The Wedding Spell by Reena Alex

As part of Women's Day Month, I wanted to feature women in real life who choose the hard road and chase their dreams. In between celebrity fanfare and political worship, we tend to forget the normal folk who go the extra mile.

One of those women for me is Reena Alex, founder of The Wedding Spell based in Bangalore.
Reena had a pretty successful decade-long career in the airline and travel industry when she chose to step out of the rat race in 2014 to chase her passion. And that passion was to make people's dreams come true. Her obsession with all things wedding-related developed and eventually grew to become The Wedding Spell - a form of resource featuring inspirations for real couples in Bangalore which slowly expanded to include wedding decor as well.

In a short span, she's started making a name for herself too with her unique styles, be it for decor styling and managing engagements, anniversaries, sangeets and mehndis or just using her creativity to suit the needs and tastes of the couple on their wedding day.
I got the chance to talk to her last month about this venture. Over to Reena.

Reena with the lovely bride, Adela 

Why or what made you make this change ?

I was always creative and helped several friends and family with their weddings and truly enjoyed it. But after becoming a mother, something inside me decided I needed to make more time for what I love and have time for the people I love as well. I decided to take the plunge and from then on, there’s been no looking back.

Was it easy changing lanes?

The fact that I left a corporate job and took a break itself wasn't accepted by my parents and since I have no family and friends in the business, it was pretty scary wondering how to start or function, to be honest. I learned things the hard way and fell many times,like bad website designers, CA's, vendors etc.
The feeling to pick one's self up and move forward all by yourself after each setback wasn't easy but eventually doors open. In hindsight, I am happy all that happened. It made me stronger & along this young journey, I have already made some good friends and vendors. Balancing being a boss, mother, daughter, wife, sister, (did I mention a slave to a very feisty beagle whom we adopted after he was rescued from a testing center in Bangalore) and a friend teaches you to prioritize.

How does it feel to be where you are now ?

I still can't believe I took the plunge finally after talking about it for so many years . I get to be my own boss & plan my work. I still make time for myself and my family. Most importantly, I get to meet such wonderful people and help make important days of their lives extra-special. The immense satisfaction when the couple walks in and sees my interpretation of their wishes and hearing feedback of how I made one of the best days of their life a dream come true - that is, ironically, my own dream come true.

Do you mind sharing some of these special moments with us?

Sure. Let me see now.

Katherine & Keith

Kathy and Keith wanted to share their special day with their Indian friends and family, for which they insisted on having a very Indian decor. They left the rest for me to decide.

They had gotten married in a private ceremony abroad so I got a hold of those photos and had them placed across various sites at the reception to remind them and the guests of that wonderful day.

What I loved about this Australian couple was that they wanted to give back to India as well. I came up with the idea of the Giving Lantern for their reception wherein those who wanted to give money could place it inside the lantern with all the money going to a charity which helps to mentor and educate Indian children. That was such a lovely gesture from them.

Elements of the traditional Haldi & Mehendi ceremony was added along with bangles, bindis and jasmine to complete the whole Indian experience. 

Punam & Shrinidhi  

I loved this couple Punam and Shrinidhi who were getting married in Iyengar style at 5 AM in the morning and then having a Bengali wedding in the evening! They left it completely up to me to decide how to manage both versions in addition to the sangeet.

For her sangeet the day before the 'weddings', Punam shared a pick of her dress and told me to make her look good. Since it was a pool side venue, I chose colors, flowers and lights which gave a dreamy look and at the same time highlighted the bride and groom.

 

I wanted them to have a fresh and bright South Indian mandap with a modern twist and show them there was so much more we could do with marigold flowers & they also wanted to give a new experience to their families here in India and for the friends and colleagues coming all the way from Germany to be a part of their big day.

For the marriage function at night, I wanted to give Punam something she had not seen before. So I created a mandap with a center filled with crystals along with flowers and fabric to complete the look.

She made such a beautiful bride, don't you think?

Dhanya & Karthik

For Dhanya and Karthik, I decided to be playful to match the energy of this couple.

I made my version of a 'photo booth' with colourful decorative frames hung up. People could come up and place their face inside the frame and get their photos taken. 

That event was really memorable for me for how much fun the guests had. So many activities for everyone to enjoy and such a lovely young couple in love. 

They loved the elegant yet dream-like feel that the lighting and colours offered. You can check out their wedding function here.

What about feedback? 

It is hands down the best feeling in the world to be thanked by a family for making the

 wedding of their children a fairy tale event.

One thing I definitely love is the feedback from clients. I treasure their words. Not only does it help me improve but it reminds me of the good I've done too to make a couple's dream come true.

Dear Reena, Thank you so much for the extraordinary effort you put into making everything so perfect. That is your trademark and it is God given, So praise God that everything went so well.Love & God Bless. - Christine Jamal

Having Reena really brought all the ideas together and she made our vision into a reality. We wanted decor that would be bright and fun, but still classy. All of her setups were impressive and she definitely knew how to transform a space, no matter the obstacles. She brought the "wow" factor and did not disappoint. Her attention to detail was perfect, planning was meticulous and vendor coordination was exceptional. (Anyone from India knows how challenging it can be to work with various vendors but Reena made it all look seamless). - Adela

Thank you so much for an absolutely divine wedding - it was classy and perfect - exactly the picture i created in my head but never thought i would actually see it - you brought my dreams to life - so a thousand times thank you - Marita D'santos
(You can check out the wedding here)

Thank you Reena for such beautiful decor on all the occasions. All the months of phone calls & discussions concluded so perfectly with such lovely set up. Reena has been so cooperative and patient with all the changes and back-and-forth we have had on the requirements. In addition to the decor she takes interest in everything to make the wedding a memorable one. Thank you for all the reassurance each time I panicked thinking of the rain and all the calls telling me it would all go fine :) it certainly did and you play a big role in that. Cannot thank you enough :) would strongly recommend her for anyone planning a wedding not only for the talent that she is but also the keen interest and dedication in making the occasion special and memorable. - Dhanya Mohan

Damn. Those are some vibrant colours and fun ideas. So finally, the main question... how do other couples find you? 

Oh, yes. The means to contact, eh? Well, one way is to just search online for The Wedding Spell. Of course, the easiest way is by just clicking the buttons below!

Email - info@theweddingspell.com
Website - TheWeddingSpell.com
Facebook page - The Wedding Spell
Instagram - The Wedding Spell
Twitter - @TheWeddingSpell

Have a magical day, wherever you are.

Love,

Reena Alex