Sahana Lakshmi started baking as a hobby. Now she is a professional cake artist and has just received the Best Cake Artist Award at The Wedding Industry Women Achiever’s Awards (WIWA) ceremony organised by Wedding Vows, a magazine.
“I am a foodie and loves cake. I was bored at home after my studies and started to bake. With time, my interest in cake decoration increased and, after getting positive response, from my friends and family, I took it up as a profession.”
Most of Lakshmi’s learning happened online. She says that both taste and the look of a cake are equally important. “Only quality ingredients can give good taste. I make sure I get the best available in our market.” She makes chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cakes with fondant and fresh cream decorations. Her favourite cake? “It was white and red with two big red sugar flowers. The names of the bride and the groom were written on top of it in edible gold. It weighed nine kilograms and was three-tier.” She says that the best part of her work is the reaction from her clients. “Their response makes my day.”
Saranya A won the the Best Mehendi Artist award. The 29-year-old says, “It was eight years ago that I first created a mehendi design. It was difficult but after multiple efforts on paper, I gained the confidence to draw on hands.” Her first client was her neighbour. “She saw my designs and was impressed by it. Thus started my journey as a professional.”
Saranya says that she is inspired by traditional temple designs. “These work best for brides in traditional attire. The present trend is called Contemporary South Indian Designs, which portraits the groom and bride in South Indian costumes and jewellery.” She has now applied mehendi on around 950 brides. “I make the mehendi cone myself. It is chemical free. I dry and grind the henna leaves before putting it into the cone.” It takes her up to seven hours to complete a design.
“I decide on the the designs based on the hands of a client. All designs will not suite everyone.” She also shares some tips to keep in mind. “Do not wash it under water. Gently scrap off once dried. Apply coconut oil on the design for a rich colour.”
Vaishnave Arvind is into wedding décor and won the Best Décor Award. “I wanted to recreate the Tirupati temple at my wedding reception hall. It took three months of research but the results came out well”, she says. After her marriage, it took her two years to convince her family to allow her to take wedding décor as her profession. Her company is called Eventz by Vaishnave “This industry is male dominated. Initially I had to face a lot of difficulty. Even the labour I hired did not take me seriously. My husband had to step in to help me and I soon learnt the tricks of the trade.”
She tells me that her background as a textile designer helped her. “There are a lot of textiles and textures used for decoration.” She says that usually her clients are clear about what they want when they approach her, “I help them fine tune their ideas. Getting minute details right is the most important part. I will not rest till I know the decoration is perfect and my client is satisfied.” Arvind has undertaken nearly 50 decoration projects so far.
What is a wedding without tamboolam bags and it was Harini Priya who received the award for Best Invite. “I am a mother of a four-year-old. I did not want a nine-to-five job and miss my child growing up. I prefer being an entrepreneur where I can make my own decisions.” Her thamboolam bags contain organic cosmetics.
“I make body butter, scrubs, soaps, lip butter, lip balm, foot cream and moisturiser. My body scrubs are packed in coconut shells and, for loofas, I have dried bottle gourd.” She customises these bags that are available for anything from ₹100 to ₹ 1000. “I have made them for around 85 events so far”, she says.
Award Winners
Rising Star — Reshma Srijay
Destination Planner International — Ines Nanic
Wedding Planner — Nithya
Wedding Photographer — Nikithaa Kumaran
Wedding Caterer — Geetha M
Gifting — Swathi Lakshmi
Designer — Bangarupriya. D
Make up and Hair — Viveththa Dinesh
Couple of the Year — Guruprasad and Swarnalata Guruprasad
Wedding of the Year — Pradeep Somu and Sathya Senthil Kumar Pradeep
Bride of the Year — Nidhi Srisrimal
Groom of the Year — Koushik
