunrise ceremony to the grandmother's Kathak moment to the farewell boat — was made with a clear sense of what the couple valued most. They were not trying to impress anyone. They were trying to create something true.
That is the foundation of every wedding we plan at Vivaah India. The logistics, the vendors, the décor — these are the craft. The intentionality is the art.
Planning Your Own Udaipur Palace Wedding
If you are considering a destination wedding in Udaipur, here is what I would tell you:
**Start early.** The best venues — Udaivilas, Taj Lake Palace, Leela Palace — book out eighteen to twenty-four months in advance. If you have a specific date in mind, begin your enquiry immediately.
**Budget honestly.** A full buyout at Udaivilas for five days, inclusive of all events, will cost between ₹2.5 crore and ₹5 crore depending on guest count and décor ambition. This is not a venue for those seeking to minimise costs — it is a venue for those who want the best.
**Trust your planner.** The complexity of a multi-day destination wedding at a property like Udaivilas requires a planner with deep relationships with the venue and its team. Do not attempt to manage this independently.
**Embrace the unexpected.** The monsoon, the extra guests, the medical emergency — none of these were in the plan. All of them became part of the story. The best weddings are not the ones where nothing goes wrong. They are the ones where everything that goes wrong is handled with grace.
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*Akshat Purohit is the founder of Vivaah India, India's premier luxury destination wedding planning studio. With eighteen years of experience and over 200 weddings across Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, and beyond, he specialises in creating bespoke celebrations for NRI couples. To discuss your wedding, [contact Vivaah India](/contact) for a complimentary consultation.*
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