Made in Heaven: Attention brides and grooms-to-be, a new trend has emerged in the wedding world—the pillar-less mandap!

Weddings are grand celebrations that bring together families, friends, and loved ones to witness the union of two souls. Every aspect of a wedding is carefully planned and executed, from the venue selection to the decorations and rituals. One element that often captures the attention and awe of attendees is the mandap, the sacred space where the marriage ceremony occurs. While traditional mandaps are supported by pillars, a new trend has emerged in the wedding world: the pillar-less mandap. These architectural marvels symbolise elegance, innovation, and the harmonious blend of nature and human artistry.

Pioneering this transformative trend are Prerika Puri, the visionary founder of To The Aisle, and Aroosi, spearheaded by Business director Ashima Arora and Creative director Rasmeen Sawhney. Let’s take a look at the revolutionary mandaps that these two wedding decor artists have crafted passionately:

To The Aisle: Goa Mandap

The pillar-less mandap was inspired by nesting birds and large leaves spotted by the couple at St. Regis Goa. The creation process was filled with sketches and models as the team collaborated with fibre artists from Chennai, meticulously handcrafting the mandap over two months.

The dismantled mandap was reassembled at the beach over two nights. Flowers were imported from Holland and Thailand to enhance the atmosphere, adorning the mandap and crafting an illuminated coral-like aisle. The entire endeavour showcased the harmonious blend between nature and human artistry.

To The Aisle: Jaipur Mandap | Majestic Floral Mandap

The mandap, a true wedding ceremony highlight, stood proudly, defying conventional design with its pillar-less structure.

It became an exquisite showcase for gigantic flowers, reaching an impressive height of 16 feet. Meticulously crafted from brass and adorned with a flawless coating, the mandap emanated an air of unparalleled grandeur and artistic finesse.

Innovative platforms were ingeniously devised to support the weight of these magnificent flower stems. These platforms upheld the flowers and allowed them to stand upright, resulting in a breathtaking visual spectacle that left everyone in awe.

Aroosi- Udaivillas, Udaipur

A month before the date of the wedding, in one of our brainstorming sessions and hours of scribbling on paper comes a design of a flower installation. A hand-drawn, raw, unfiltered thought. This was followed by minutes of silence and everyone staring at that piece of paper.

An exchange of glances happens, and then comes a smile! And voila, the birth of a blossoming mandap we now call ‘THE GARDEN OF LOVE‘. After experimenting with multiple materials, and a series of hit and trials, we finally were able to sample the mandap of our dreams. A sketch which turned into reality.

We created a mandap that looked like a giant yet delicate flower made from mother of pearl. The petals of the flower were intricately carved and overlapped each other to create a three-dimensional effect, and it was a self standing structure which glowed from within and the shimmering, iridescent surface of the mother of pearl caught the light beautifully, giving the mandap an otherworldly glow.

The edges were done with swarovskis, and an entire garden was made around the mandap with an overload of baby’s breath!

FACT FILE: To The Aisle

Name of the project:Pillar-Less Goa Mandap and Pillar-Less Jaipur Mandap

Design Team and Designation: Prerika Puri, Founder of To The Aisle

Location of the project: St. Regis Goa and Jaipur

Goa Mandap: 32 feet x 15 feet

Jaipur Mandap: The Jaipur leaves were all different heights. The highest leaf goes up to 16 feet. The total width of the Jaipur mandap with the platform was 18 feet by 14 feet. ( Mandap Measurement Sketches)

Photo courtesy: Rahul Vangani

FACT FILE: Aroosi

Name of the project: Garden of Love

Design Team and Designation: Ashima Arora – Business director, Rasmeen Sawhney – Creative director

Artisans- Rizwan, Shehzade, Fayaz and team

Website: www.aroosi.co.in

Location of the project:  Udaivillas, Udaipur

Area (Sq.ft): 7663 Sqft of the Lawn, 1736 Sq Ft of the stage of the Mandap

Photo courtesy: Bhavya Jain