It is a well-known fact that Dubai is a favourite holiday spot. What many people don’t know is that it is also a popular destination for weddings.
Ask Rita Walia, one of the busiest wedding planners in the UAE. She has handled a gamut of nuptials: From setting up romantic venues for proposals and traditional marriage ceremonies to weddings at short notice for tourists and extravaganzas that needed months of planning, she has done them all.
“Dubai as a wedding destination attracts people of all nationalities. I have organised weddings for Americans, Russians and Germans but the majority has been for residents of the UAE, the UK and India. Dubai is on a par with Bangkok and Bali when it comes to the popularity of marriage ceremonies.”
All in a week’s time
She went on to relate the story of a German who was holidaying in Dubai with his Russian girlfriend. He proposed, she accepted and they decided to wed within a week’s stay in Dubai. They got in touch with Walia, gave their requirements and planning went into fast-forward mode.
“I had less than a week to get it organised: from checking the legal aspects with their respective consulates and local court, and choosing the wedding gown and tuxedo to the Russian banquet [we found an authentic Russian restaurant to do the catering], the ceremony at a waterfront venue [Jebel Ali Church], entertainment, invites and flowers.
“Once you sign on as a wedding planner, there is no question of refusing a last-minute request. It is the bride’s dream day and we go the extra mile to make it possible. Once when we were organising a wedding in Swaihan, a very small town, shortly before the function, the bride wanted the walkway extended. I had to rush to the next town to get wood and summon extra carpenters. But the ramp was ready on time.”
Has she dealt with disasters? “I have never had one but I have had to deal with scams. Some years ago, I was appointed as the planner for a big Emirati wedding. The cards — ornate, complete with Swarovski crystals — were to be made by another company which had promised to get it done in Italy. As the date drew nearer, I contacted the company for the invitations as they had to be hand-delivered. But I kept getting evasive answers from it. I alerted the bridegroom and we discovered the cards were to be printed in Al Quoz. There was just a month left for the ceremony and the work had not even started. I brought in designers and there was an assembly line of workers to get the job done — etching, painting, placing crystals, putting the cards in envelopes — and they were ready to be delivered. We worked round the clock for four days and made more than 4,500 cards.”
Walia has also made arrangements for a proposal. “A young Iranian man asked me to give his Marina apartment a romantic feel. While he was with his girlfriend, we decorated his flat with candles and roses and put the bubbly to chill. He called when he was on his way home; we lit the candles and disappeared. The next morning, he called to say he was overjoyed as she had accepted his proposal.”
How did she come into this profession? “We have been in Dubai for 32 years and once, my friend and I decided to organise a fashion show, just for fun. This led to small events and gradually, it became my profession. Over the years, the events have become much larger, with theme weddings and huge events at malls being the focus of my company, Stratezen. I have five members on the management side and eight for production, besides a network of suppliers,” Walia said.
Are there any weddings coming up? “Not in the near future but Dubai is a romantic spot, we might have one soon,” she said.
— Nirmal Khanna is a UAE-based freelance writer
