India, April 25 -- We're at that point of human evolution when a wedding reception with an oxygen bar seems old fashioned. When walking through a replica of Hogwarts to greet the bride and groom seems declasse. The trends today are more ambitious: A Renaissance-themed reception, a mehendi set in a crochet carnival, a roka party featuring Squid Game contests (minus the dying). "In the past decade, there's been a major shift in the way we view weddings," says Shweta Mehta, co-founder of Delhi-based event planning company The Wedding Square. Couples now want guests to feel like it's their special day too. Prep starts almost a year in advance and planners consult with art curators, game-show creators, exhibition organisers and digital artists to draw up moodboards. See how it all unfolds. Aashna Saran, founder, Aash Studio, has been planning weddings since 2011. She says weddings have moved on from an "awards-show vibe" to interactive events. "You don't want bigger and fancier - you want bigger and different." In February last year, they worked on a mehendi in Ahmedabad that was designed to feel like a carnival. They got artisans to crochet a gigantic crochet blanket for the ceiling decor, and had large kinetic sola flower installations and birds that could flap their wings. There were stalls where guests could make potli bags, try tie-dyeing, or put together pot pourri. The new obsession: Personalisation. This could mean building a playlist for each guest's pick-up vehicle at a destination wedding; air fresheners in the car that tie into the event's themed fragrance. "The experience takes into account everything that the guest will see, hear and touch," says Nidhi Sahi, founder of Enjay Events. Planners now use terms such as dreamscape, experiential design, and sensory celebration, instead of themes and colours. Prerika Puri, the founder and creative head of the wedding design company To The Aisle, along with Kavneet Sethi of The Wedding Galore, came up with a bioluminescent-inspired sangeet at Thailand's Anantara Koh Yao Yai in November 2024. "The island the hotel was located on had bioluminescent beaches, which is a magical experience," says Puri. But how do you capture that feeling on a screen? Through 360deg LED screens, much like the immersive Van Gogh art exhibits. They timed every sangeet performance and choreographed the lighting and LED projections to change alongside. "The 550 square metres of LED screens displayed visuals of glowing waves crashing onto the shore. It was the highlight of the evening," says Puri. It got planners to think beyond their own skills too. "You're also thinking like a lighting technician, a set producer, a sound engineer and a projectionist too," says Sethi. Earlier at destination weddings, everyone parachuted into the resort, did the Indian shaadi, and left. Now, couples want everyone to feel like they're on a parallel Eras tour, with a quick tour of the country's culture. "At a destination wedding in Japan, we had each of the 125 guests experience a snapshot of life in Kyoto," says Mehta. They organised a traditional tea ceremony and a geisha performance, and gave guests kimonos embroidered with their names for them to relax in their rooms. "Today, people are well-travelled and have already seen everything. So, you try to take something familiar and make it seem new and unique." Guest lists have shrunk to make celebrations feel personal, even as the scale is amped up. "Last April, we worked with a couple who had just 120 close friends and family at their roka ceremony. They wanted guests to actually participate in the celebration," says Vikram Chaudhary, co-founder of Mumbai-based event design company Taxi Design Studio. So, they simulated a Squid Game experience with over 50 LED screens. "We mapped guests' faces using AI, so you could see, in live time, who was disqualified and who was moving to the next level," Chaudhary says. What's keeping more weddings from being truly immersive, Chaudhary says, is that "we're not thinking about technology as an element of design". It's like the otherworldly visuals at electronic music producer Anyma's concerts. "When you exit the venue, you should feel like you've just returned from another dimension."...